Cambodia Sights
Phnom PenhThe capital of Cambodia, located west of the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. History of Phnom Penh began in 1372, when the legendary Khmer widow Stump stumbled on the Mekong River to River 5 discarded statues of Buddha. This was seen as a good omen, and this place was built a small temple. The hill on which put the temple, was called Phnom Penh ( "hill of Penh), hence the name of the village of Phnom Penh, which has grown rapidly around the temple. Phnom Penh, the former Khmer capital of the country in the fifteenth century, was destroyed by the invasion of Thais in 1834, then rebuilt and again became the capital in 1866, with the French. The city flourished during the French period, but with independence became the center of a bloody political struggle. The ideology of the Khmer Rouge denied the very existence of cities, so completely emptied Phnom Penh, many buildings were destroyed. Only in 1979, after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge, people began to return to the devastated city. Gradually, the capital began to regain its former greatness, and in our day Phnom Penh is the largest city in the country, the center of its social, cultural and economic activities. The contrast between the modernity of the capital and the rest of the country, where most of the Khmers live very simply, very large.
At first glance, Phnom Penh is a messy maze of streets, only here and there interrupted pagodas and small parks. Main Street is constantly clogged with trucks and framed houses, obviously who knew better times. However, the "heart" of Phnom Penh - the old district, which lies by the river, quite attractive. The colorful houses and shops with an obvious French influences are interspersed here with its grand buildings in the Khmer style. The most interesting places here are a set of Royal Palace (1866, rebuilt in 1913) with the throne hall, pavilion Elephant, Chan Chaya Pavilion, Royal Treasury and openwork Pavilion of Napoleon III. Equally well, the Silver Pagoda "Pre-Wiecher-Keo-Morakot (" Temple of the Diamond Buddha, "got its name from the 5329 silver tiles covering the floor of her first floor) with a gold statue of Buddha (9584 decorated with diamonds), a statue of King Norodom (a gift from France, 1875) and the Royal Gardens. Log directly into the Royal Palace is strictly forbidden, but all the colorful surrounding buildings are open to tourists.
National Museum (1920), which lies slightly north of the Royal Palace - one of the few places in Cambodia, where you can see the miraculously preserved centuries-old Khmer culture - contains an excellent historical and ethnographic collections, as well as many samples of traditional Khmer arts. Four galleries of the museum, which lie around a quiet courtyard, contains an impressive number of ancient relics, objects of art and sculpture, covering the Cambodian history from the sixth century AD to the present day. It also kept many relics found during excavation of Angkor. Noteworthy, and the colorful streets around the National Museum - Straight 178 is replete with arts and crafts shops, and street Street-184, often called "street English", there are many language schools whose students do not mind to practice the language with foreigners.
Sisowath-Qui - "the heart of Phnom Penh." This is a small square in front of Royal Palace, serving as a public place, the audience speeches of the monarch and a favorite holiday destination metropolitan residents. Noteworthy famous restaurant FCC or the "Foreign Correspondents Club" in a colonial building with a terrace overlooking the river, the building of the National Assembly of the adjoining park, a curious monument of Independence (1958), Stupa of King Panyaba (the tallest building in the city) and Oknatey picturesque island on the Mekong River, where divorced picturesque view of the Royal Palace.
Worth spree and the markets of the city. The markets and prices are lower than in the store, and bargaining is not shameful, so markets Dog-Tmey ( "New Market", but more often he is called "yellow" or "central"), PSA-Tuol Tom Pong (Russian Market "), the Dog-O-Rass, Dog-Kandal, Dog-Chan, the Dog-Horacio, the market in the eastern end of the Street-128 and others, are deservedly popular among the Cambodians themselves, as well as with tourists.
And, of course, can not miss the pride of the capital, its numerous temples. A real monument of Khmer architecture are the temple of Wat Phnom (the Temple Mount lies on the only hill in the district, between the lake Boeng-As the Mekong River), a Hindu temple, Tonle Bati with a nearby Buddhist pagoda and a picturesque lake, the temple complex of Wat Ounalom ( "Church Brow, 1952) - the main Buddhist center of the country and the residence of the patriarch, the pagoda of Wat Lang Ka, the temple of Preah Chau and others. Strong impression with guests usually leaves Genocide Museum Tuol Sleng, opened in the building of "secret prisons" Pol Pot regime. Terrible crimes evidence Khmer Rouge regime, have been collected here as a warning to future generations. The same purpose is served by a memorial stupa at the "killing fields" Choeung-Ek (15 km south-west from the city center), filled with the bones of the victims of Tuol Sleng prison, which were found in mass graves.
