Asia 2018: Day #20 Phnom Penh Exursions

Still moored at Phnom Penh. Presumably this was where we actually caught up to the original schedule so from here on all is as it should be.

The day started with an excursion to the Royal Palace situated on the banks of the Tonle Sap River. There really isn't very much to say about palaces such as this. Nothing in particular stands out, so I'll juts let the pictures tell the story. 

Then on to the National Museum which seemed to consist mainly of sculptures taken from the temples from the north of the country. Interesting but not up to the standard of the Angkor Museum we went to in Siem Reap.

Museum exterior

Museum interior

That was followed by a wander around the Phnom Penh local market. Most of the goods on display here were the same as we had seen elsewhere in the country with the exception of the fake watches and bling jewellery. The best of the market was in the food section, as usual.

The afternoon excursion was to Tuol Sleng, better known as S21, a Khmer Rouge torture centre. This is not my cup-of-tea at all so I stayed on the boat while the bulk of the other passengers went on the tour. The general impression I got from them later that day was one of shock and a feeling that they really hadn't known what was going on. I suppose I could have said the same thing in the 70s and 80s but appear to have picked up enough in the past 20 years of what happened in Cambodia to know that I really didn't want to be reminded of it. Similarly I didn't make any attempt to visit any of the Polish concentration camps when I was in that country in 2017.

The evening entertainment on board was a demonstration of Apsara Dance by some local teenagers and children who were pretty good. A lot of them were training to be future professional dancers. This was obviously a group that was being nurtured somewhat by our cruise director. He also provided us with the interesting snippet of information that the whole art of Cambodian Dance was banned under Pol Pot and nearly lost. It was brought back into the country by ex-pats who had kept the traditions alive while in exile. And a good thing too.

This cruising is getting exhausting.