Le Grand Tour (2) de Patrick de Carolis 

I invite you to see or watch again this superb report made a few years ago (2014) by Patrick de Carolis.

The images are superb and Patrick de Carolis' narration is really interesting and very instructive. A report that I of course discovered a few years ago and that I have just seen again with great pleasure.

Patrick de Carolis sets out to discover the temples and royal cities of Thailand and Cambodia. Following in the footsteps of Rama IV, King of Siam in the 19th century, and the French explorer Henri Mouhot, the host begins his journey in Bangkok. 

He takes us across the country to prestigious places with ancestral traditions and makes us discover incredible sites.

Leaving Bangkok and its Royal Palace, Patrick de Carolis takes us to Cambodia, starting his visit with Oudong, the capital of Cambodia for more than two centuries, then he takes us to Phnom Penh, the current capital of Cambodia, the Wat Phnom and the Royal Palace of Pnom Penh where the King of Cambodia lives.

Under French protectorate from 1863 to 1953, we discover the French quarter, then the Khmer dance school at the Academy of Fine Arts of Phnom Phen. The visit continues by passing by the Tonle Sap lake: the largest lake in South East Asia, where lives a nomadic fishermen people who will probably have disappeared in 15 years. These waters, much less fishy than in the past, are soiled, polluted and do not allow the village on its surface, to live with dignity. 

Six months a year, under the effect of the monsoon and the flooding of the Mekong River, the Tonle Sap multiplies its surface area by 5.

Crops and entire forests are under 7 meters of water. 1 million people live on the lake, in floating villages or lake cities perched on stilts. In the dry season, the water recedes, revealing streets, rice fields and fields. A thousand-year-old way of life, threatened today by global warming, pollution and the construction of dams, as well as by the temptation of mass tourism.

Finally, this trip ends with the discovery of the Angkor site in the middle of the jungle, which extends over 400km², four times the size of Paris!

Two hundred monuments make up this site, half of which are classified as UNESCO heritage sites.

Splendid images, admirable to watch without hesitation.

Sorry for my non-French speaking friends, this film is in French, but even without understanding the language, the beautiful images in this report speak for themselves.

Part 1 of this fantastic report about Thailand is available in the Thailand section of my website... you can access it by clicking here: