In Phnom Penh we visited the
Royal Palace, the residence of the current and few former kings of Cambodia. In all honesty, the Palace isn't too impressive, and it's hardly worth the time and seven dollars for the entrance fee. To make matters even worse, the most interesting places in the complex-the insides of the Throne Room and the Silver Pagoda-can't be photographed. I was also not amused that my blouse was deemed to be inadequate to visit the Palace.
Many Buddhist temples in Thailand and Cambodia require visitors to wear clothes covering knees and shoulders. We have been following that dress code successfully for several weeks now, enter the Royal Palace. Here, contrary to other places we visited, covering your shoulders with a scarf wasn't good enough. As a result, I needed to buy a three-dollar T-shirt I'm never going to wear again in my life. Ridiculously, a tight-fitting, low-cut blouses were deemed to be appropriate... What does it mean? Does it mean that in Cambodia shoulders are considered to be more sexual or god-offending than breasts? And if so, why do then monks walk around with one of their shoulders exposed?
 |
| Silver Pagoda |
 |
| Throne Hall |
 |
| Silver Pagoda |
 |
| Ramayana Fresco |
 |
| One of the four stupas surrounding the Silver Pagoda |
 |
| Another stupa near Silver Pagoda |
 |
| Buddha statue in the garden |
 |
| Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - seven girls for seven days of the week |
 |
| Khmer music performance |
