Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
MEKONG CRUISES
Boats and their captains can be hired for a late afternoon cruise on the Mekong (around
$10/hr, depending on the number of passengers; look out for the signs at the north end of the
promenade), where you can sup a beer (bring your own) and watch the sun set behind the
Royal Palace. Try friendly Crocodile Cruises ( T 012 981559, W crocodilecruise.com; sunset
tour $10/person for 90min, Silk Island $25/3hr 30min, private hire $25/hr), which offers free
pick-ups and a little more style (and comfort) than other boats; theirs are fitted with cushioned
armchairs and loungers.
way back to the reign of Ponhea Yat in the fifteenth century - though there's little
evidence now of its age. In the early 1970s, more than five hundred monks lived at the
pagoda, which also housed the library of the Institut Bouddhique, subsequently
destroyed, along with many of the buildings, by the Khmer Rouge.
The pagoda gets its name from its role as repository for an ounalom , a hair from the
Buddha's eyebrow , contained in the large chedi behind the vihara; you can gain access if
you ask at the small bookshop near the entrance. Within the chedi are four sanctuaries,
the most revered being the one facing east, where there's a fine bronze Buddha. The
monks use the vihara , which dates from 1952, in the early morning, after which time
visitors can enter. Unusually, it's built on three floors, and houses a commemorative
statue of Samdech Huot Tat, the
venerable fourth patriarch of
Cambodian Buddhism, who was
murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Despite
its unappealing exterior, the dark-grey
chedi is worth a quick look for its crypt ,
in which hundreds of small cubicles
hold the funerary urns of Cambodian
notables, most of which are adorned
with bright plastic flowers and a
photograph of the deceased.
ROYAL PALACE AND
SILVER PAGODA
Open gateway
Closed gateway
Ramayana Gallery
Dancing
Pavilion
Royal
Residence
Royal
Waiting
Room
Victory
Gate
Throne Hall
Royal
Treasury
Royal Palace and
Silver Pagoda
he Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are
Phnom Penh's most iconic buildings,
their roofs adorned with soaring golden
nagas and spires that glint enticingly
against the sky. Built in traditional
Khmer style, the crenellated wall that
encases this complex of royal buildings,
manicured gardens and relic-stuffed
temples is painted pale yellow and
white, the two colours representing
respectively the Buddhist and Hindu
faiths. Nothing now exists of King
Ponhea Yat's palace, built here in 1434,
and very little remains of the wooden
palace of King Norodom - the
great-great-grandfather of the current
king, who moved his capital here from
Pavilion of
Napoleon III
Royal
O ces
Banqueting
Hall
11
1
Start of
Ramayana
Gallery
North
Gate
10
East
Gate
9
West
Gate
8
2
Silver
Pagoda
4
7
Main
Entrance
and Exit
3
5
6
Elephant Garden
South
Gate
0
100
metres
1
2
3
4
5
Equestrian Statue of
King Norodom
Chedi of King Ang Duong
Buddha's Footprint
Phnom Kailassa
Chedi of Kantha Bopha
6
7
8
9
10
11
Royal Pavilion
Chedi of King Norodom Suramarit
Scale model of Angkor Wat
Bell Tower
Mondap
Chedi of King Norodom
 
 
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