Philippine Travel Notes

Wonderful Khmer Architecture! Everywhere is " instagrammable "! But let's start from the very beginning! Visit Times & Duration Foremost, you may encounter a 'minor issue' on the web, about opening and closing times for palace visits. Some say 7-11AM & 1-4PM ; some say 7AM , 8AM and so on. On this visit, it was written everywhere, 8:00AM~11:00AM AND 2:00PM~5:00PM . Heads up to my boldly written AND above. It can make or break your satisfaction! It means that: at 11AM the palace closes (for lunch?), so all guests will have to leave. Di ko alam kung me loudspeaker yan or megaphone na ipagtatabuyan kayo, o baka me mga guards na umiikot para sabihan kayo, o maybe the paths are cordoned-off. Basta ang sa akin, isang tanga at kalahati ka, kung papasok ka pa ng 10AM. Eh ang laki kaya ng compound na yan! Many tour groups aim for the earliest entry - at 8AM. I surmised, sangkaterbang busloads siguro ang tourists entering at 8AM. Hiyay! So, I ...

Let the walk continue! This was the last segment of my sight-seeing walk for the day, and just a short one, likely only 600 meters from the National Museum to the Royal Palace of Cambodia. Yes short. The shortest distance in fact, of a cumulative 5 kilometers I have already walked earlier. But as I've told you in that previous story, it was fun and educational! Fact: Cambodia's National Museum and Royal Palace are actually right next to each other. However, the vastness makes their visitor entrances about 600 meters apart! Veal Preah Meru Square From the museum, you skirt half the Veal Preah Meru Square perimeter. Ano yan? It is a very wide park-like, well-maintained grass field, with no permanent structures. Weh, bakit me building sa picture? Ah eh.., depending on the date/period of the year there can even be a lot. Not just 1, 2 or 3, but many! And sometimes those can even be bigger/taller, than what you see in the photo above. But, everything is temporary...

Let's explore this museum. It's (of course) the biggest in Cambodia, and more about the country's fascinating (Khmer) culture and arts of the past than present or future. So 'wag kang umasa na me makikita kang 'rocket science' or 'captured military tanks' ! Wala ring 'landmines' or 'genocide' dito. Or at least wala akong ike-kwentong ganyan! In fact, nabasa ko ang Objectives nila: The National Museum of Cambodia houses one of the world's greatest collections of Khmer cultural material including sculpture, ceramics and ethnographic objects from the prehistoric, pre-Angkorian, Angkorian and post-Angkorian periods. The Museum promotes awareness, understanding and appreciation of Cambodia's heritage through the presentation, conservation, safekeeping, interpretation and acquisition of Cambodian cultural material. It aims to educate and inspire its visitors. Things on display are about their ancient culture and arts until...