National Museum, Phnom Penh

Our next stop was to the National Museum, located just north of the Palace. Although photography of most objects was not allowed, we did enjoy viewing the Hindu statues (some dating back to the 6th century), a statue of the leader responsible for some of the grandest structures within the Angkor period, and some post-Angkor Buddha figures. Wings of the museum opened to a central garden, complete with water gardens, tropical vegetation, and a Buddhist sculpture in the middle. Although the museum was interesting to look at and contained information in English, it would have had more impact had we come after touring Angkor Wat. 

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Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

With blue skies and pleasant sunshine, the morning started in a positive way by visiting the Royal Palace grounds in Phnom Penh. One of the dominating buildings in the well-maintained grounds was the Throne Hall. On top of the colonnaded concrete structure (replaced the wooden one built in 1866) was a tall golden spire with four faces, reminiscent of those at Bayon in the Angkor Thom complex. Another building, the Silver Pagoda, so-named for the 5,000 silver tiles each weighing 1 kg lining the floor, is equally popular. Carpeting covers most of the floor surface, so only a small number of these are visible. Two main Buddhas are found inside - the Emerald Buddha made out of Baccarat Crystal, and a life-size one made out of gold and decorated with over 9,500 diamonds. Within the palace grounds, I also enjoyed the extensive mural scenes depicting the Ramayana and the well-manicured bushes, some in the shapes of whimsical animals. 

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Off to Cambodia

For Christmas break, I traveled with two friends through the. Countries of Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). I was looking forward to see the countries' ancient sites, natural beauty, and hopefully meet some local people. 

After flying from Chennai to Bangkok and then to Siem Reap, we left the cute airport there reminiscent of traditional Cambodian architecture and headed into the town to pass some time while waiting for the flight into Phnom Penh. Here we toured a workshop where village people learned apprenticeship for traditional crafts in wood and stone carving, painting on silk, lacquer designs, and tooling on copper.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap, a set on Flickr.

After touring some sites in Phenom Penh, we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Although most of our time was spent visiting the many sites within Angkor Wat, we did manage to see a traditional dance show, do a cooking class, and tour a place that trains local young people in learning a traditional craft.

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Happy Pongal 2012

Boiling pot and door, originally uploaded by melissaenderle.

Tamils all over the world are celebrating the harvest festival of Pongal today. Although kolams (designs made out of rice flour) are typically made in front of Tamil homes, the ones on special occasions such as this are made from colored powder. This kolam, depicting the boiling pot of plenty, sugar cane, coconut, bananas, and other harvest items is not the typical one employing radial symmetry, but I felt it portrayed the harvest festival theme very well.

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Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh, a set on Flickr.

In December, 2011 I visited the Cambodian city of Phnom Penh. Some places covered: The National Museum, Royal Palace, S1 School/Genocide Museum, the Killing Fields, and a local market.

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