Friday 18 July 2014

Saturday in Phnom Penh- The King is Home

King Ciaran's Visit Home

Our day began with a visit to the newly coronated King Ciaran's house, the Royal Palace. The sheer size of the site was enough to amaze us. We walked through various buildings and pagodas filled with luxury and elegance that we could only dream of. The height of this luxury being displayed in the Silver Pagoda which had been originally constructed with silver-tiled flooring. The flooring was unfortunately ripped out and sold by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. The few tiles that remain have been discoloured, however their intricate detail is still very impressive.

We split off into several tuk tuks and headed to the Psar Orussey markets. These were very different to the markets in Takeo. These were 5 well organised floors of shops that sold anything from toys to jewellery to food. We were free to roam around in groups and were instructed to buy our lunch from the food court on the fifth floor. The Khmer kids stuck to their traditional food, whereas the majority of us Mount Lawley students headed for Hungry Jack's and KFC replacements.

The rain forced us to follow Lynne through the Russian markets, which appeared to be busier than the Psar Orussey markets. This made it even more important for us to stick together. Desperate to get out of the rain, we rushed into several tuk tuks and headed back to the hotels. The language barrier between us and some of the drivers made it hard for them to navigate their way back to our hotel.

In the evening, we visited Ounalom Wat. Ounalom Wat was like having a small town inside Pnohm Penh. Ounalom Wat is the religious site where many Buddhist monks live. We visited the various pagodas, each one as elegantly detailed as the next. As we walked through the beautiful pagodas and through the small town that had all its own facilities, it was surprising to see the monks talking on their mobiles and playing Candy Crush on their iPads.

After dinner, we headed to the night markets just down the road from our hotel. We walked through the aisles of stalls with each vendor offering us a "discount" while the NFO kids looked on and laughed at us being severely ripped off.

Tired, everyone headed back to the hotel in an attempt to get some sleep before waking to watch the World Cup final.

Clara

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