We landed in the capital, and Alissa we are staying at the "fancy Guest House". It costs $15 per night. The rooms can go as high as $25 per night, and for that price you get a king size bed, a balcony and room with a view... Also the owner said it's really safe because he doesn't let any locals stay.. Only tourists.. (???? not sure what that is about) But it is really close to the Grand Palace which is the residence of the King of Cambodia and the National Museum both are open for visitors daily and the waterfront is a 3 minute walk away. The cost of entrance to the palace was $6.25 and we hired a guide for $6 which worked out to 1.50 each. When the king is in residence a blue flag flies and he was yesterday.. The palace houses numerous valuable items pertaining to the royal family. Within the compound is a pagoda, which has been named by the Europeans as "silver pagoda". This is because Cambodia used to trade in silver. The french convinced the king to change to paper money, and so he collected all the silver coins from the kingdom and made them into silver tiles.. each tile weighs 1kilo and there are 5329 tiles on the floor. You may not take any photos within this building so I will describe the things contained within. The majority of the silver tiles are covered with a rug that was given by China as a gift to Cambodia, and the rug is one large piece. Also within this building is a gold and diamond encrusted buddah.. There are 2 large diamonds 20 carat and the other 25 carat surrounded by thousands of smaller ones. Behind that buddah and on a higher platform is an emerald buddah.
Within the compound is a building from Napolean era that was donated to Cambodia by France as a sign of their friendship and until recently it was a library, however it is now quite damaged so is no longer available for entry by the public.
You may notice from some of the pictures that the buildings are Yellow roofed, and white walled. Our guide said that the Yellow celebrates "buddhism"and the white is for "Hinduism"so much of the compound is in two colours.
We had lunch at the "Friends"restaurant, which was developed by an NGO to save street kids. Each childs history is carefully researched, as they offer an education and training in the hospitality industry. This ranges from teaching them how to cook, wait on tables and general restaurant activity with the hope they can leave the street life for good.
The food is amazing and all profits are returned to help and support the street kids.. Moo Moo, bought a recipe book and Dudu and I have been slowly working our way through the menu.. (ok, not so slowly....) It is expensive by Cambodian standards but did I say the food is amazing?? Smoked aubergine dip, Courgette and cheese fritters, pork and beef meatballs, shrimp springrolls, steamed fish in banana leaf, sweet potato chips with curry dip, chicken and mango stirfry, blueberry cake, coconut and lime cake, caramelised pineapple with chilli ice cream.. (Yeah I know, but apart from getting thrown off Tuk Tuk's how many others can say they go to Asia to gain weight??)
In the evening we went to watch the Cambodian kick boxing competitions. They are starting the National championships so it's a knock out round... Saw two literally knocked out last night.. Hmmm..... to get to the stadium had to walk through a number of soccer matches.. All of them played in the carpark, no lines anywhere and traffic cones to mark the goals.. Managed to avoid getting kicked in the head by a soccer ball, but I suspect that was more due to their skills then our attention.. Head up, eyes wide, mouths open.. thank heavens for great insect repellant, I'm sure had we not been sheilded with 80% deet, we would have had lots of protein for dinner.
Oh and about the traffic, if I've given the impression that traffic in Cambodia is chaotic, bloody hell, it's got nothing on the Capital... BTW see if you can spot the pedestrian in the photo.. One thing I will say about asia so far, is they have this amazing system whereby lights count down.. So if you have a green one, it will let you know exactly how long it is before it changes. This is true for the red lights so no-one gets frustrated... Also no-one waits their turn either, so whilst the system is good, it's also completely ignored.. Brilliant... Oh and about the tooting... it's use is to move traffic out of the way, but since everyone is doing it, no one is sure for whom they're supposed to move, so again.. no one does... Oh Oh Oh, and smoking at the petrol stations is the norm... (we are so not in NZ Dudu!!) Oh Oh Oh Oh, it's also not unusual to see passengers on motorbikes holding up IV drips or else they've sellotaped their drips to the sides of the cars... so in a way I guess they have mobile hospitals too..
There seems to be more poverty here though, and our guide said it's because a lot of people from the country have come seeking work.. As there is none, many sleep on the sides of the road. Outside the Palace one man had his 7 children begging for money.. the littlest one being about 18months old, naked and holding a hat out.. Sounds hard, and yet this little fella, had the most engaging, sunny and happiest smile I've seen in a long time.
Pirated DVD's and CD's are everywhere, and to put this into context, I was looking at some of the boxed sets of television shows... A Full season of Sarah Connors Chronicles was selling for $5.
Dinner was on the waterfront at a restaurant that supports a local orphanage.. Intrepid do a lot of research to help their travellers make ethical choices (if you want to). Average prices on the menu $4 - $5
We've been told to post a message saying that we're fine... WE ARE FINE, but concerned about the earthquake that has occurred closer to home, and to our friends who may have lost loved ones... Our thoughts and love are with you at home.
xoxoxox Tutu and Dudu.
Tried to upload a video I took of the kick-boxing, but that may have to wait until I find a high speed internet connection... 3hours so far and keeps crapping itself.. Much like the weather right now... It's been raining, and the road is now covered... not looking forward to venturing out tonight, but we will... It's Esthers last night with the tour group, she flies back out to Holland tomorrow...
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