PHNOM
PENH |
Cambodia’s
capital sits at the confluence of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap Rivers.
Considered the loveliest of the French-built cities of Indochina, it was
founded as a small monastery in 1372 by a rich Khmer woman called Penh,
after she found four Buddha statues in a tree trunk on the banks of the
Mekong. She set up the monastery on a nearby hill or "phnom" in Cambodian. |
CENTRAL MARKET
(PSAR THMEI) |
A covered market distinguished by its central dome
(built in 1937). It is filled with shops selling jewelry and souvenirs.
It is a great place for browsing. |
KHMER APSARA
DANCE |
Visit the School of Fine Arts to see young apprentice
Apsara dancers train. |
KILLING FIELDS
OF CHOEUNG EK |
Between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 men, women, children
and infants who had been detained and tortured at S-21 were transported
to the extermination camp of Choeung Ek. |
NATIONAL MUSEUM |
Designed by a French archeologist and painter, George
Groslier, in Khmer style in 1920. The most significant displays of sculpture
include the eight-armed statue of Vishnu for the 6th or 7th century, the
statue of Shiva and the sublime statue of Jayavaraman VII seated. The
museum also contains displays of the pottery and bronzes dating from the
pre-Angkorian periods of Funan and Chenla, the Indravarman, the classical
Angkorian, as well as more recent work. There is a permanent collection
of the post-Angkorian Buddhas, many of which were rescued from Angkor
Wat when the civil war erupted. |
PRAYUVONG BUDDHA
FACTORY |
Bbserve the restoration of Buddha statuary and ritual
objects destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and the manufacture of objects for
contemporary practitioners of Buddhism. |
ROYAL PALACE
AND SILVER PAGODA |
Stands on the site of the former citadel, Banteay
Kev (built in 1813), fronts Samdech Sothearos Boulevard. Since King Sihanouk's
return to Cambodia, visitors are only allowed to visit the palace's Silver
pagoda and its surrounding compound. The silver pagoda is often called
the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha or Wat Preah Kaeo after the statue housed
there. King Norodom originally built the wooden temple in 1892 and inside;
its floor is comprised of more than 5000 silver blocks. |
SAMDECH SOTHEAROS BLVD |
Visit an area that is known for its rattan workshops
including those that produce rattan furniture for domestic consumption
and export. |
TUOL SLENG MUSEUM (Museum
of Genocide) |
In 1975 Toul Svay Prey High School was taken over
by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a prison known as Security
Prison 21 (S-21). It soon became the largest center of detention and torture
in the country. |
TUOL TOM PONG MARKET (Russian
Market) |
Is the best place in town for souvenir and clothes
shopping. It has a large range of real and fake antiquities, including
miniature Buddhas, wood curving, betel nut boxes, silk, silver jewelry,
jewelry cases, musical instruments and inexpensive DVDs, CDs and computer
program. |
WAT OUNALOM |
Is the headquarters of the Cambodian Buddhist patriarchate.
It was founded in 1443 and comprises 44 structures. The head of the country's
Buddhist hierarchy lives here, along with an increasing number of monks. |
WAT PHNOM |
Set on top of a 27m-high tree-covered knoll. According
to the legend, the first pagoda on this site was erected in 1373 to house
four statues of Buddha deposited here by the waters of the Mekong River
and discovered by a woman named Penh. |
