Day 5

This morning I got up at 7 and walked to the Independence Monument, where I bought a baguette sandwich at a street cart for breakfast. Then I walked to the Royal Palace. The blue flag was flying to indicate the King's presence, so some of the buildings and grounds were off-limits. The palace was impressive - not as sparkly and grand as the palace in Bangkok, but still worth the tons of pictures that I took. The heat was oppressive all morning, but I tried to stick to shady spots. After seeing the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, I went to the National Museum. It's a big, beautiful, strikingly red, airy building, which encloses a courtyard and houses an impressive collection of Khmer artifacts. Just behind it is the University of Fine Arts, and opposite to that was a street of amateur art galleries that was fun to look around. I had lunch in the same area, at a place called "Friends", which is run by an organization that helps educate and house orphans and street kids. The sour sop & coconut shake I had there was spectacular. I don't know how I'm going to give up all this fresh, cheap fruit and go back to Korea, the land of expensive produce. :-/ haha.
I took a long walk back to the Russian Market on the far side of town again; this time all the stalls were open and busy. A little old woman talked me into buying two small watercolor paintings. Maybe I'll hang them in my office. By the way, does anyone want anything from Southeast Asia?? Put in your orders (if they're small)! :)
I wish I could bring back mangosteens and fried bananas, but Customs just wouldn't go for it...