Day 18 Sunday May 4

Giant Ibis to Phnom Penh, Wat Phnom, Wat Langka, Independence Monument

Checked out

Took pics of the whole apt as we always do on vacation

Left the key at the desk as the manager was not around. Sent him a whatsapp message with this pic telling him we had checked out.We like to have a trail of such things incase there is a dispute later

Giant Ibis bus Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

The flight from Siemreap to Phnom penh is only 55 minutes But the airports at both the places are obviously quite far away from the city centre And the ride takes an hour each way . we have to consider the traffic as well. Also the airport formalities of Checking in a bag, security and boarding take time. The same thing in collecting the bag when we land .

Considering all this we decided to take the bus though it takes around 6 hours. It Worked out convenient as the bus stops are right in the city centre and it's just a few minutes to our apartment at both ends.

It worked out fine for us This company Is one of the top Reputed ones and we had no issues

This was the midway halt

Checked in

ST Apartment, Phnom Penh

Wat Phnom Daun Penh

The Buddhist temple Wat Phnom, built on a 27-metre high artificial hill with a diameter of 300 metres, is the highest religious building in the city

The pagoda is named after Lady Penh from the story of the discovery of five statues: four Buddha statues and one Vishnu statue.

In 1372, a wealthy old lady named "Penh" lived on a small hill near the bank of the confluence of the four rivers.

One day, when it was raining, Penh went down to the port to take a bath and saw a floating Koki tree in the river and she called the village to fish it from the water.

She and the villagers scraped off the mud and in the hole of the Koki tree, there were four Buddha statues made of bronze, brass and one made of marble. Another statue was in the form of Vishnu with the hands holding a staff, a chain, a snail, and a lotus flower.

Penh assigned the villagers to build an artificial hill and build a small wooden temple on top of the hill to house the statues.

She invited monks to bless the statues and the monks named the hermitage "Wat Phnom"

is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Doun Penh, Phnom Penh. The site features a pagoda, a stupa symbolizing the name of Phnom Penh

The relief illustrates a detailed battle scene with figures, horses, and chariots, characteristic of epic narratives like the Ramayana.

Apsaras..

Wannabes...

The interior has a central altar complex with a large bronze seated Buddha surrounded by other statues, flowers, candles and items of devotion and worship.

The walls are covered with murals, especially of Jataka stories of the Buddha's earlier reincarnations before his attainment of Enlightenment. There are also murals depicting stories from the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana. The newer murals in the bottom tiers are somewhat balanced, traditional and modern.

Indra on 3 headed Elephant Airavat in the pediment..

In 1397 AD King Ponhea Yat (also known as Barom Reachea I) was King of Cambodia moved his court here. After his death, a large stupa was built for him at the top of Wat Phnom.

Mangos on the tree

The southwest corner of the temple and stupa, is a small shrine dedicated to Lady Penh. The front is often crowded with the faithful bringing their prayers and food offerings to the woman deemed responsible for the founding of the wat.

Indra on 3 headed Elephant Airavat in the pediment..

Wat Langka

It is one of the five ancient pagodas in Phnom Penh that was built in 1422.

The construction of Dum Dong as a place of refuge for the storage of the Trinity [religious literature] and as a meeting place for Khmer and Sri Lankan monks. As a reminder of this gathering, this pagoda was also called Wat Lanka. Wat Langka is located southwest of the Independence Monument,

The buildings were all closed and the monks we greeted and asked chose not to reply!

A local guy who was passing by said it's not a safe area and there are druggies around who snatch stuff!

We spent a few minutes around the grounds and then had to leave

The Independence Monument

The Independence Monument was built in 1958 to memorialise Cambodia's independence from France in 1953. It stands on a roundabout in the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Sihanouk Boulevard in the centre of the city very near Wat Langka.

It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, of the style seen at the temple at Banteay Srei and other Khmer historical sites. It stands 37 metres tall

The Constitution Monument

The Constitution Monument, a national heritage site and symbol of Cambodia’s Constitution, was officially inaugurated near the Independence Monument, standing as a testament to the nation’s legal foundation.

This iconic structure, built at a cost of USD 2.24 million, was unveiled during a grand Royal Inauguration Ceremony, presided over by His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni on 24 September 2024.

Rising 23.4 metres high and weighing 112.99 tons, the monument occupies 2,380 square metres and combines Greco-Roman and ancient Khmer architectural influences.

Constitutional Monument is a large and beautiful stone-metal temple

It is organized into two main parts:

The first part, the lower part of the palace, has a small cross-shaped hall named after the Khmer Santi Moulsal, a place of constitutional pillars, and the upper part has a bronze pillar. The pillars of the Constitution are hexagonal, the front corners are inscribed with the preamble of the Constitution, and the other five corners for the inscription of the five tactics in the win-win political strategy bring the noble peace of Samdech Techo Hun Sen; Isolation completes integration; Development is represented by five consonants: “ប – 6 – ប – ស – អ”.

The second part is the body of Moha Bosbok, with a total weight of about 12 tons, made of about 70% bronze and about 30% copper in the form of fine Khmer art, built according to the traditional Khmer style.