Saying Hello to Madame Penh

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My day started out as any, that is, by going down to have some breakfast but this time on the small veranda by the reception area of the hotel. The reception desk actually also doubles as a small outdoor kitchen so you actually see your breakfast being prepared. My stomach would prove to still be sensitive a little later on in the morning but that's why God invented Imodium ... I was not going to be deterred but definitely annoying!

I had made arrangements with the same tuk tuk driver (his name is Jin ... something tells me that I should be able to remember that!) who actually arrived early. I have been noticing this actually; they are all quite punctual unlike Cuba or some other places where when you give them a time it seems to be taken more as a general suggestion!

I had no particular preference as to what order to visit things so I told him what I wanted to visit and pretty much left it up to him. As we headed out, the first thing that caught my eye was the Independence Monument. Modelled after the central tower of the Angkor Wat, it is a large monument to commemorate Cambodia's independence from France as well as a memorial to the victims of war and it takes centre stage at a large traffic circle.

This led us to the grounds of the Royal Palace. In stark contrast to the ruins of the Angkor temples, the grounds are perfectly manicured and lush and the buildings themselves are comparable to the temples and palaces of Thailand being as comparitively ornate and intricate. The sky was a clear bright blue today (although that did ultimately change!) which made the colours of these incredible buildings just stand out. The visit starts with a glimpse of the Chan Chaya Pavillon which you unfortunately can only see from the outside (and from afar).

From there, you move on to the Throne Hall. The building is topped with a 59 meter high tower and I noticed that there were faces on each side of this tower which I would later find out were inspired by the faces adorning the Bayon. The building itself is used for coronations and other official ceremonies. As you enter, you are faced with a long room reminiscent of a ballroom. There are enormous crystal chandeliers. There are beautiful tiles on the ground creating a floral pattern which is then mimicked in a very large area rug. The windows are covered by shutters of a deep red colour and decorated with intricate patterns painted in gold. Near the entrance, there was a large table laden with different types of fruits ranging from apples, jackfruit, mangos. I would venture a guess that that was in keeping with the celebration of the Khmer New Year and not an ordinary occurence. Adjacent to the Throne Hall is an odd little building. Consider that you have a collection of buildings in the traditional design but in the middle is this grey iron building with a smalll clocktower. This was apparently a gift from Napolean III of France. It definitely stands out from the bunch!

The visit then continues on towards the Silver Pagoda, which is surrounded by a bell tower and a number of incredibly ornate memorial stupas. The Silver Pagoda is named for the fact that the floor itself is made up of over 5000 silver floor tiles, each weighing 1 kg. The actual name is Wat Phra Keo or Temple of the Emerald Buddha. What I am truly enjoying of this trip is that I can tie in so many things from my trip to Thailand last year to this particular trip. There is also a Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok and the two figures are actually quite similar. The one in Bangkok was thought to actually be made of jade whereas this one is thought to be made of Baccarat crystal. These Buddha images are highly revered and therefore it is always surprising to see that they are actually both quite small. This particular Buddha sits atop an incredibly ornate dais. There are a number of other Buddha images within this particular temple. The one that is most memorable is of course the one that was decorated with 9,584 diamonds; the biggest one being located at the third eye position and being a whopping 25 carat. Ironically, the pagoda itself was preserved by the Khmer Rouge in order to show that it was still concerned for the preservation of Cambodia's heritage.

The next stop would be the National Museum. The building itself is enough to stop and have a look. It is in keeping with the traditional design but in a dark brick colour similar to the temple of Bantey Srei. The Museum houses an extensive collection of Khmer artifacts. One room is filled with Buddha images made of wood dating from the 15th and 16th Century. These were so beautiful and I was surprised to see they were in relatively good condition. There was just so many things to see including traditional weaving instruments (which I recognized from my trip to the silk farm), junk boats, funeral urns as well as ornamentations that would have been on the Royal Palace and some temples. What was interesting was that there was a huge section filled with sandstone sculptures and although they look better preserved and therefore more recent, many of these statues actually dated back to the 12th and 13th century (and therefore much older than some things in previous sections) and many came from the Angkor region. I actually recognized a couple of the statues such as the head of one of the demons at the South Gate of Angkor Thom and just by the colour, some of the artifacts from Bantey Srei. There were also these amazing photographs of the Angkor temples done by John McDermott whom I had read about but had yet to see his photos. I may try to hunt down a book of his photos to bring back because they are incredibly stunning ... man, if mine look half ... make that a quarter ... as good as his I will be a very happy girl. One thing that just absolutely blew me away was this tablet that had an inscription engraved into it. There were two lines in Sanskrit and six lines in Old Khmer and it essentially was a foundation tablet detailing when it was laid and the gifts that were given to the labourers during the construction. The date was September 29 in the year 667 at one o'clock in the morning. They were able to determine this due to the fact that the inscription had astrological references.

