Elephant Bar

After a long hot day of sightseeing it was a welcome relief to relax in the comfort of the Elephant Bar located in the Raffles Hotel.  While a gentleman played the piano, Regina and I sipped drinks and noshed on snack food.  

Phnom Mondop 

Elephant Bar

Pimm's Cup  for me, airaveata for Regina

Dried banana slices with Cambodia's ubiquitous pepper

Phnom Mondop part of the Royal Palace grounds

Phnom Mondop (Mount Mondop, where the statue of Preah Ko is situated). This  is an artificial hill with a pavilion housing a bronze footprint of the Buddha from Sri Lanka. Many people write wishes and desires on the plant leaves going up the "mountain"

Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

gold scroll holders

One of the many royal hats

With its classic Khmer roofs and lavish decoration, the Royal Palace dominates the skyline of Phnom Penh. The palace has been the home for the royal family during peace times since the 1860’s, when the capital city was moved from Oudong. This complex of buildings has 4 main structures, the Silver Pagoda, the Khemarin Palace, the Throne Hall and the Inner Court. Though half of the compound is considered the king’s residence and is closed to the public, the other areas  be explored freely. There was a great deal of activity - one of the ministers was coming to see the king. 

Wat Ounalom

Furniture is dark, heavy and huge

During the regime of the Khmer Rouge, many of the buildings along with many religious statues and symbols were damaged, but most of which have since been restored. The buildings are used for a variety of purposes. There is the temple itself, schools, libraries, living quarters and the stupa that gives the temple its name; the stupa holds an Ounalum, a hair from the eyebrow of the Buddha. 

Monuments galore

This tower was created in 1958 to celebrate Cambodia’s freedom from French Colonial Rule five years earlier. It is modeled after the central tower of the country’s most famed ancient temple, Angkor Wat, and represents a lotus-shaped Stupa that also honors the war dead of Cambodia. 

This monument honoring the late King Norodom Sihanouk, a revered leader who guided the country to independence from France and through two wars before backing the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in a bid to retain power.