On Saturday, Jeremy and I visited the Royal Palace. Cambodia has had a monarchy for the majority of its history. The exception was a 2-decade stretch beginning in 1970 when the king was overthrown in a coup, the Khmer Rouge reigned, the Vietnamese invaded to oust the Khmer Rouge, and the UN stepped in to broker peace among all sides. The king returned to the throne in 1993, although his position is now the ceremonial head of state, with the prime minister running the country as the head of government.
The Royal Palace remains the official residence of the king and occupies a full city block in the heart of central Phnom Penh. Our first task was to find the tourist entrance. A local approached us as we were walking around the exterior wall and told us the palace was closed for the holiday weekend. (Cambodia was celebrating its New Years.) But we persisted and found the ticket booth open for business. The local was just trying to deter us in the hopes that we would enlist him as our tour guide for other sights of the city. How nice!
Once inside, we passed through a peaceful garden walkway with various statues. It seemed the perfect spot to stop for a photo.
Emerging from the walkway, our first sight was the impressive Throne Hall. The exterior overshadowed the interior, which we could not enter, but could view through the open windows.
The centerpiece of any tourist's visit to the Royal Palace is the Silver Pagoda. It is the only building on the compound that tourists can enter, although no photos are allowed inside. The pagoda floor is made of silver, hence it's name. Inside is a Buddhist shrine, with both an emerald Buddha and a gold Buddha bejeweled with diamonds. No lack of wealth on display here!
Surrounding the Silver Pagoda were several other structures, including this memorial shrine to King Norodom.
We were just able to see everything before the guards shooed us out for closing time. Then we went in search of a cold drink to cool off!
