Images of Phnom Penh

l Moments after stepping off the plane in Cambodia.

A random Buddhist monument I stumbled upon on the first day. This is the int he middle of a traffic circle.


A park with slightly-smaller-than-average elephant statues.


The Tonle Bassac River, just north of where it merges with the Mekong.



A boat/home on the Tonle Bassac.



A gold lion on the riverfront.

Moto in front of the Royal Palace.

The covered pavilion is where the king sits to observe the boat races and the water festival on the river.

Independence Monument.

A broom salesman.

A stop sign: a rare sight in Phnom Penh. Even when they are present, they're seldom obeyed.

A working elephant: this poor pachyderm walks everyday to and from "work," where he gives tourists rides around Wat Phnom.

Street food delight: lots of pickled products.

Coconuts and lotus bunches for sale on the street.

On the riverfront, entrepreneurs sell birds that they catch in the trees. Locals and tourists buy them to set free over the river for good luck.

More street food: this balancing act is a popular way to carry heavy things in Cambodia. This woman was selling soup.

The Boddhi Tree: the wonderful little guest house we stayed in during our first week.

Inside Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum -- this was one of the rooms used by the Khmer Rouge to torture enemies.

Pictures of some of the 20,000 victims of of the Khmer Rouge that passed through Tuol Sleng. Many men, women, and children met their doom at the prison.

Busts of Pol Pot on display at the Tuol Sleng Musuem.

Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, was a high school before the Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison and torture facility.

Some of the high school classrooms were turned into prison cells.

Tuol Sleng.

Nighttime view of Sisowath Quay from the top floor of the Foreign Correspondents Club.

Memorial stupa erected at the Choeung Eck Killing Fields.

The stupa is filled with hundreds of skulls unearthed in the killing fields.

Victims who died in the killing fields.

Bananas (and many other kinds of fruit) are sold on street corners all around the city.

Garden courtyard of the National Museum, which boasts the world's largest collection of Khmer art.

The National Museum.

Inside the gates of the Royal Palace.

Grounds of the Royal Palace.

Traditional dress on display at the Royal Palace.

The Silver Pagoda.

Grounds surrounding the Silver Pagoda.

A stupa containing the remains of a member of the Cambodian royal family.

A miniature of Angkor Wat on display at the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace - the woman in the portrait is the queen mother.

Yeah, that's taro and corn flavored ice cream.

The fountains surrounding the Independence Monument.

Fountain show--complete with music and array of water tricks--in the park just north of the Vietnamese Friendship Monument.

Nagaworld -- an upscale Chinese casino in Phnom Penh. Rumor has it they don't admit Cambodian citizens, and based on our brief visit there, I think that's probably true.

A monk collecting alms on the streets of Phnom Penh.