After a much needed good night's sleep and breakfast by the pool we decided to brave the busy streets of Phnom Penh by walking to our destination; the Royal Palace, home to His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni and his mother. There is no access to their residence, of course, but visitors may tour the many other buildings on the grounds including The Throne Hall and the Silver Pagoda. The entire floor of the Silver Pagoda is made of 5600 silver tiles. This beautiful building houses gifts to the king, statues of the Buddha in many poses as well as a shining jade Buddha. Our guide provided us with lots of information and answered all of our questions. There was lots of activity on the grounds as staff are preparing for a huge celebration on Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of the king's coronation.
After we left the Palace we headed towards the waterfront. We were accosted by many, many tuk tuk drivers, offering us various tours and rides to wherever we wanted to go. Beggars and people selling almost anything from sidewalk carts were everywhere. We had to shake our heads and say no thank you every few feet as made our way to Sisowath Quay.
The heat was almost unbearable at a feel like temperature of about 40. However, it is by walking that one can truly experience life in this city and so we soldiered on, stopping to watch life go by on the riverbank and on the hectic city streets. The smell of city life was evident today; everything from meat cooking on sidewalk carts to the stench of garbage scattered everywhere. We saw Cambodians driving expensive cars as well as very poor Cambodians drying their laundry on the riverbank.
We found "Friends" an NGO that works with marginalized youth and their families offering food, shelter, medical care, training and education for over 1,800 vulnerable or abandoned children each day. The organization runs a restaurant and a shop. Since we were not hungry we decided to support the organization by purchasing something in their shop. We left with a couple of t shirts and a bit of bling.
We had to say many more "no thank you's" before we made it back to our hotel where we quickly changed into bathing suits and had a refreshing dip in the pool.
After a brief siesta we me out tuk tuk driver outside the gate and off we went to experience Phnom Penh's Night Market. The drive there was slow due to extremely heavy traffic. No one obeys stop signs or traffic rules of any kind. It is nothing to see five vehicles side by side in a single lane. Bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses and tuk tuks all vie for the same spot. I am amazed that we haven't seen, or been in, an accident. It seems as if the drivers have a certain respect for each other and someone yields at the last second.
We weaved in and out of the market stalls and did lots of looking, but no buying, until we got to the food area. To purchase food one is handed a small plastic basket and a pair of tongs. You then choose the food you want, pass back the basket and it is prepared on the spot. We chose shrimp, crab and tofu...all on sticks. There are two seating areas: large communal mats spread out on the ground (you must take your shoes off before sitting on the mats) or child size chairs at child size tables. As prices are in riel, there are tons of locals and very little English is spoken, I can assume that this is indeed a market for locals. We finished the market experience by stopping at a stall that sold Korean ice cream. Who knew!
Juan met us at the agreed time and he very skillfully tuk tuk'd us back to our hotel. Another full day in Phnom Penh.
No comments:
Post a Comment