The next stop would be Wat Phnom which sits atop a small hill and which can be reached by a large staircase flanked by the traditional naga balustrades. Legend has it that the city of Phnom Penh was established when Madame Penh found four Buddha images on the banks of the Mekong River which she brought to this particular hill. The town that grew around it ultimately became Phnom Penh or "Hill of Penh". And right now the whole Friends episode where Eddie and Chandler are discussing ex-girlfirends "and she thought Sean Penn was the capital of Cambodia" joke keeps playing over and over in my head!

Wat Phnom was quite abuzz with activity, which might have to do with the fact that this was the third and final day of Khmer New Year although I have read that it can get pretty chaotic at this particular spot. There were a number of people going from shrine to shrine and leaving offerings and I noticed a number of them talking a small cup of water and pouring it over their heads and doing a type of cleansing motion with their hands. That lead me to actually do a bit of research when I returned to my room and it is traditional for buddhists to cleanse Buddha statues which I would actually get to see at the next wat I visited. What had me in stitches (although I was quite careful not to show it because there were a large number of people leaving offerings as I approached it) was the small shrine to Madame Penh including a colourful, smiling, plump looking statue of what I would guess is her likeness, with glasses and bright red lipstick. Right behind her was this type of halo with twinkly lights ... a sight to behold that Madame Penh!

The last stop would be Wat Ounaloum which is the headquarters for Cambodian Buddhism and home to the head of the country's Buddhist brotherhood as well as a large number of monks. As you entered, there were a number of statues of emaciated men including one with his stomach hanging out. No reference to these statues in the guidebook so hard to say what that would signify. The wat was definitely decorated for Khmer New Year including something that I have seen a number of times now over the last couple of days. There seems to always be this brightly decorated area where there are five large mounds of sands and where people seem to go and leave offerings. Again, thanks to Wikipedia the mounds would represent the stupas where first the hair and headress of the Buddha are kept as well as the memorial stupas of his four favorite disciples. I made my way around the grounds and noticed these five large statues. A very nice man came to tell me what they represented but when I asked one question about why one had small Buddha figures carved at his heart, belt and over each of his toes ... blank stares all around! Okay then ... let's move on! I mentioned earlier that the washing of the Buddha was tradition and I saw a man pour water over this beautiful white Buddha statue that was essentially sitting in a stainless steel bowl with jasmine flowers floating in the water. Apparently, one of the large stupas at this particular temple houses an eyebrow hair of Buddha! How that is even possible is beyond me but if Lonely Planet says so ...

So back to the hotel I went to the sound of rumbling thunder. I made arrangements with Jin for him to drive me to the market tomorrow as well as take me to the airport later on in the afternoon. He gave me his email just in case I knew somebody who was coming to Cambodia! Judging from the stunned look I would get from people when I would say that I was coming here along with the "why on Earth would you go there" or the "well that's an interesting choice", I'm thinking that it might not come into use very soon unless I want to start a penpal relatiionship like I had with that girl in France when I was 13!

By the way ... thunder means rain and when I say rain, I mean torrential downpours ... a wall of rain if you will. And as quickly as it started, it stopped! I went out to the covered part of the reception area where they have those big round rattan chairs and just sat it out! There was easily an inch or two of water on the ground by the time it was through. It has been very hot here and I had actually up to this point not even bothered to look up what the temperature actually was. At a certain point, hot is hot and it really doesn't matter anymore. But in case you are wondering, today was a whopping 38C with humidity.

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Comments

[Francine]

Wow! You really met Madame Penh??? She sounds a little "tacky" I daresay. Oh well, as long as she is not as obnoxious as her son:) Today, an update from exotic Canada...Charlotte is doing fine and does not seem to feel too lonely...beautiful spring weather with sunshine and all...and what else???...hhmm, nothing really. Take care and...say hello to Jin:) FAF~