A-maze-d!

Truly! The Royal Palace was huge. We had only about an hour to go to leave for the airport to go to Siem Reap. So we decided this would be a quickie.

The Royal Palace of Cambodia


Gates of the Royal Palace


These gates are used only to receive the guests of the royal family, that still resides in the Palace.

The Silver Pagoda, wonder why?


We were looking around for the repeatedly spoken Silver Pagoda and when we saw the building I was mighty surprised. It had the same yellow and white of the buildings around. Well, when you enter you understand why. The tiles are all made of solid silver, that's why!

My jaws dropped in amazement at the bling inside. Considered the royal temple, the Pagoda has numerous Buddhas encrusted with jewels and precious stones, one huge Buddha made of emerald and another encrusted with 9500 diamonds.

Royal Dancers Hall


This is where banquets and state functions are held. To the right is the house that Napoleon gifted.

Little did I know that the Royal Palace would showcase classic Khmer architecture and kick start my Angkor Wat experience...






...with its defensive wall (Kampaeng), throne hall (Preah Tineang), Temple of the Emerald Buddha, stupas, towering spires (Prang Prasat) and those numerous mural paintings, some of which were seen falling apart.

Well, one for the road!


We quickly exited the Place and made our way to the airport, collected our baggage and boarded the cute flight to Siem Reap.




Fast-forward!