A second day in Phnom Penh

I just about started off this post by telling you it didn't rain today despite it being the monsoon season when daily rains are expected... and it just started to pour!  Unfortunately it's kind of late at night so much as I'd like to go back outside and see the flooding that I'm sure is happening I'm already in my pyjamas so I'm not going to.

My day started with another tuk-tuk ride and a trip to one of three markets that are here in Phnom Penh.

This one is called the Central Market (or Phsar Thmei).  It was built in 1937 and sell absolutely everything!  Although the stall owners want your business (of course), what I really liked about the Central Market was that I didn't feel harassed at all, and even when I was invited to "come and take a look" it was done in the quite, gentle, Cambodian way.

And now, after today, I can tell you a bit more about the National Museum and the Royal Palace as I got to both of them.

The National Museum was absolutely incredible - both inside and out - housing over 5000 objects.  Photos are not allowed of anything inside the museum at all, but trust me when I say the collection was amazing.  And the exterior of the building, as well as the gardens in the centre, are pretty nice too!

After that I went to the Royal Palace.  It was built in 1866 and is a compound of buildings including the Palace that is the Royal residence

and the Silver Pagoda which houses both an Emerald Buddha and a diamond-encrusted Golden Buddha.  The pagoda gets its name from the 5000 silver tiles covering the floor.

Again photos of the inside of any building were not allowed, but the entire compound was pretty spectacular.

My last destination today was Wat Phnom - a temple and massive stupa that enshrines the ashes of King Ponhea Yat who, in 1434, arrived and built the city of Phnom Penh.  This is the temple that the city now derives its name from.

And then at the end of the day I took a walk along the Tonle Sap river and did some people watching.
The Tonle Sap merges with the Mekong River just a little bit from where I was walking so hopefully at some point before I leave Phnom Penh and Cambodia I'll have some time to explore the Mekong River a bit.  There had been a big celebration earlier in the day for the Chinese Moon Festival, plus it was just a nice Sunday afternoon, so there were lots of people out and about.