During our visit to East Mebon temple, I did what I have done at every temple and wandered around trying to find every small space and corridor I could, exploring every corner of the ruins. While climbing around, I stumbled across a woman it what appeared to be a wedding dress. Since I had only seen her from a distance I was eager to get a closer look and find out exactly what was going on. keeping enough distance that I was not in her way, I found my way around the stones until I was a few feet away. Her and a man were attempting to take photos in a doorway on the far side of the temple. Of course, I was a disturbance as I was the only other person on that side. I assumed they were wedding photos or something of that sort so I headed back to the stairs I came from, running into Brian who was looking at the same display. After voicing a few questions about them to him, he insisted I ask the two of them.
East Mebon Temple
Reluctantly, I went up to them and hoped they spoke english. Luckily they did, as were happy to talk to me (what a relief). Their story was much more interesting than I anticipated. I learned they were a couple from Brazil on their honeymoon, traveling through Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand. She decided she wanted to bring the wedding dress with in case she had any photo opportunities. As she put it, "Why not? I'm only wearing it once anyway, might as well get some use out of it". She wore the dress during a balloon ride and brought it with to every temple they had visited in Cambodia. Unfortunately, this was their first chance to get any ruins photos since most of the temples are flooded with tourists walking in and out of every picture one takes. They tried in Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm with no luck. They found the secluded spot of East Mebon, threw on the dress, and began the shoot. Until I came along, that is.
A sneaky shot
This was a new form of tourism and tourist opportunities that I was fortunate to witness and probably will not see again. People are always finding ways to use things like they have not been used before, such as using the ruins for a specific type of picture (like a senior photo or wedding photo), taking the tourist experience to a different level than most of those that visit. Even we take part in this, using the attraction of sites as a sort of magnet for those we want to study. People's ability to manipulate situations and places to serve a means and their creativity in doing so always keeps me on my toes.
