Cambodia: Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh

Date: 12 May 2018

After starting our day with a very early river cruise along the Mekong, we decided to visit the Royal Palace of Phnom Penh instead of heading back to our hotel for breakfast right away.

We saw a wedding party lined up bearing gifts

Phnom Penh wedding party — The groom and his side of the family were waiting for their time to enter the wedding hall nearby

Cyclists morning Phnom Penh — The Riverside promenade is a popular draw for locals

Pigeons Phnom Penh Cambodia — We were dropped off at the Royal Palace Park

Royal Palace park Phnom Penh — Families, tourists, school children… and lots of pigeons at this park

Royal Palace road Phnom Penh — The road in front of the Royal Palace is closed off to private vehicles

Royal Palace rules Cambodia — The Royal Palace opens at 8am. Here are the rules.

Cute girl pigeon feather — Since we had to wait for the entry gates to open, my girlfriend picked up a pigeon feather and posed for the camera. (We had nothing else to do)

Entry gate Royal Palace Phnom Penh — As soon as the gates opened, we went in. There were less than 30 people at this time.

Ticket counter Royal Palace-phnom-penh — This is the ticket counter. You have a toilet right next to it.

Tickets cost $10 per adult for the Royal Palace area and Silver Pagoda.

Royal Palace garden Phnom Penh — The lawns inside are well maintained

Tree inside Royal Palace phnom Penh — A tree with a strange looking flower (or fruit?)

Royal Palace Phnom Penh Cambodia — And that’s the throne hall, the largest structure that makes up the Royal Palace compound

Kings of Cambodia have lived in this compound since it was built in the 1860s, except for a brief period during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Even now, the throne hall is used as a venue for hosting foreign dignitaries who visit Cambodia.

Royal Palace Phnom Penh — Unfortunately, no photography is permitted inside the throne hall. So although we did get to go inside, there is nothing I can show you.

Warning Royal Palace Cambodia — The rules to follow

Phochani Pavilion Cambodia — To the left is the Phochani Pavilion. Not every structure is open to the public. Some of the structures are ‘wat’ or temples.

Royal Palace Cambodia panorama — A panorama shot of what’s beside the throne hall

Map of Royal Palace Phnom Penh — Map of the Royal Palace complex

Silver pagoda Phnom Penh — We moved on to the Silver Pagoda

Silver pagoda Phnom Penh Cambodia — A panorama of the Silver pagoda complex

We went inside the Silver Pagoda, but again… no photography permitted. From the outside, there is hardly any indication as to why this structure is called Silver Pagoda. Once you step inside, its floor is covered with five tons of silver. There’s also an Emerald Buddha statue housed alongside some impressive artworks. But that’s all I can say. The collection of artifacts inside the silver pagoda is worth seeing. Apparently a lot of it was also stolen during the Vietnamese “invasion” of Cambodia when they defeated the Khmer Rouge and brought down Pol Pot.

Garden pagoda Phnom Penh — It was scorching hot outside, so we went to this ‘island’ of greenery next to the Silver Pagoda

Garden pagoda Phnom Penh Cambodia — This was a nice spot to cool off for a bit

Mural Painting Royal Palace Phnom Penh — Seeing sights like this reminded me of Bangkok’s Royal Palace.

Which isn’t sheer coincidence. In fact many of the structures built inside the Royal Palace complex was inspired after Bangkok’s Royal Palace complex.

Display museum Royal Palace Cambodia — There are a few buildings you can visit which house artifacts visitors can photograph

Souvenir shop Royal Palace Cambodia — We checked out some souvenirs before leaving

Royal palace hall khmer king — On the way out was a hallway with photographs of the Kings of Cambodia (past & present) with many global leaders

Nehru Cambodia khmer king — Including when Norodom Sihanouk visited India and was greeted by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President S Radhakrishnan. I’m guessing this was in the late 1950s?

In fact, the King Sihanouk was quite fond of Nehru. He was inspired by the Non-aligned Movement, championed by Nehru and wished for the same in his country, which is why Cambodia did not pick side during the Vietnam war.

With that, we were done with our tour of the Royal Palace complex. If you have seen Bangkok’s Royal Palace, you’re not going to be that impressed by the one in Phnom Penh. But for $10, it’s not too expensive for an hour-long insight into Cambodia’s Khmer royalty and associated history.

Next up, we had to head back to our hotel, pack and get ready for a bus trip to Siem Reap.

Next post(s) in this series:

Cambodia: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus

Cambodia: Visiting Angkor Wat

Cambodia: Bayon temple – the one famous for stone faces

Cambodia: Ta Keo temple

Previous posts in this series:

Cambodia: Mekong River Sunrise Cruise… and an insight into Chinese investment in the region

Cambodia: Phnom Penh Central Market and Wat Phnom

Cambodia: S21, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Cambodia: Choeung Ek genocidal center — the infamous “Killing Fields”

Cambodia: Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh Night market