Phnom Penh Tour - Day 2
Trip Start
Oct 14, 2007
1
4
17
Trip End
Dec 04, 2007
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The "Mountain" as it is called is more of a hill. In a land that is so flat you can understand the overstatement! The ascent to the temple is lined with beggars all wanting a donation. At one point on our walk a group of beggars didn't see us coming until the last minute and hurriedly removed radios and any other convenience before we arrived.
The view from the top temple was very impressive. I took the mandatory panoramic photos before moving on.
We weaved our way down the mountain on an ancient stone path surrounded by lush undergrowth, intermittently coming across more ancient monuments and temples. At one point we came across a woman selling drinks. She indicated she would like Deb to buy a can and one for her the young girl she was with. Deb agreed and ended up with not only a can of drink but the young girl as well! She stuck with us for the rest of our trek. She acted a personal air conditioner for Deb. She walked just behind, or next to her, constantly fanning her to keep her cool. At the end of our walk we gave her a few notes, probably adding up to less than 50c in our money, and she went off happily.
Next Mr Wah took us back to the city to visit the "Little Hill", or Wat Phnom. This is an ornate temple on a small rise, very busy indeed.
Across the road was a food market where we had a very fresh tasting lunch and a beer for the princely sum of about $3!
Next on our itinerary was the National Museum. The thing that struck us most was how lucky it is that the Khmer Rouge left it alone as they banned and destroyed so many other links with the past. Initially the pieces were from the 19th & 20th century. You had to go further in to find the more ancient relics, 1st - 2nd century etc.
Our final destination for the day was to be the Royal Palace. Unfortunately Deb's attire was not deemed suitable enough to meet entry requirements. On the other hand my quality garments breezed through inspection. All who read this please note: Let it be proclaimed throughout the digital community that on 17/10/2007 at approximately 2:30pm Craig was officially deemed better dressed in public than Deb! (This is truly a one off event!)
We could've bought a t-shirt for Deb to cover up, but decided to return to the hotel, relax a bit before heading to the Riverfront for some dinner and to try and find an internet café with USB card reader capabilities so we can begin uploading these entries to the Travel Blog.
