The hotel was almost in the back garden of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh so it was an obvious first thing to go and see! The sun was shining and the blue sky was peppered with fluffy white clouds.
The first view of the main part of the palace was amazing. Yellow is the colour of royalty in Cambodia and it was a striking sight to see in a large building. The palace was actually built by the French in the 19th century and was modelled on the much bigger Royal Palace complex in Bangkok. The materials used in the construction included marble from Italy so the French would seemed to have favoured the Cambodians more than the Vietnamese!
There was a rather bizarre sight amongst the the striking yellow buildings - a European looking structure that looked like it had been plonked right in the middle of the complex. It was in fact a summer house that Napoleon III had built for his wife on the recently opened Suez Canal. She liked it so much that she had it dismantled, shipped half way around the world and rebuilt in Phnom Penh as 'gift' to the King of Cambodia - what a bizarre gift!
It was a lovely palace to see and I was able to take some pretty pictures in the very favorable weather conditions.
It was hot, very hot and the walk along the Tonle Sap river bank after the Royal Palace tour was probably a mistake! Refreshment was required and gladly taken! After booking some bus tickets and a lunch of noodle soup, the next stop was the National Museum which was a neighbour of the Royal Palace.
The building and surrounding gardens were beautiful. The artifacts inside looked quite interesting but there was limited information available and the best thing to do was just enjoy them. The building had a central courtyard and the water garden inside was a beautiful oasis in this dusty hot city.
After the days exertions in the heat a welcome swim in the hotel pool was great.
The first view of the main part of the palace was amazing. Yellow is the colour of royalty in Cambodia and it was a striking sight to see in a large building. The palace was actually built by the French in the 19th century and was modelled on the much bigger Royal Palace complex in Bangkok. The materials used in the construction included marble from Italy so the French would seemed to have favoured the Cambodians more than the Vietnamese!
There was a rather bizarre sight amongst the the striking yellow buildings - a European looking structure that looked like it had been plonked right in the middle of the complex. It was in fact a summer house that Napoleon III had built for his wife on the recently opened Suez Canal. She liked it so much that she had it dismantled, shipped half way around the world and rebuilt in Phnom Penh as 'gift' to the King of Cambodia - what a bizarre gift!It was a lovely palace to see and I was able to take some pretty pictures in the very favorable weather conditions.
It was hot, very hot and the walk along the Tonle Sap river bank after the Royal Palace tour was probably a mistake! Refreshment was required and gladly taken! After booking some bus tickets and a lunch of noodle soup, the next stop was the National Museum which was a neighbour of the Royal Palace.
The building and surrounding gardens were beautiful. The artifacts inside looked quite interesting but there was limited information available and the best thing to do was just enjoy them. The building had a central courtyard and the water garden inside was a beautiful oasis in this dusty hot city.After the days exertions in the heat a welcome swim in the hotel pool was great.
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