Phnom Penh

03.08.2011 - 04.08.2011

Of all the Asian capitals so far (with perhaps the exception of Singapore, which hardly feels asian), Phnom Penh is our favourite. Perhaps it's because of the wide esplanade and the quiet river, the wide variety of high quality Khmer and international food or the fact that elephants roam the street. Our two nights here were great; if we werent trying to cover 7 countries in as many weeks we would probably have stayed longer!


 A beautiful lady on the Phnom Penh esplanade


Elephant! Just like in Kenya

The most impressive sight in Phnom Penh is perhaps the Royal Palace and its Silver Pagoda - the official residence of the king of Cambodia. The floor of the silver pagoda is covered in 5000 silver tiles; it has a 90 kg solid-gold Buddha covered in nearly 10 000 diamonds; and its sweeping staircase is (of course) constructed using only the finest Italian marble. No pictures allowed, sadly.

The Royal Palace gates and a royal lady 

The Royal Palace itself and a tramp

A lady and her throne

The remainder of our walking tour took us to many of the major attractions, including the local market; which sold everything from jewellery to frog legs, to the national museum and the independence monument.

The Independence Monument

We finished the day with an excellent pizza at the Foreign Correspondents' Club (only after giulie stubbed her toe against the pavement just like she used to do as a child - she got to keep her nail this time though) as we occasionally like to betray the local cuisine in favour of more homely flavours, before walking home along the esplanade.

Oh, and Giulie had an excellent massage by blind people - the only ones willing to touch her.

Tomorrow we're off to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor!

1 comment:

  1. Phom Penh was my favorite too! Interesting to read about your stay there, glad you enjoyed it. Have a nice trip in Cambodia! Mamma

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