We are back to where we started our cruise on the Tonle Sap. This time we travel inland to Oudon, the former capital of Cambodia. We visited the largest Buddhist Temple complex in Cambodia so that we could receive a Buddhist blessing and give back to the monks by giving them alms of rice. They blessed us with a long life, prosperity, health and strength. This temple is a teaching and training facility for monks.
Following the blessing we rode in 2-man ox carts pulled by cows and enjoyed looking at the farms and homes of the local people.
This afternoon we cruised for a couple of hours down to the capital city Phnom Penh. This is a city of about 2.4 million that was established in 1372. The main mode of transportation is the motor scooter or 4-person tuk tuk. Most of the tall skyscrapers are less than 10 years old while the colonial area built by the French in the mid-1900 is unchanged. Our tuk tuk ride took us to the shrine for King Norodon Sihanouk, the father of Cambodian Independence. He was duped into joining the Khmer Rouge in 1970 to rid the country of Vietnam incursions but that only empowered Pol Pot. Then in 1991 the king was instrumental in bringing an end to the war.
The Independence Monument is decorated with 90 snake heads. We also stopped at the monument to the grandmother for whom the city is named, Wat Phat Phenom which is across the street from the temple in her honor. In front of the temple is a garden clock given by the Chinese 10 years ago.
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