Cambodia Day 3

Today the boys finished their school work in record time and since Robert was not quite done with his work the boys and I took a tuk-tuk to the Russian Market. If you are wondering what a tuk-tuk is check out Taylor's post.

The Russian Market is a typical Asian market that I have described in the past. Lots of vendors selling souvenirs, clothing, hardware and food, almost anything you want, need or must have. When the Russians lived in Cambodia this was the place they used at their market. Not the Central Market where the locals shop.

There was nothing at the market that we "had to have" but we did wander the aisles, found the food section and sat down for a drink then got disoriented a few times before finding the rendezvous spot we agreed upon with our tuk-tuk driver.

We met Robert back at the hotel at Noon ready to head out again this time to the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace was beautiful. Of all the palaces we have visited so far this is the first one in which I could live. The gardens were perfectly manicured and the colors were so vibrant and full of life. Unfortunately we were not allowed to access many buildings, just a few because the King and Queen still reside here.

The most impressive building is known as the Silver Pagoda. The entire floor is made of 5000 silver tiles weighing over 6 tons. We deduced this was to ensure a cool floor in the hot temps not by scientific means but by trial. We stepped off the carpet (most of the floor is covered to protect it I'm sure) to put our tootsie-toes on a roped off section to prove our point.

The Silver Pagoda houses more gold Buddhas that I have ever seen before. There was one solid gold Buddha studded with over 10,000 diamonds. Stunning! (sorry photos not allowed inside)

Leaving the Royal Palace we wandered to Wat Phnom, a famous temple on a hill that is in the center of a huge local park. The temple was cool but even more memorable were the wild monkeys we happened upon exiting the Wat. They were very entertaining and provided us with lots of laughs. One even charged Taylor while he was taking a video. He posted that to his Facebook page.

From there we we stumbled upon the coolest restaurant ever. Picture extra large living room with a large sectional, one giant coffee table and a movie screen and you've got the Cafe Mundo. You pick the movie you want to watch from a decent assortment of DVDs, order dinner and watch and dine. Your own private dinner theatre. We watched Prince of Persia while eating pad thai, fish amok, cheeseburgers and as usual fresh fruit shakes.