The Cambodia Post

So, you already got to see my first look at the local wildlife. (And yes, my window did overlook the garbage, explaining the presence of the macaque troop!)

The first day that I got to get out of the hotel, I went to Wat Phnom, a temple right next to my hotel. Wat Phnom has a lovely story and it goes like this: One day, an old woman named Penh found four buddhas washed up on the banks of the Mekong. She built a temple on a hill to house them. The temple was called "Wat Phnom", which means "Hill Temple", and the city Phnom Penh (meaning "Penh's Hill") was thus founded. This hill, by the way, is the only hill in Phnom Penh. And it's very small.

Anyway, although this temple is a bit of a tourist attraction, it functions more as a place where local people go to pray for luck. And it was pretty much the only place I visited that allowed cameras inside.

Here's some photos of the temple:







While standing outside the temple taking pictures, a cute little black kitten rubbed against my legs and meowed. I petted the little kitty.



A second later, something ran up behind me and grabbed my leg, and the kitten started hissing and screeching.



The monkey came after me a second time, and I think he bit me the second time but it didn't break the skin. I think he thought I was feeding the kitten... commenter Holly beat me to it yesterday, but I planned to say: NEVER feed the monkeys! It makes them absolutely horrible. Macaques are pretty nasty creatures as it is. I have now been attacked or otherwise molested by three different species of them (and it wasn't my fault, I swear.)

Anyway, I was unharmed so I continued on. First thing I noticed as I descended the hill was an odd screeching sound. I look up and notice a large tree full of... bats!



On to the Royal Palace compound, which also has the Silver Pagoda. It is called the silver pagoda because the floor is tiled with large silver tiles. Most of the tiles were covered with rugs, but in some areas you could see the tiles. Silver is not a good choice for tiling a floor... you could feel the tiles under the rug. Cameras were not allowed inside but here are some pictures of the outdoors.









And then I was tired and soaked in sweat, so I took a "tuk-tuk" back to the hotel.



The next day I visited the National Museum, which was really impressive, but again didn't allow cameras inside. Here's what it looked like from the outside:






The museum was full of nearly 2000 years worth of stone sculpture, much of it from Angkor Wat. The sculpture was very beautiful and remarkably consistent throughout the centuries - and much better than what was going on in Europe at some points in time. The museum is very nicely set up and informative, and if you're ever in Phnom Penh I highly recommend a visit. Also, they are preparing for a Rodin exhibit later this year - apparently it's the 100th anniversary of his visit to Cambodia, and they're going to do an exhibit of his paintings and drawings.

The area around the museum is full of little shops, with people working on their crafts out on the sidewalk. There were many people making absolutely stunning stone sculptures that were replicas of the works I saw in the museum. If there was any way I could have gotten a giant stone Buddha home, I would have.

All in all, I really liked Phnom Penh. It was much pleasanter to walk around alone than anywhere in Indonesia. I was generally left alone (in Indonesia, you're pretty much a celebrity), and when people did address me, I was "madame" instead of "Hello Mister". The French colonial background makes for some interesting juxtapositions (I won't say "land of contrasts"). I must have drank gallons of Bordeaux, alongside delicious curries. You can generally get by ok with just English, although it's nice to try to speak a little Khmer. And they take US dollars as one of the currencies.

I have warned Publius that if we are ever forced into exile, Phnom Penh is high on this list of possible relocation sites.