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Published: June 25th 2017
Geo: 11.5588, 104.917
A day of contrasts today. Visited the gold opulence of the palace in the morning and then toured a village school in the afternoon.
It was free time to start the day and as long as we were back by 11 Phnom Penh was ours. We scaled the stairs for a short walk to the local market to get some stationery for the school visit for LO_RI and a couple of SIM cards which for the princely sum of $5 will untether us from the boat's on again off again data services.
Traffic negotiations were solved once again by stepping out and keeping going but a little different here because of the proliferation of cars and buses. But somehow it all seems to work.
Back at the tuk tuk rank we were a little disappointed that car number 24 wasn't available (was probably on the school run) but renegotiated a series of stop offs in car 11. Armed with the clothes we purchased yesterday we headed back to the markets and after finding the stall holder and confessing that Mac was a "happy Buddha" the exchange was easily made. LO_RI reported that in our absence our driver shared some insights into the
life of a driver. Definitely hard to make a living with so much competition and definitely dependant on good weather and the flow of tourists.
We were dropped off first with specific instructions on the timing and location of pickup. Loraine had given us a summary of what to expect at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda so we paid the $20.50 entry fee and declined the offer of a guide. There was no signage in the precinct and the name's on the map were not too much help. But every now and then we caught the end of a sentence or two from a guide and were able to find the highlights. It was actually "nice" to be free. We zigzagged our way through the 174 670 square metres of gardens and grounds, climbed the stairs and toured inside the buildings that were accessible.
The opulence in the temples was breath taking. The Throne Hall was off limits for entry but viewing platforms at every window gave a peek at the tiles, carpets, chandeliers and ornate furnishings. The stupas were ornately decorated and the deep green of the trees provided welcome shade. There was lots of evidence of restoration as
murals and buildings are undergoing extensive restoration.
The Silver Pagoda was one of the areas that could be visited. After removing our shoes we were permitted inside and instantly marvelled at the 92 kg gold Buddha which is encrusted with diamonds (the largest of which was 27 carats according to a guide we overheard.) The floor of this Pagoda was covered with silver tiles and patches of carpet were pulled back as viewing areas.
The tour leader of one of the visiting groups separated the carpet and pulled it back for his group to see. A bevy of security guards soon put a stop to that action. Loraine had mentioned that over the years increased restrictions have been added to the palace areas because of "abuse" by visitors. Guess we saw an example!
LO_RI opted for a tour of The National Museum which was around the corner. The Museum gives a glimpse of the cultural history of Cambodia dating back to the 4th century. There are over 14 000 exhibits in the sandstone buildings but when quizzed Richard summed it up by saying there were "a lot of statues." Guess the spectacular 8 armed statue of Lord Vishnu that dates back to the
6th century was just "one of the many."
Our driver was there at exactly the right time and despite road closures did get through the jumble to meet up with LO_RI. We were barrelling along heading for the river and the boat when what sounded like a loud gunshot pierced the air right at our wheels and brought traffic to a stop as onlookers tried to account for what had happened. Certainly woke us up as locals surrounded our tuk tuk looking for the source of the sound. We had both wheels intact and all occupants were accounted for and safe so we were waved on!
Were very glad to arrive at the pier in one piece although our driver wanted to re negotiate the deal! We thought we were being generous in offering more than the original asking price so definitely were not in the mood to up the ante- it was a determined "no"from LO_RI which was greeted with "good try" from Mac and Richard.
Lunch was served as the distraction for the AMA Lotus slipping out of Phnom Penh and up the river to the small village of Koh Chen. This is the village where the artisans create copper,
brass and silver items. We were assured by our guide Peter that this was the "real deal" and were given demonstrations on how to test the goods for authenticity. Stood in the workshop under the tin roof for the demonstration and the sweat was literally dripping from our faces and was inconveniently running like a river down our backs and legs.
I tried on lots of the "authentic" jewellery and was "nearly" tempted but ended up walking away from the 97.2% pieces. Also walked away from the dozens of children hawkers who had the 0% silver offerings balanced in baskets on their head. They were persistent salesman and exhibited no shyness in pressing their wares incessantly. They asked your name and used your name over and over again as they trailed behind the group looking for a sale.
We traversed the dirt road that ran parallel to the river and peeked into the homes on stilts. The villagers were busy in their daily lives and with the exception of the occasional stall holder, ignored our intrusion into their space. To be honest, I'm not sure what the focus was but we saw houses on termite threatened stumps, muddy puddles and holes, cars,
bikes, scooters and even a tuk tuk, roosters, clay pots, stupas and spirit houses, a monastery, cooking fires and workshops.
It was the prelude to the school visit and all the AMA Lotus travellers had bags of stationery for the children as Long had indicated this was an extremely needy school.
The squat school house buildings were arranged around the bare earth of a dusty quadrangle. Barred windows gave a view to the children seated in orderly rows behind wooden two seater desks that would have been in our school room museums. The walls were bare. The focal point of the rooms was a chalk board. The children's voices filled the open area as they chanted and repeated their lessons.
There were between 30 and 60 children in each of the classrooms with their teachers and obviously the "visitors" from the boat are regulars. Peter talked about the government funded education programmes, student attendance for half a day, the breadth of the curriculum and the importance of education in shaping the future of Cambodia.
We were invited into the classroom and Peter introduced us to the teacher and the children who were warm in their greetings and well rehearsed in their performance. We
joined the students at their desks and shared some English. Our "tutors" were keen to sing the ABC, to count and to name body parts and they knew and joined in with the old nursery favourites.
The visit finished with the class singing Old MacDonald with an assortment of crazy sounds and then we sang "If you're happy and you know it," for the children and they clapped and stamped and hoorayed as they laughed their way through in chorus.
It was time to leave and as Peter was wrapping up the commentary in the quadrangle the teacher started to distribute the donations. Have to say the pencil cases caused a stir of excitement as the children unzipped them to discover their treasures and the colouring and sticker books that LO_RI had sourced were being traded so that the recipients had "just the right one." We did note that the packs of exercise books and the toys were put away in the teacher cupboard and kept for another day.
Coincidentally it was just after 5 pm and we strolled back to the boat with the hawkers and the students on bike and foot trailing along. There were lots of smiles and lots of
thank yous.
There was no stalling this afternoon as everyone was stinking hot on return - so it was straight to the bar for some long, cold cool ones.
A shower, get changed, cocktails (Bloody Mary....yuck), the TOOLONG daily briefing and then the dinner choices.
Entertainment was teams of 6 for trivia night. Our foursome teamed up with Glenice and Roger as the East Coasters and despite being only one of two teams to score a perfect round in the 6 round competition we ended up being the first losers as runners up. Despite knowing who invented the miner's lamp we let ourselves down by only naming three of the four members of the Marx brothers and despite mulling long and hard could only produce the Marion bit of John Wayne's real name. Sure we would have clinched the bottle of champagne prize with those two answers although Glenice made it clear that if you weren't contributing you wouldn't be drinking (no pressure.)
And do think my ears are still ringing because The Saigon Lounge was then transformed into the stage for the long awaited (not bloody likely) Karaoke. Think there was a total of one person on board who could carry a tune
but it didn't stop many wannabes from having a go. We definitely hadn't had enough to drink to get up on stage but were enthusiastic and generous in our encouragement of everyone else.
.
Truly exhausted and didn't even notice how hard or how short the bed was-just collapsed.
Steps: 10 245 (thanks Richard for sharing the fireworks)
Temperature: 34 degrees ( think it was 42 standing still in the workshop)
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jmintouch33
non-member comment
Thanks Aunty Gail and Ruby. #relief