Our first stop on the itinerary for our day in Phnom Penh was Psar Toul Tom Poung, otherwise known as the Russian Market, so called because all of it's goods used to come from Russia. It was a good hour's walk from our hotel and by 9am the temperature was already high. We were tempted a couple of times to jump in a tuk tuk, but the walk gave us a better chance to take in different parts of the city and to stretch our legs. It was fun exploring the stuffy old market. You could buy everything from textiles, jewellery and locally made handicrafts to food, pirated DVDs and motorbike parts. The sellers mostly left us alone to browse and it wasn't crowded at that time of the day.
(Veal Preah Man, the funeral complex built for the King's late father)
(The Royal Palace)
(A busy lane way leading to a pagoda)
(The sequel to the Beard?)
After the market, we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed for the National Museum. Set in a beautiful building surrounding a tropical garden, the Museum is really well cared for and exhibits some wonderful old artefacts dating back to the period of Angkor and beyond, when the Khmer empire was on the rise.
(Tuk tuk-ing)
(An old map showing the vastness of the Khmer Empire when it was at the height of its power)
(The Museum's gardens)
We returned to the Museum in the evening to watch a performance by Cambodian Living Arts. During the Khmer Rouge's reign, an estimated 2 million people were killed. This included nearly 90% of Cambodia's artists and in the years of economic hardship that followed the Khmer Rouge, those Masters of the arts that had survived could not afford to make a living as teachers or performers. Cambodian Living Arts was established 15 years ago in an effort to ensure that Cambodian arts and culture did not die out completely by supporting the Masters and providing them with the tools and facilities they needed to pass on their knowledge. The CLA now has a large team of performers and craftspeople, providing them with well-paid work and ensuring the artistic traditions live on.
The performance we saw was called the Passage of Life and it explored the different rituals associated with significant life stages - birth; coming of age; marriage; sickness; and death. The artists spoke in Khmer while the English translations were displayed on a screen in the background. At each life stage, it was evident how important music is in the lives of Cambodians, with there being at least one specific piece of music associated with each particular event. It was a great show and it felt good to support such a worthy cause.
(The Museum at night)
(Celebrating the arrival of a new child)
(The musicians and singers that accompanied each event)
(A boy kneels at his parents feet asking for their blessing before becoming a novice monk)
(A wedding ceremony)
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