Guesthouse stay while in Phnom Penh

It was a Sunday and the streets of Phnom Penh were very quiet.
The weather in the late afternoon was a scorching hot in this April month.

Having arrived at Sorya Bus Terminal near the main central market-Psar Thmey,making a decision where to stay for the night can be an uphill task in view that there was no early booking of particular guesthouse.

Applying the motto S.T.O.P.(Search,Think,Organise,Plan) was a great motivating factor to manage situation like this.

Moving along the main road artery of Monivong Street and turning right into Monivong Boulevard was this Malaysian owned Public Bank. There were some guesthouses near the central market but not for rent maybe they have 'special' long stay clients.





 Monivong Boulevard was also a straight stretch of road and on turning left into Street 53 which joins Oknha Ing Bun Hoaw was the  Wat Phnom.

This Mountain Pagoda was built during the 14th century. The interior has a central altar complex with a large bronze seated Buddha surrounded by other statues.
The surrounding complex has a nice greenery landscape with a grand clock.

 Wat Phnom is a very popular place with lots of local people visiting.They came here to pray for good luck and success in school exams or business affairs.
Sometimes people pray in the hope that they can strike big in forecast numbers.

 Further down the road,was a small market right (Psar Chass-old market) where most of the vendors were already setting up stalls.
 The streets of Phnom Penh has confusing road numbers.One moment at Preah An Duong Road.(Street 110) and suddenly the side road was Street 15.

 At the far end of the road is the Canadia Garden and that is Confederatin De La Russie.
 Preah Ang Duong Hospital just beside the Canadia Garden ,serve as the Tertiary Eye Center, Ophthalmology University Hospital for Teaching of Graduate and Post graduate and Central PBL Coordination.
 Office of the National Program for Eye Health. This is a government supported hospital.

This short stretch is called National Highway 5 and traffic on my side here goes to Wat Phnom while across traffic were moving towards Norodum Boulevard.

 In fact on this side of Street 110 (Preah Ang Duong),there were three guesthouses.

The red-pinkish block is King guesthouse and  next door is Malis Guesthouse.
 They are all in a good location,the best place to stay and The River nearby with a 5 minutes walk.

 Along the riverside road will lead to The Royal Palace (Silver Pagoda), National Museum,Mok Vaeng Park and night market.

King Guesthouse #149&151, St.Preah Ang Duong, Sangkat Wat Phnom, Khan Daun, Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel:(855)23 21 56 90 Mobile:(855)11 93 00 11.,(855)99 93 00 11 email:kingguesthouse@hotmail.com.

 A large double bed fan room with attached bathroom,no hot shower.Room rates at USD7.00.

The staff are very friendly and they helped me book bus ticket to Bangkok with free pick up.




 Malis Guesthouse and Restaurant.
In fact most guest houses have the word 'restaurant' attached.They also serve good Khmer food.

Malis Guesthouse and Restaurant also have one at 19, St. 93, Group 80, Sangkat Sras Chork, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh. which is an upper end category.
 E-mail：bonybona_016@hotmail.com Tel: 099318821

Khmer food menu:

1) Banh Chao

Large thin crepe stuffed with bean sprouts and ground chicken, served with mint, Asian basil, lettuce, cucumber and fish sauce.

2)TreyBom Poung Fried fish fillets with lettuce, sliced carrot and tomato in a sweet and sour sauce.

Luck Ro Hotel across the street a few blocks from King Guesthouse near street corner of 110 and 17 of Singkat Phsar Chass. Mobile: +855 (0) 23 722290Email: luckyro@luckyro-hotel.com

Along Tonle Sap riverfront.

Wat Ounolom Pagoda as seen beside the main road.
A beautiful Buddhist architecture.

The Cambodian–Vietnamese War, also known as the Third Indochina War, began on December 25, 1978 when Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) and this temple was again partially destroyed.

On January 7, 1979,Phnom Penh falls in the hand of the Vietnamese.

In 1997, most of the remaining Khmer Rouge fighters accepted a government amnesty and laid down their arms, putting an end to nearly 3 decades of war.

The Veal Preah Man park before Silver Pagoda.
 A Royal Ploughing Ceremony ground.

The free ceremony, which always takes place in May (the month of the Khmer calendar that marks the start of the rainy season), dates back to the Sukhothai period.

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is where rituals were used to predict future outcomes.
 Farmers wait every year for the predictions at the Royal Ploughing Ceremony (which they observe with strong belief).

