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Cambodia Day 5
Today's Travel:
Car: 320 kms
Map: Today's trip
Today we were still being hindered by traffic from the end of the Pchum Ben Festival and it took us about an hour to cover the first 15 kms out of Siem Reap. As we proceeded further south, the conditions improved and we had a small pit stop at a roadside stall for a quick snack.
Sticky rice and black beans slow-cooked in bamboo. Quite tasty and in a bio-degradable container
A couple of hours later, another pit stop at a town called Skuon was a different matter.
All deep-fried: From left anti-clockwise: Larvae of ???, Crickets, Grasshoppers, Tarantulas, Cockroaches, and other unidentifiable stuff.
I asked our guide if I was expected to eat one of these 'delicacies' as a rite of passage, and he replied that he wouldn't eat any that were here as "...they weren't fresh...". Good to have an expert along who knows the difference!
When one is travelling in foreign countries, it's often interesting to compare driving conditions, habits and types of vehicles with those at home. From time to time I'll add a few that caught my eye. See if you can see any differences from where you drive.
Apologies for the quality. Sometimes these were split second grab shots.
4 up (we've seen 5 up)
Strap your scooter to your people-mover
This one was full of timber (and rust)
Cambodia Day 6
Today's Travel:
Car: 12 kms
Map: Today's trip
A busy day today with some pleasant experiences, and one not so pleasant. The first was the Genocide Museum or 'S-21 Prison' where Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime interrogated Cambodians prior to sending them off to the Killing Fields. Cambodian Genocide Not particularly pleasant but informative and showed that a man's inhumanity to his fellow humans knows no bounds when it comes to cruelty. We'll spare you the details and just post one photo that shows the expected behaviour rules for 'prisoners'.
Pol Pot's idea was to turn Cambodia (AKA Kampuchia) into a socialist agrarian republic and to rid the country of intellectuals. This was taken to extremes such as arresting all those who wore glasses as they must be able to read and hence must be educated.
After that visit, we decided to forego the offered trip to the Killing Fields and wanted a bit of peace and quiet, so we had lunch by the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers at a lovely restaurant.
After lunch, we took in the National Museum (amazing it still existed after Pol Pot's efforts to eliminate history).
Lots of statues, a large proportion of which were from Angkor.
King Sisowath, under whose reign the Museum was built
Buddhas everywhere
Central courtyard with traditional Khmer architecture.
From there it was on to the Royal Palace complex. This is a large number of buildings including Pavilions, Royal living quarters, Stupas (tombs) and monuments covering an area of about 17.5 hectares (43 acres).
The Throne Hall in the Royal Palace complex.
A couple of other buildings in the complex are:-
Phochani Pavilion (Dance Hall)
Elephant Boarding Pavilion - Not a place where one's elephant gets room and board, but a place where a royal personage can climb on board their pachyderm.
More details at : Royal Palace of Cambodia
This mural stretches along part of the Silver Pagoda and features a spectacular mural depicting the classic Indian epic of the Ramayana (known as the Reamker in Cambodia). Parts are currently undergoing restoration.
Cambodia Day 7
Today's Travel:
Car: 0 kms
A rest day today. A sleep in and a wander down to breakfast.
The French influence remains even after they've gone. Coffee and Pain au Chocolat for breakfast
Needless to say, we didn't take any Durians in the lift. For those unfamiliar with the strong opinions (and smell) of this fruit, see Durians
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