Cambodia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 74

junction of Sisowath Quay and Street
184, in front of the Royal Palace. It's here
that Cambodians used to congregate to
listen to declarations and speeches from
the monarch, and where Khmer families
still gather in the evenings and at
weekends. Picnics, games, kite-flying and
perhaps a cup of dteuk k'nai choo are the
order of the day. Running to the north
and south, pedestrianized Sisowath Quay
is lined with tall palms on one side, and
bars, cafés and restaurants on the other.
In the middle of the day the area is quiet,
but as evening draws in, it is transformed
into a popular and lively social centre
with aerobics classes taking centre stage.
For a short cruise up the Tonle Sap,
particularly popular around sunset, boats
can be rented along the shore for about
$10 per person per hour.

royal regalia and other valuable items.
In front and to the left, bordering
Sothearos Boulevard, is the Moonlight
Pavilion , where the king used to address
his subjects.
Across the complex, back towards the
Silver Pagoda stands the quaint, grey
Pavilion of Napoleon III (closed at the time
of writing). Originally erected at the
residence of Empress Eugénie in Egypt,
it was packed up and transported to
Cambodia as a gift to King Norodom,
great-grandfather to the current king,
who constructed the first palace here.
he internal wall of the Silver Pagoda
courtyard is decorated with a fabulous,
richly coloured and detailed mural of the
Ramayana myth, painted in 1903-04 by
forty Khmer artists. he Silver Pagoda
takes its name from the floor of the
temple, completely covered with silver
tiles - 5329 to be exact - and is also
known as Wat Preah Keo Morakot
(“Temple of the Emerald Buddha”), after
the famous Emerald Buddha image, made
from baccarat crystal, that is kept here.
Returning to the stupa-filled courtyard,
seek out the artificial Mount Mondop
to see one of the Buddha's extremely
large footprints.

2

The Royal Palace
Behind the park, set back from the
riverbank on Sothearos Boulevard,
stand the Royal Palace and adjacent
Silver Pagoda (daily 8-11am & 2-5pm;
$6.25), the city's finest examples of
twentieth-century Khmer-influenced
architecture. Both are one-storey
structures - until the Europeans arrived,
standing above another's head (the
most sacred part of the body) was
strictly prohibited.
he palace itself is strictly off-limits,
but it's possible to visit several buildings
within the compound, even when the
king is around - a blue flag flies when he
is in residence.
At the entrance, visitors are directed to
the palace compound first, an oasis of
order and calm. Head straight for the
main building in the centre of the
compound, the exquisite Throne Hall ,
guarded on either side by statues of naga.
Inside, the ceiling is adorned with
colourful murals recounting the Hindu
legend of Ramayana.
As you leave the hrone Hall via the
main stairs, on your left you'll see the
Elephant Pavilion where the king waited
on coronation day and mounted his
elephant for the ceremonial procession.
A similar building on the right, the
Royal Treasury , houses the crown jewels,

The National Museum
Just north of the Royal Palace on
Norodom Boulevard, the grand,
red-painted structure that houses the
National Museum (daily 8am-5pm; $5) is
a combination of French design and
Cambodian craftsmanship. Its four
galleries, set around a tranquil courtyard,
shelter an impressive array of ancient
relics, art and sculpture covering
Cambodian history from the sixth
century to the present day. Some of the
sculpted heads from the bridge at Angkor
hom are exhibited, as is the original
statue of Yama God of the Underworld
from Angkor's Terrace of the Leper King.
he catalogue of exhibits continues to
grow as treasures hidden from the Khmer
Rouge are rediscovered.
An interesting exhibit from more recent
history is the king's boat cabin, a portable
wooden room used by the king for
travelling on the Tonle Sap.