Royal oxen adorned in beautiful, colored silks are led to ceremonial grounds while a master of ceremonies (King Meakh) performs the ceremony by circling around a field three times while being followed by a woman (Queen Me Hour) who plants seeds.

The oxen are then released from their harnesses and led to seven golden trays each containing different items (usually rice, sesame seeds, grass, water, wine, corn, and beans).
The amount of trays the oxen eat from, and which ones they eat from determine the predictions (ex: if the oxen sniffed the tray of water and turned away from the tray of wine the prediction would be that farmers would not suffer any serious floods).

UNESCO headquarters Phnom Penh at Samdech Sothearos Blvd .

Cambodia joined UNESCO on 3 July 1951 but due to political problem in 1975,it was closed down.

The year 1989 was an important year for UNESCO in Cambodia.
His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Varman, King of Cambodia (then His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sihanouk) requested the Organisation to co-ordinate all international assistance for Angkor.
 In May 1989, UNESCO was able to complete an initial assessment of the safeguarding needs of Angkor.

The Silver Pagoda.

The pagoda is floored with over 5329 silver tiles each weighing 1 kilo. It is famous for its 90 kg solid gold Buddha made in 1907 and an emerald Buddha said to be made of baccarant crystal.

Sharing the pagoda are many other interesting artifacts and jewels and was one of the few temples to remain intact during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance fee US$ 3 per person. Camera fee US$2. Video fee US$ 5. Photography is allowed in the outside exhibition areas only.

 Please remember that exposed knees and shoulders are considered disrespectful.

The Silver Pagoda was constructed in 1892 by King Norodom to house the ashes of the royal family.

The pagoda was looted during the Khmer Rouge years, but the Cambodian government has made an effort to restore the pagoda to its original splendor.

The temple's official name is Preah Vihear Preah Keo Morakot but is commonly referred to as Wat Preah Keo in Khmer.
Also known as Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

 A family park called Mok Vaeng just opposite the Silver Pagoda with Preah Sisowath Boulevard near the river front.
The evening breeze here was wonderful possibly wind from the Gulf of Thailand and the whole area was filled with family groups having an outing.
It was a very hot day,imagine the sun leaving behind a hot trail in the evening skies.

They called it Hun Sen Park off Boulevard Samdech Sothearos.
Come evening you'll see the locals crowding around the fountain area which is nearly the size of two badminton courts watching the syncronised dancing of the water jets performing various patterns.









In the middle of Hun Sen Park is the Cambodian-Vietnam Friendship Monument ,near the corner of Sihanouk Boulevard.

Built in 1970,this memorial statue features heroic (Anh Hung) Vietnamese and Cambodian soldiers.
This is a very good coordination of "I help you,you help me".

Nowadays this area has been termed a "Democracy Square" due to various local demonstrations held here.

There were some police personnels guarding the monument and it will be out of bound after 7:00pm.

A few years back there were some untoward incidence so now they were more cautious.

There's a women with a baby statue standing beside the joint socialist soldiers.
She represents the common civilian people welcoming the communist regime that took power after the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, which overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime.







  A motorcycle carriage owned by King Hostel.
Quite spacious and can fit in possibly 6 people of European size.
This can't be called a tuk-tuk which normally are three wheelers.

The many headed serpent, carved in stone at the side road bridge divider.

 Naga ('snake') A semi-divine being and a serpent-god of the waters who lives in the underworld beneath the earth or in the water.

It is easily identified by its scaly body and multiple heads spread in the shape of a fan.
In Khmer art, the naga always has an uneven number of heads, usually seven or nine.
The nagas are ruled by Vasuki and are the enemy of the garuda.
The naga controls the rains and the prosperity of the region where they reside.
 Nagas often marry humans in mythology and the Khmers claim their descent from the union of a foreigner and the daughter of the naga king.
The Khmer's obsession with the naga is reflected in its omnipresence at the temples of Angkor.

 A typical rendering of this mythical being is a balustrade formed by the body of the serpent that flanks the long causeways leading to the monuments and can be seen at Preah Khan, Bakong, Angkor Wat, and in front of the gates at Angkor Thorn.

One Hindu epics says that Nandi is a white bull and the vehicle of Shiva while Rahu  is a demon who rides through the sky in a silver chariot .

According to legend, Rahu causes eclipses by seizing and swallowing the sun and the moon. The sun and moon eventually reappear from inside Rahu's throat, thus ending the eclipse, but he then resumes the task. Li Rahu has no body, just a head, arms and hands.
Even today, the Cambodians make tremendous noise before an eclipse to keep Rahu from consuming the moon.

