A Second Day of Amusing Myself While Waiting For My Vietnam Visa

I hadn't pushed myself on the Sunday. I could have visited the museum and the royal palace had I really been in a hurry, but with yet another day to kill in Phnom Penh, I was in no particular hurry. With Monday open before me I went to visit the museum and the palace, and a couple of other spots as well.

First up was the National Museum. It's quite an impressive building actually. Unfortunately it's a bit short on developed content. It's mostly a collection of art from a number of archaeological sites around the country, with a predictable concentration on the temples of Angkor. And they didn't want any photos taken of the art collected from the various sites.

I'm bad though. :) This is a partial statue of Vishnu that was unearthed in a farmer's field. He is in a reclining position having just been awakened to create the earth. When complete, it would have been over 6 meters tall.

Another surreptitious photo that I managed to take is another statue of Vishnu. It is a bit hard to tell from the distance at which I had to take the photo, but the craftsmanship on this statue was so detailed, it was a stunning piece of artwork. I was amazed.

Other than those, the rest of the pieces were typical sorts of pieces that would be found and housed from archaeological digs. Some had reasonable explanations of what they were and where they were found. Many had only the facts of where, when and what. I would have liked to have seen more of where they were found, maybe in photos or such. But it wasn't an expensive museum, so I guess you can't have everything.

Then it was on to the palace. This was quite a bit more expensive at 6 and a half dollars. (Keep in mind that that is quite expensive for Cambodia, not for Canada or other western countries.) It was okay as well, but nothing to write home about, even though I am writing in this blog about it. It does seem to be good to be king though, even in an impoverished country that has recently seen decades of civil war and genocide, during which the king had been deposed.

This was the silver pagoda. Inside there is a bunch of Buddhas, one of them large and in the center of the action. The floor at least is made of silver tiles, but they are mostly covered up. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed, so I have to leave it to your imagination what it may have looked like, unless you want to visit yourself.

Outside the silver pagoda is a small representation of Angkor Wat. There is some French company that operates a hot-air balloon ride that rises nearby Angkor Wat. I think the view must be something like this one. Now I know what it looked like.

Aha!!! I knew they came from somewhere.

And there it is.

After the palace, I walked to Wat Phnom. This is the spot from which Phnom Penh gets its name. Some woman at some time came to this little hill and decided it was holy. Sometime later there was a flood and she took refuge on the top. The site was called Wat Phnom Daun Penh, which was later shortened to Phnom Penh and became the name of the city around it. Other than that, it is mostly notable for being the monastery where Pol Pot studied at one point. And according to the account I read, he was a model monk who caused no trouble.

From there I went out to talk to a tuk tuk driver about going to the Russian Market. It was quite a long distance and I didn't feel much like walking, so I thought I might get a ride. He charged me an outrageous 4 dollars for the trip, but I didn't feel like checking out other drivers or haggling, so I just accepted the price and got in. He took me to the market, and it was a fair distance, but I had gone for a whole day to see the killing fields and the interrogation/torture center for 10 dollars. I knew the guy had probably rubbed his hands together when I didn't fight his price too hard. When I got to the market, he asked (with a gleam in his eye) if he should wait. I said no. He asked me why. So I told him he was expensive. He didn't really fight me too much, but if he had, I would have continued with the fact that the market was closing down (it was after 5 and it was getting dark; I had thought it would be a night market, too, but apparently I was wrong), and I figured he probably knew that and hadn't bothered to tell me. So I told he needn't bother waiting, as I wouldn't be riding back with him. I had actually decided to walk back. Since I was there, I got some dinner at one of the little street restaurants, some really good noodles, and then headed back to my hotel.

On the way, I passed the Independence Monument again, and it was really nice lit up against the darkening sky.

And then I passed a dessert shop. They boasted handmade ice cream. There were many options for dessert, but in the end I opted for the chocolate cake with ice cream combination. It was delicious!!

Once I got back to the hotel, I got my passport with my Vietnamese visa inside and got ready to head out of Cambodia the next day.