Our morning starts with a tour of the royal palace. Cambodia has been ruled by a monarchy for most of its' centuries-old history. The palace grounds occupy several acres of prime real estate in central Phnom Penh, and 500 citizens are employed at the complex.
The buildings are beautiful and very ornate. The crowning jewel is the "silver pagoda", so named because the entire treasure room is floored using about 5000 tiles of pure silver. There is an obscene amount of gold & silver statues and decorations, many of them encrusted with jewels. Photography is not permitted inside that room.
Next stop is the art museum which houses a great many ancient sculptures and artefacts, most having Buddhist or Hindu themes.
We Canadians order lunch at the swimming pool while the ship cruises upriver and ties up to trees at a small village, much to our dismay. No pier exists here, and we wonder that the ship does not run aground.
Our afternoon excursion consists of touring the small rural village. We visit a silver artisan shop and are instructed on the difference between silver plating and pure silver items. Dan & Alan escape with only a couple of purchases.
We're also interested to meet one of the poorer village families and listen to the story of an elderly teacher who survived the Khmer Rouge by convincing them he was a labourer rather than a teacher. Fortunately, he had hand calluses to support his story.
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| A small part of the Royal Palace grounds |
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| Angels & demons support the roof |
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| Mausoleum built by an ancient king for his daughter's remains |
The buildings are beautiful and very ornate. The crowning jewel is the "silver pagoda", so named because the entire treasure room is floored using about 5000 tiles of pure silver. There is an obscene amount of gold & silver statues and decorations, many of them encrusted with jewels. Photography is not permitted inside that room.
Next stop is the art museum which houses a great many ancient sculptures and artefacts, most having Buddhist or Hindu themes.
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| dodging raindrops to enter the museum |
We Canadians order lunch at the swimming pool while the ship cruises upriver and ties up to trees at a small village, much to our dismay. No pier exists here, and we wonder that the ship does not run aground.
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| Rasmes takes our order on the pool deck |
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| The arrival of our cruise ship causes a stir among the villagers |
Our afternoon excursion consists of touring the small rural village. We visit a silver artisan shop and are instructed on the difference between silver plating and pure silver items. Dan & Alan escape with only a couple of purchases.
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| artisan working in the silver shop |
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| Dara explains the process and the product |
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| Meanwhile, Duc plays the clown |
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| lots to examine in the shop |
We're also interested to meet one of the poorer village families and listen to the story of an elderly teacher who survived the Khmer Rouge by convincing them he was a labourer rather than a teacher. Fortunately, he had hand calluses to support his story.
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| this village mother does piecework metal handcrafting |
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| elderly teacher continues the work out of love |
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