In our hotel in Kampot, we found a travel guide about Cambodia that we could take a lot of useful information from for our onward journey. So we planned three days in the capital from May 5th to May 8th.
Since we arrived in Phnom Penh after noon, the first thing on our agenda was to find something to eat. Finding food with hunger definitely isn't one of our strengths 😅 In the end, we decided to try the local Khmer cuisine. Here, there are dishes like Amok or Lok Lak. Amok is a kind of coconut milk curry with chicken, fish or tofu. Lok Lak is marinated meat - both are served with rice.
By the way, Khmer is the term for the largest ethnic group in Cambodia. They make up 97% of the population.
After eating, we thought we could visit the Royal Palace...on the way there, we passed Wat Ounalom, a very beautiful Buddhist temple.
The pictures do not show the entire beauty of the temple. Furthermore, there was a Buddhist ceremony taking place, which is why we stayed on the premises a little longer.We missed some time because of this, to visit the Royal Palace. Even more time passed because we had trouble finding the entrance 😅 When we finally found the entrance, it was already after 5pm and there was no admittance anymore 😄 well, then the next day 😉In the evening, we got tacos and visited the microbrewery Himawari in the hotel of the same name. They had the finest craft beer and as always, nuts were served as well. In the morning, we went straight to the entrance of the Royal Palace. We weren't allowed in because Coline was wearing a dress with bare shoulders and the covering cloth didn't meet the dress code. Luckily, our hotel wasn't far away. On our second attempt, we were allowed in. We visited a perfectly maintained facility, although it had many barriers. The reason being that King Norodom Sihamoni 🤴 lives here. However, he didn't make an appearance 😄 Right next door is the area of the Silver Pagoda. After the lunch break, we visited the National Museum. Here, there were numerous Buddhist and Hindu sculptures to admire: Buddha, Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu - a huge collection from the temples of Angkor. Not only is the collection impressive, but also the building and its courtyard. On the way to the museum, Coline's attentive eye spotted a cat café, which we subsequently visited. Here, we got a kind of therapy against homesickness 🥰😻🐱🐈 So we spent two hours cuddling, playing and petting. On the lower right of the collage is Apollo. The sleepy gigolo managed to charm one of the female cats during our stay 😂Towards evening, we relaxed by the Mekong... On the way to dinner, we visited the next craft beer garden and enjoyed the good brewing skills of the Khmer.Surprisingly, our search for dinner led us to the red-light district of Phnom Penh. We got a seat in a restaurant right on the promenade and could observe the busy activity 😅 Many older western men looking for companionship... On the third day, we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This is the former prison S-21, a place of the darkest chapter in Khmer history. The so-called Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and wanted to transform society into an agrarian communism. Numerous intellectuals, artists, doctors, and craftsmen were tortured and executed in S-21. With the help of a German audio guide, we listened to the cruel history of this time. A very oppressive and emotional museum visit. Even though we, as 🇩🇪, have our own dark history, places like these show that it exists everywhere in the world and damn still does 😢At the end of the tour, two survivors were even sitting there, selling their book with their own story. What must it feel like to return to this place every day? Then, in the travel guide, we read about a Russian market. When we arrived there, it turned out to be just like any other market on our trip: clothes, fruits, vegetables, jewelry, kitsch - ok, and something new: scooter parts and various accessories 😃 We didn't see any Russians 😅In the late afternoon, a craft beer garden was a must. We visited the Botanico Beer Garden and decided to take another look at the red-light district in the evening 😂 Phnom Penh, you are definitely worth the trip. A beautiful city in the Kingdom of Cambodia 🇰🇭
