Phnom Penh
Yesterday afternoon consisted of snoozing, reading and relaxing on the top deck of the boat. We lazily had a shower before dinner, purely because it was 37 degrees in the shade! You would think crossing the border wouldn’t change much but it did; the land became flatter, the sand redder and it felt like the temperature went up 20 degrees....
At 10am, we paid our bill and left the pandaw with Supi, our new guide. It was already 30 degrees, and the humidity was ridiculous, but as we were unable to check in until two, we started the tour early. Our first stop was a temple called Wat Phnom. Over 97% of Cambodia is Buddhist and this is the most important temple in the city, as well as the central point. The temple is named after the founder of the city, a wealthy widow named Penh; apparently, she saw a tree floating down the river and ordered it to be brought ashore, inside were 4 bronze Buddha statues so she decided to build a small shrine on an artificial hill. It is now a sacred site and is also home to the city’s largest clock. As we waited for Supi to buy something, he wouldn’t say what, we watched people releasing caged birds as an offering; its a very strange practice but something Buddhists believe very much in. Supi arrived with a lotus flower; he told us we needed to make it pretty before offering it to the Buddha. You have to pull down the petals, fold to the side and then cut in the tip; it looks very pretty once complete. Leaving our shoes outside, we headed in with our flower. We then made a prayer (or wish as the guide called it) with incense sticks, which we had to leave outside the temple, before returning back to deposit the lotus leaf in what looked like a massive vase. We took a few photos in the temple before being ushered out the back with a tin cup of water; this was to wet our foreheads and chin while making another wish. There is also a custom of chewing bitter leaves with bitter nuts and some lime powder; old people do it to keep their teeth in good condition (but turns them black!), we both tried it but it was disgusting so we promptly spat it out.
Lots of people were outside the temple, some even playing a game called “sei pen” or shuttlecock kicking. Its like a version of keepie-uppie but you flick it with the bottom of your foot and from behind you. Iain gave it a go but was totally useless; I decided not to embarrass myself in the first place and instead filmed it.
It was our last night on the ship and as it was the first night in Cambodia, we were served a family style meal where we got to share a number of dishes; most were unpronounceable but delicious, especially the marinated pork and green curry mushrooms. After dinner we decided to have an early night as border security were due to come onboard at 7.30am to check our faces matched the photos in our passport and on the visa application.
At 6am, we were woken by the anchor being lifted so it meant we were moving somewhere. An hour later, we surfaced and were greeted with Phnom Penh; we were docked in a port this time, not in the middle of the Mekong. We headed to breakfast where our passports were checked by some very jovial border guards before they disappeared off the boat with our passports; we have been told we are getting an express service and they will be back by 10am, when our guide is due to meet us.
We had a very leisurely breakfast before packing up our cabin and sitting on deck and people watching. There were some delivery guys refilling the boat with food, water and other random goods; it was great to watch as there was a steep metal ramp up to street level and they were sliding down in flip flops, jumping at the last second so the box didn’t land on their toes; we even gave him a round of applause.
At 10am, we paid our bill and left the pandaw with Supi, our new guide. It was already 30 degrees, and the humidity was ridiculous, but as we were unable to check in until two, we started the tour early. Our first stop was a temple called Wat Phnom. Over 97% of Cambodia is Buddhist and this is the most important temple in the city, as well as the central point. The temple is named after the founder of the city, a wealthy widow named Penh; apparently, she saw a tree floating down the river and ordered it to be brought ashore, inside were 4 bronze Buddha statues so she decided to build a small shrine on an artificial hill. It is now a sacred site and is also home to the city’s largest clock. As we waited for Supi to buy something, he wouldn’t say what, we watched people releasing caged birds as an offering; its a very strange practice but something Buddhists believe very much in. Supi arrived with a lotus flower; he told us we needed to make it pretty before offering it to the Buddha. You have to pull down the petals, fold to the side and then cut in the tip; it looks very pretty once complete. Leaving our shoes outside, we headed in with our flower. We then made a prayer (or wish as the guide called it) with incense sticks, which we had to leave outside the temple, before returning back to deposit the lotus leaf in what looked like a massive vase. We took a few photos in the temple before being ushered out the back with a tin cup of water; this was to wet our foreheads and chin while making another wish. There is also a custom of chewing bitter leaves with bitter nuts and some lime powder; old people do it to keep their teeth in good condition (but turns them black!), we both tried it but it was disgusting so we promptly spat it out.
Lots of people were outside the temple, some even playing a game called “sei pen” or shuttlecock kicking. Its like a version of keepie-uppie but you flick it with the bottom of your foot and from behind you. Iain gave it a go but was totally useless; I decided not to embarrass myself in the first place and instead filmed it.
We got in the car to head to our next destination, and one which i think deserves its own post.....
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment