Phnom Penh

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Wednesday, December 15th - Phnom Penh - population 1.5 million

Talk about a juxtaposition - the abject poverty yesterday and waking up in the Raffles five star hotel in Phnom Penh this morning. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful life. The Christmas tree in the lobby smells of fresh cut pine as the musicians play carols on traditional Cambodian instruments.

We met our local guide Veng, and were off to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Built in 1434, the Royal Palace was rebuilt in concrete in 1866 by the French. The main building on the grounds is the Throne Room. It was built in 1917 in the Khmer style - a tiered roof and tall center tower - much like Angkor’s Bayon Temple. The Throne Room is used for coronations and other official occasions like when foreign ambassadors present their credentials to the King.

The King’s residence is in a secure area on the Palace grounds. The present King Norodom Sihamoni is a 58year old bachelor who danced ballet prior to assuming the throne. His father, King Norodom Sihanouk, is 88 years old and lives in Beijing. He first served as king from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication in 2004. He is still known as the King Father of Cambodia. Veng explained that Cambodia has three types of government: communist, democratic, and monarchy. While the communist party is the majority, the real power lies with the Prime Minister. Hun Sen, age 59 and a communist, has been the elected Prime Minister since 1998.

The Silver Pagoda (or temple of the Emerald Buddha) was originally built by King Norodom in 1892 to enshrine royal ashes. It was rebuilt in 1962 by King Sihanouk. The outside steps are Italian marble and the floor inside the Pagoda is comprised of more than 5000 silver tiles which together weigh more than 6 tons. In the center of the Silver Pagoda is a magnificent 17th century Buddha made of Baccarat crystals. In front is a 90 kg golden Buddha studded with 9584 diamonds made from the jewelry of King Norodom in 1906.

Our next stop was to Wat Phnom Pagoda located on a man-made hill in the center of Phnom Penh. People come to this pagoda to pray for luck. Legend has it that in the year 1373, the first temple was built by a woman named Penh who found four Buddha statues floating in the Mekong River. A statue and shrine to her is located behind the temple.

Nothing can prepare you for the sights and stories of the 2 million people executed by the Khmer Rouge between April 1975 and January 1979. The regime set about wiping out all intellectuals, government officials, people in disagreement with Pol Pot, and anyone they chose for any other reason they could think of (eg., if you wore glasses, then you were an intellectual). Men, women, and children were rounded up at night and taken to one of several detainment camps. We visited the Killing Fields of Chemung Ek, in the farming outskirts of Phnom Penh. Prisoners here were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting bullets. There is a tree in the center of these fields where children were either dropped from or bashed into. Prisoners had to dig their own graves. Many times people were simply buried alive. The memorial stupa on this site contains the skulls of more than 8000 victims and their clothes. As we walked around pieces of cloth still come too the surface after the rains. It’s unbelievable man’s inhumanity to man.

Our final stop today was at the Apsara Dance school started by a woman who wanted to retain the dance and culture of the Khmer people, especially after Pol Pot’s regime exterminated most of the dancers and artists of the time. It was a fitting end of a long day watching these children perform for us - they even

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Photos

Lobby of Raffles Hotel
It's starting to feel like Christmas now

Taking off shoes
You can't enter the temples or pagodas with shoes on

Steps leading to Wat Phnom
notice the naga (serpents head)

Notice the long ear lobes
It means long life and prosperity, Yeah!

Shrine to Mrs. Phen who found the 4 floating Buddhas
I don't know who put glasses on her - kind of a grandmotherly touch

Elephant in the park
Touching an elephant is supposed to bring good luck

Site of mass graves
This used to be an orchard before it became a killing field

Comments

[CAROLE]

You guys are seeing it all and bringing back my memories of having done the same. I'm going driving with Lois tomorrow morning early--5:00am at Starbuck's. won't they be surprised to see me at that hour!!! I's sending much love and Merry Christmas greetings to you. I love you, Carole