Cambodia Trip 2009 - Phnom Penh- Wat Phnom Hill- Part 3

The man tried to sell us these birds to be released. Releasing animals is part of the buddhist practise. But we dont like the idea of buying these birds as it would encourage these people to catch the birds again and sell.

Locals having a fun time playing.

A short video showing the huge clock.

There's an elephant in the park but I am too scared to go for the ride.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh - Wat Phnom Hill - Part 2

Continued from yesterday posting about the temple on top of the Wat Phnom Hill.

Love the statues found on the temple. They are so beautiful.

Cambodia trip 2009 -Phnom Penh - Wat Phnom Hill

Our relatives brought us to visit this temple on a hill top.

Wat Phnom is the only hill in town. According to 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 and discovered by a woman name Penh. The main entrance to Wat Phnom is via the grand eastern staircase, which is guarded by lions and naga (snake) balustrades. You can read more from source.

We need to pay US$1 to visit the temple while the locals visit for free.

Cambodia Trip 2009 - Phnom Penh- National Museum - Lotus Pond

After touring the national museum, we went for a walk in the garden in the museum. It is filled with so many lotus. I have a great time taking photos of the lotus.

Did you manage to see the shadow cast by the dragonfly? I did not realise it till I view my photos in the computer.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh- National Museum - Doors/Windows

Oh I love taking photos of unique doors and windows. I think the cravings on the doors are so beautiful.

Even the windows are painted with beautiful drawings.

Cambodia Trip 2009 - Phnom Penh - National Museum

We managed to find time to visit some of the places of interest in Cambodia although our main purposes was to attend a wedding.

The structure of the National Museum is so beautiful.

Foreigners need to pay more for the entrance fee.

We could only take photos of these few stone sculptures in the main hall. We could not take photos of other exhibits in the museum.

It was a pleasant trip to the museum, very interesting.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh - Diamond Island

Our relatives brought us around to have alook around the city. There's this new project in Cambodia and is known as Diamond Island. It is still being under construction. There would villas, condominiums, schoolds, shopping malls, golf course, etc when completed.

The one that strike me most is this giant bird/creature.

The only building I saw completed is this wedding hall.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh - Attractions in Cambodia - Independence Monument

The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, was built in 1958 following the country's independence from France.

It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, of the style seen at the great Khmer temple at Angkor Wat and other Khmer historical sites. You can read more from wikipedia.

Near the Independence Monument, I could see many other buddha statues.

The above photos were not taken very well because I took them from inside of the moving van.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh- Wedding in Cambodia

As mentioned, I was in Cambodia briefly just to attend a relative's wedding. They throw the wedding dinner in a wedding hall like those in the below photos. The halls are named A, B, C, D, etc. The whole street is mainly for holding wedding and there are hotels above the hall for guests that flown in from other provinces of Cambodia or overseas. The hotel that I stay is behind this street.

Closer look at a Cambodian Wedding in Hall D. Inside is quite spacious and nice.

The heart shaped box is for collecting gifts of money in ang pow (red packet).

The wedding couple would then walked round the wedding cake with their respective parents three times and then they would feed their parents a slice of cake. Very interesting.

After the cutting of cake, guests would used the streamers to spray onto the wedding couple.

Guests would then turn wild and dance. It really was so interesting but too bad I dont have the permission from my friends and relatives to show the video.

Tuk Tuk Transport

We get a chance to try out the tuk tuk in Cambodia. It was so fun.
The tuk tuk in Cambodia is actually a Motorcycle with a passenger trailer behind serving as taxi.
Our friendly tuk tuk driver. Every morning, he would come so early to our hotel and wait for us and see if we need his service. But most of the time, our relatives came to fetch us in a mini van to tour round the city.

Another cheaper way to get around the city in Cambodia is to ride in a motorcycle taxi. The driver must wear a helmet while the passenger behind is not required to put on a helmet. Sometimes there are more than two people sitting behind the driver. I saw as many as four people on the motorcycle taxi.

Hubby saw a man sitting on top of a pig's carcass...lol but I was too late to take a photo of it.

Cambodia Trip 2009 -Phnom Penh - Food Scenes

There are so many street vendors selling food in Cambodia.

Workers cooking with firewoods. This is the back of the restaurant.

Cambodia Trip 2009 - Phnom Penh- Street Scenes

Some of the street scenes that I took photo of . Their buildings are mostly low rise, very unlike Singapore.

The power cables are hang overhead very untidily.

This is so strange, they just dump their rubbish in the middle of the road.

Looked at the numerous cable lines hanging above.
Another dumping ground?

They are slowly developing their country and I am sure everything will be clean then.