In Phnom Penh, a rich nightlife - restaurants, nightclubs, discos, pubs, where they can secretly offer all kinds of services, ranging from the jamb with marijuana, ending with transvestites. Legendary place - Martini Pub. In Siem pune - also has a large number of nightclubs, bars and pubs.
Ankgor
Ankgor - the ancient capital Kombodzhi, is the complex of ornate temples and palaces, the most perfect in comparison with other architectural ensembles of Southeast Asia. For several centuries, Khmer kings who considered themselves equal to the gods, were built here magnificent palaces and temples. In X-XII centuries, Angkor was probably one of the largest cities in the world. However, after in 1431 by troops from neighboring Siam invaded and destroyed the city, the residents had left him, and he fell into the power of the jungle, which for many years to conceal it from the people. Time and the jungle has not been spared the wooden buildings, but the palaces and temples, despite the destruction, managed to resist the jungle and just shocked the European explorers first saw your them in the middle of XIX century. In Europe, Angkor became widely known after the publication of the 1868 book of the French naturalist Henri muon (Mouhot) "Journey to Siam and Cambodia." In 1907, the region of Angkor, who was previously under the control of Siam (now Thailand), under pressure from France was returned to Cambodia.
The first works to clean up the jungle from Angkor and the restoration of buildings began in the early XX century, however, a full-blown character they have acquired only in 1930 years. Large range of works to restore the Angkor was completed in 1960. Civil war, which began after the military coup in 1970 and actually lasted almost 20 years, caused tremendous damage to Angkor. Suffice it to say that in the 1980's in its ruins are just outside the main base of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla units. Truly Angkor took up only in the early 1990's. In 1992, Angkor was taken under protection of UNESCO.
The remains of Angkor occupy an area of about 200 square meters. km. Results are saved nearly 100 palaces and temples. Angkor is located approximately 240 kilometers west of the capital of Cambodia - Phnom Penh, and 6 km north of Siem Reap, which is the base point for the inspection of Angkor. A few kilometers from Siem Reap (Angkor Wat and from) is an airport where planes fly regular flights from Phnom Penh from Bangkok - the capital of neighboring Thailand. In recent years, in Siem Reap, specially for tourists was built several modern hotels. Currently, the most tourist place of Angkor in Cambodia, which, despite the difficult situation in the country, annually visited by hundreds of thousands of people.
Battambang
Battambang - the second largest city of Cambodia (274 km north-west of the capital). Rapidly growing trade and transport center, he lives in the same leisurely pace as the surrounding rural areas, and preserves the charm of colonial times. The main attraction of the city - the old French colonial quarter on the river bank. But the main points of attraction are located outside the city limits - an artificial lake Camping-Poo, the temple of Wat Sompeu on top of beautiful cliffs, the temple complex of Wat Banana (XI cent.) Sapphire deposits in the area of Pailin, once a huge temple complex of Banteay Chma (XI in.) in Sisifone, "city casino - Poipet, as well as the homeland (and the place of cremation), the leader of the Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot - City-Anlong Vieng. In remote mountainous areas nearby the ancient temples, Prasat Preah-Viharn, Pre-Kan (the second largest city of the ancient Khmer empire), Koh-Ke (one of the most difficult of the temples of the country) and about a dozen dilapidated temples around Banteay Chma.
Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville - the most famous seaside resort of Cambodia and the main port of the country. Situated on a peninsula jutting out into the far Gulf of Siam, he is young enough (founded in the mid 50-ies of XX century) and attractive. This is a pleasant and prosperous city, whose economy is based on trade, fishing and tourism. The main attraction of the city - of sandy beach, framed by palm groves and excellent restaurants with seafood, as well as the temples of Wat Leu and Wat Kraom Mount Sihanoukville. Beaches Victoria Beach, Hawaii, View, Independence Beach, Sokha Beach, Serependiti Beach and Ochheuteal well known far beyond the country. More than a dozen uninhabited islands adorn the bay near the coast of Sihanoukville - Koh Pu (Co-Poh), Ko-Dec-Cole, Co-Tas, Ko-Rong and Ko-Rong-Samlem. 18 km east of Sihanoukville is Ream National Park, also known as Pre-Sihanouk, - one of the most accessible national parks. For more than 50 000-acre park you can find the wet evergreen forests and mangroves, sandy beaches and coral reefs, as well as other areas of untouched natural environment of Cambodia. In addition to directly visit the park, from here you can make a trip to the mouth of Prek-Toek-Sap, in the fishing village of Ko-Kchang or to the islands of Ko-Ko-Timei and Ses.