| Log In | Sign In

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh » Blogs » Heartbreak and Hope in Phnom Penh » Outside the Royal Palace
Advertisement
« previous next »
Outside the Royal Palace  
   

Outside the Royal Palace

Heartbreak and Hope in Phnom Penh

September 20th 2014
Hot, dirty, chaotic, desperately poor and utterly charming - welcome to Phnom Penh. Once called the "Paris of the East", there's a lot to see and do in the Cambodian capital, so I'd set myself a busy few days. I started with a visit to the Royal Palace, which is also home to the Silver Pagoda. The grounds and buildings are beautiful, and after the tour busses of the north in Siem Reap, it seeme ... read more
Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh
Cambodian Flag Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, whose Angkor Empire extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the ... ... read more
Advertisement
Message Comment
Rachael
RJT
RJT
"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” - Jawaharlal Nehru ... full info
JoinedDecember 14th 2007Trips18
Last LoginMay 20th 2019Followers39
StatusBLOGGERFollows95
Blogs124Guestbook732
Photos3,512Forum Posts128
[photo=8189652]
[blogger=54638]

[photo=8189652] [blog=857812] [blogger=54638]

Top PhotosTrips (18)Blog Map

Advertisement

20th September 2014

taracloud
Tara Cloud

Such contrasts!
The Royal Palace photos are stunning, and such a contrast to the stories from the torture center and the killing fields. Good thing you started and ended with beauty! I've a Cambodian colleague whose professor father was taken, tortured and killed when she was a tiny girl. Her mother took her and the other children into the jungle in the dead of night to escape into Thailand where she grew up in a pretty terrible refugee camp. It sounds as if life is still rough for many Cambodians; thank goodness for organizations helping young women escape the sex trade. Palaces and prostitution--contrasts indeed!
21st September 2014

RJT
Rachael

Contrasts
What a terrible experience for your colleague, but wise for her mother to have left. Another one of Pol Pot's deranged sayings was that to eradicate the grass you need to kill the roots. By that he means that his soldiers wouldn't just kill the "enemy" but the entire family so that no one can come back for revenge. Terrible. You're right the palace was a complete contrast!

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh » Blogs » Heartbreak and Hope in Phnom Penh » Outside the Royal Palace
Tot: 0.021s; Tpl: 0.004s; cc: 6; qc: 6; dbt: 0.0086s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb