Shelley getting chased by an elephant. Only Shelley!!
Took a tuk tuk to the Royal Palace only to find out they
were closing two hours early before re-opening in the afternoon. Change of plans. With our tuk tuk driver meeting us later, we
decided to check out some of the other free sites in the area.
Not sure the type of bird, but Erik wore the right colors
A picture of the hot, no seriously super hot (temp-wise) couple
Interesting sign?!
Old slums, worth a lot of money to foreign investors that locals refuse to sell
Shelley outside the slum, saying "Can we leave now. The smells are awful"
We checked out Friendship Monument—a monument dedicated to
the relationship of the Vietnamese and the Cambodian people after the
Vietnamese came in and overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Shelley showing you all the Friendship Monument...can you see her there?
Erik's favorite tree...
Next up the Independence Monument that commemorates their
independence from France. You do
actually see a lot of the French influence in the architecture and bakeries—we
do love the bakeries. It is keeping a
nice layer of fat on us as we can never resist a stop in for a 50-cent treat!
The Independence Monument...like many things we've seen in many countries, it's under construction
The Central Market:
Not quite as interesting as the Russian Market (the Russian Market being
a little rougher and used by more locals), but interesting nonetheless. The Central Market is more
expensive—relatively speaking—yet fun to check out, but do not touch anything
otherwise “you buy!!”
Shelley wants to be in every picture...behind her, the Central Market
We see these everywhere. Yes, they bake it in the pizza
Bling baby, bling!!
Funny Fruits huh?!?
Ice delivery at the market...FOUR!!
Finally, we made it to the Royal Palace, the National
Museum, and the Silver Pagoda. Beautiful
architecture, interesting history, and a must do while here. The royal prince actually lives in this area,
but we could not get him to come and say ‘hi’.
Street view of the guard house of the Royal Palace
Same guard house with a picture of the prince
Front of the National Museum
Inside the National Museum...we decided we are not too into old Asian antiquities, but the architecture is beautiful!
Like the statue, this is how we felt after filling up on bakery goods here in Cambodia
Artistic picture of the National Museum, anyone?
Not sure if the guard is as happy as Shelley is..."Smile for real Shelley!"
Walkway into the Royal Palace
Do we have to take another picture? Again, the beautiful architecture of the Royal Palace
First of many five-headed snakes attacking Shelley. "Why don't they like me?"
Monkeys on the roofs. Shelley still is afraid of them
Building in the Royal Palace grounds
The Silver Pagoda
I love me some lily pads...can we take this one home? I'll carry it!
A small buddha on the grounds of the Silver Pagoda.
A miniature model of Angkor Wat...we will be there in a few days
The inside of the Silver Pagoda. No pictures please! Ha, I got one!!
To cap the evening off, we did a brewery tour in the north
area of town. A German brew master along
with investors started this small micro-brewery. He gave us a personal tour and we were able
to discuss Cambodia living, the beer culture here and sample a number of the
beers. They are having a tough time
competing with the local big boys of Angkor and Anchor Beer at 50-cents a pop. Big surprise—third world country and he wants
a $2.50+ beer for people who do not make much more than that every day. We had a good time there and learned a lot
about living in Cambodia from this German expat.
On our way back, we had our tuk tuk driver on a wild goose
chase to find some items that Shelley and I were looking for. After stopping half a dozen times and trying
to explain (and act out) what we wanted, we found it much to the chagrin of our
driver. We paid him well and I think he
was happy.
Some local Khmer food for dinner and then a nice stroll
home…
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