We returned from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh in time for the Coronation celebrations, which began on 28th and continued for 3 days. The new king is called Norodom Sihamoni, who is a 51 year old, unmarried ex ballet dancer. When the old queen, Monineath, was asked if he would take a wife, she replied "Wife? He only feels Buddhist". The old king, Sihamouk explained "He loves women as his sisters. He dares not make a relationship....he is a simple man", w...

Firstly, sorry for orangutan again, but this is the only picture stored on this site under Cambodia and I need to upload some more pictures. We returned to the Royal Palace (legs safely hidden) and the Silver Pagoda, which comprised some exquisite buildings and lush gardens. Inside the pagoda the floor is carpeted with 5000 silver tiles weighing 1kg each and there is a life-sized Buddha made of solid gold and decorated with 9584 diamonds, the largest weighi...

Not very impressed with Battambang, so decided to leave the very next day (Sunday) and being the intrepid travellers that we are, Maria and I decided to venture down to the market place to find a taxi to take us the 4 hours to Phnom Penh. No sooner had we arrived there than we were overwhelmed with drivers offering to take us at well over the asking price. When we started haggling we were met with guffaws of laughter and before long the entire market seemed to ...