Wat Ounalom Monastery,Phnom Penh

Wat Ounalom Buddhist Monastery is 10 minutes walk from my guesthouse at Street 110 after walking past Sisowath Quay area where there were many bars,restaurants and hotels.

Along the way the splendid view of the Tonle Sap River is very eye catching coupled with the evening sunset.
The temple(wat) is very large and a must see attraction while in Phnom Penh.

 During the tenure of the Khmer Rouge,the whole temple was nearly destroyed but now it has a newly refurbished facelift.



Before 1974,the Pagoda Monastery has nearly 500 Buddhist monks and the Buddhist Institute with a collection of nearly 30,000 titles but all has been destroyed by rouge people.

 Sisowath Quay Road ends at a junction where it continues along the riverside as Preah Sisowath Boulevard while another road inward is Somdech Sothearos Boulevard where Wat Ounalom Monastery is located.

 Somdech Sothearos is a very renowned Cambodian monk.He died in year 2007 and he's referred to as "the Gandhi of Cambodia" and also one of the four living Buddhas of the world.

Crowds of people sometimes burst into tears of emotion at the sight of him.
People would often spontaneously rise to their feet, or fall to their knees, when he appeared in public.
All other activities would come to a standstill, and all eyes would be riveted on him.






Cambodian Buddhist also celebrated the Buddhist New Year on this 14th April, wheres the Thais celebrated the Songkran Festival.

Chol Chnam Thmey or Cambodian New Year is one of the most celebrated of all festivities.
The New Year symbolizes a new start for the people by renewing their lives and leaving back the bad habits from the past year.

The people hope for a better year and ask for blessings and prosperity to God Buddha.
The Cambodian New Year lasts for three days and each day has a significant tradition that the people religiously follow.

The first day is known as the Maha Songkran. People welcome the first day of the year by buying new clothes and dressing up with using the finest and colorful linen.

The second day after the New Year is the Wanabat. This day is centered to the spirit of charity and gift giving.

The third day, which is the last day of the Cambodian New Year, is the Tngay Leang Saka which involves the cleansing and decorating of their religious figures by washing them with scented water and flower petals.

This Chariot of the God is beside the main entrance.A pair of horse but one with a broken front leg.

The Temple Mountain,an architectural representation of  Mount Meru, the home of the gods in Hindu mythology.

The style was influenced by Indian temple architecture.
Enclosures represented the mountain chains surrounding Mount Meru, while a moat represented the ocean.

The temple itself took shape as a pyramid of several levels, and the home of the gods was represented by the elevated sanctuary at the center of the temple.

The first great Temple Mountain was the Bakong, a five-level pyramid of sandstone constructed by rulers of the Khmer empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap.







Inside the main hall there were a display of various olden days classic Khmer musical instruments including this gong.

From the main temple's hall,visitors can have a good view of the Tonle Sap Lake.

Wat Ounalom was built in 1443 to house a hair of the Buddha.

 It is the headquarters of Buddhism in Cambodia.

 Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh is located at what the French called Les Quatre Bras (the Four Arms), where two arms of the Mekong meet the Bassac and Tonle Sap tributaries.
The city’s original name, Chaktomuk, means Four Rivers. After Angkor fell to the Siamese in the 15th century, Cambodian King Ponhea Yat founded a new capital at Chaktomuk.

This city was soon abandoned as well, and from the mid –17th to mid-19th centuries the Cambodian capital shited to Phnom Penh in 1866.

The city is largely a French colonial era, and Phnom Penh quickly became an important commercial centre. The city was and still  the only major port on the Mekong above the delta; it is navigable by ships of 7,000 tons.From Phnom Penh, smaller vessels can navigate upriver to Siem Reap or Kratie.




The temple's compound contains two residences and a three-floor building which functions as a temple.
On the ground floor is a marble Buddha from Burma-smashed by the Khmer Rouge,but pieced together again in 1979.

 On the second floor is a brass statue of the patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism,Somdech Huot Tat,who was murdered by the Khmer Rouge.
The statue made in 1971 was flung into the river but retrieved in 1979.
On the third floor the walls depict scenes from Jataka (Thai: ชาดก chadok) Tales,that is literature native to India concerning the previous births (jati) of the Buddha.

A Hindu God figurine near the apex of temple's roof.Flying god I presume since she has wings.