Royal Palace & National Museum.

Checked out/off the Victoria Mekong this morning. Our Cambodian escort came aboard at 9.00am and introduced himself. He is Bunnak Khun (Nak).

Transport to the Royal Palace was by cyclo - one person per cyclo - 22 of us in a line in Phnom Penh traffic.

The palace was constructed by King Norodom between 1866 and 1870; this original palace was largely demolished and rebuilt between 1912 and 1932, It is situated at the Western bank of the confluence of the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River called Chaktomuk.

King Norodom's palace was demolished and rebuilt by his successor, his half-brother King Sisowath, between 1912 and 1919, and today the only sizeable remains are the eastern section of the wall and the Napoleon Pavilion. The main elements of the public eastern courtyard of the modern palace are:

The Throne Hall, which contains the three main royal thrones and is the place kings are crowned and where foreign ambassadors are received;
The Napoleon Pavilion, which Norodom used as a reception hall and is today a museum;
The Phochani Pavilion, a banqueting hall;
The Chan Chhaya or Moonlight Pavilion on the northeast section of the wall, used for state banquets and dance performances;
The Damnak Chan behind the Napoleon Pavilion, an administrative building.

Then it was on to the National Museum - by coach.

The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, Khmer ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam.

The museum promotes awareness, understanding and appreciation of Cambodia's culture and heritage, aiming to educate and inspire its visitors.Läs mer