Sunday 3 August
Excellent breakfast and arranged to meet a
friend, her niece and nephew for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, which turned
out to be very popular. Last saw them nearly 9 years ago, the niece is now 21
and the nephew 25.
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| Peking Duck with friends in PP |
Having avoided any cultural sightseeing so far
in my trip, I thought I should make amends by visiting the Grand Palace,
even though it is a pale imitation of the one in Bangkok. According to the captions on the exhibits the head dresses for the royal ballet dancers were gold and weighed 1.5 kg. Guess I can understand how that might upset the peasants and drive them to revolution. Can't have been much fun for the dancers.
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| Grand palace |
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| Monks |
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| Grand Palace |
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| More Elephants than the Elephant Bar |
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| Gold ones too. Also a Life Size White One |
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| More Grand Palace |
Had a good walk round the city and down to the river bank where, it
seemed, most of the population of Phnom
Penh had
congregated. Many were buying lotus flowers and offering them at a small
temple; whether it is a special day today or whether this is just normal Sunday
afternoon activity I have no idea.
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| Spirit House in Temple |
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| Homage to our great leader? |
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| Peanut seller |
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| Rush hour Phnom Penh |
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| Lots of offerings |
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| Flower sellers |
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| Neat Parking |
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| Independence Monument |
Stopped off at the Riverside Bistro for an
iced coffee and banana crepe, mainly for the pleasure of sitting down and
watching the world go by. They even had a copy of the "Times" to
read! Slowly made my way back to the hotel and picked up my laundry from the
place across the street. Just $3 for a week's worth.
After a shower and a snooze headed out for
dinner nearby at the Tom Yam Krung restaurant which serves Thai and Khmer food.
I had beef in what was described as sweet and sour sauce although nothing like
the sweet and sour served in Chinese restaurants. Quite tasty but the beef was
decidedly chewy. Washed down with a bottle of beer!
What are the little wavy "twisted-wire" bits on the ends of the roof gables? They don't really look functional and so perhaps there is some religious or architectural significance.
ReplyDeleteDid you buy any of the (smaller) elephants? Are you accumulating souvenirs from each place?
In each of the places where you have had a bottle of beer, do they also have wine? Just wondering...
Not sure of the function of the squiggly bits. Early lightening conductors? Definitely not buying any souvenirs. My bags are heavy enough as they are. All these light weight gadgets have heavy chargers/adapters! Certainly in Cambodia & Vietnam mots places sell wine and prices look reasonable. In Thailand wine is expensive.
ReplyDeleteIn Hue and Hanoi, Wine in bar or restaurant is between 500 000 and 750 000 Dong for a bottle, about US$23 - 34
ReplyDelete