May 4, 2014

Cambodia : Phnom Penh (part 3)

 Continuation from here..

By the time we finished our tour at Tuol Sleng Museum, it was almost 2 pm. So we headed to the Royal Palace. If you wanna visit the palace, check out your timing cos it is closed at noon.

I guess this palace is a popular choice with tourists as the queues at the ticket counters were quite long when we arrived. All waiting patiently for the counters to open at 2 pm.

Anyway, if you plan to visit do note that the palace has a strict dress code. No bare shoulders or knees, so make sure that you cover up before you arrive. Else, you can rent sarongs and t-shirts at the entrance for 1000 Riel plus a USD 1 deposit.

Some of the highlights inside the Royal Palace complex are the Throne Hall, Silver Pagoda, Moonlight Pavilion and Phochani Pavilion.


Throne Hall


inside the throne hall

No photo of THE throne cos too many guards around I didn't have the chance to curi-curi snap any photos.




Phochani Pavilion


Hor Samran Phirun


Moonlight Pavilion

The buildings architecture was stunning and the garden was lovely. Somehow it reminded me to the Royal Palace in Bangkok. But sadly, many buildings and areas are off limit. This is because the King resides here.

There isn't much signage in the palace so you might want to get a guide if you are keen to know about Cambodian history and all. The cost is pretty steep at about USD 10 per hour though.

Located on the south side of the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is stunning as well.

 Silver Pagoda

It is the official temple of the King and houses several national treasures such as a 17th century emerald Buddha and a life-size gold Buddha decorated with diamonds.

Photography is not allowed inside the Silver Pagoda but you know me la.. hehehe...


inside the Silver Pagoda



Stupa of Princess Kantha Bopha

Statue of King Norodom


Stupa of King Ang Doung

Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda
Opens daily from 8 am ~ 11 am , 2 pm ~ 5 pm

 Entrance fee is USD 6.50

We still had a couple of hours left with our tuk-tuk driver. Personally I think there's nothing much to see in Phnom Penh so we had no idea where else to go.

In the end, we went to Wat Phnom. Set up on a small hill, this Buddhist temple is said to be the foundation place of Phnom Penh, and the city is named after it.
 

stairway leading to the temple

main pagoda

decoration on the wall


inner view



Wat Phnom
Opens daily from 8 am ~ 5 pm 

 Entrance fee is USD 1

Arina told us about a mamak restaurant in the city so we asked our tuk-tuk driver to drop us off at the restaurant for a late lunch. Our time with him wasn't finished yet but we just told him not to wait for us.

Afterwards, we just walked around the city; to the Central Market again, and then to the Waterfront.
 

 

 
tuk-tuk

Later that night, we bought bus tickets to Ho Chi Minh City. This time, no more overnight bus. haha... Okay, not that we didn't want to save our time, but there's no overnight bus between these routes.
 


2 comments:

Time Traveller said...

Suka tuk tuk yang comel tu huhuuu... lain dari yang lain.. ke harga dia pun mahal lain dari yang lain :P

http://timetravelafif.blogspot.com/2014/05/kembara-england-part-7-natural-history.html

rara said...

@Time Traveller: haha comel kan tuktuk tu? harga dia I taktau la pulak sbb driver dia hilang tah ke mana..