An important landmark of any country is, of course, the capital. According to ethnicityology, Phnom Penh is located at the intersection of 3 rivers: Tonl Sap, Bassak and Mekong. According to legend, a monastery was founded on this site after a rich widow named Pen found 4 Buddha statues in the hollow of a tree here. The hill on which the monastery stood was called Phnom, hence the name of the city – Phnom Penh. In this city, you should definitely visit the National Museum of Art. The building of this museum is made in the traditional Khmer style and was designed by a famous French architect. It exhibits exhibits of the Angkor era and earlier works of sculptors. It will also be interesting to visit the royal palace, which is located near the Ton Sap River. The most interesting part of this palace can be considered the Throne Room, which was built in 1917. Almost all the solemn events of the country took place in this hall, and not far from it there is a 60-meter tower. If you go south from the Throne Room, you can see the buildings of the Royal Treasury and the villa of Napoleon III. For art lovers, the Silver Pagoda, which was built in 1866, will be an interesting place. The architectural solution of this building is very unusual, and the building itself is made of wood. The pagoda is so named because the floor is lined with five thousand silver blocks weighing over 6 tons. If you decide to go inside, you will have to take off your shoes and hat. Here is the main statue of the temple – the Emerald Buddha, which was made in the 17th century. A very interesting place to visit is the old capital of the kingdom – the city of Angkor. In the past, the ancient rulers of the state lived here, who considered themselves equal to the gods and erected various temples and palaces. Between the 10th and 12th centuries, this city was one of the largest cities in the world. After the city was attacked by the troops of Siam, the city slowly began to turn into a jungle. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, work began to clean up the city. Now what remains of the city is located on an area of 200 square meters. km, to the real capital – 240 km. Not far from Angkor there is an airport that flies from Phnom Penh, as well as from the capital of Thailand. For tourists, not far from this historical place, modern hotels have recently been built, and now Angkor is the center of Cambodia’s tourism, even despite the difficult situation in the state. The main attraction of Angkor can be safely called the temple – Angkor Wat, which is located in the southern part of this ancient city. It was built in the 12th century and was used as a place of worship for the Hindu god Vishnu. Interestingly, this temple is the largest religious building in the world. Translated from Khmer, its name means “temple city”, and the area it occupies is 2 square meters. km. The temple managed to be well preserved even after the devastation of the city, and all thanks to the fact that the monks did not leave it even during the war, they live here at the present moment. One and a half kilometers from Angkor Wat is Angkor Thom, which is the central part of the city. Translated into Russian, this name means “Big City”. It was built between 1181 and 1210, after the city was attacked and sacked by the Chams. Angkor Thom is located behind a wall that forms a square, the side of which is 3 km, behind the wall there is a ditch 100 meters wide. The main attraction of Angkor Thom is the Bayon Temple, which is located in the very center of the “Big City”. If you look at it from afar, it seems that this is an incomprehensible heap of stones, but approaching it closer, you begin to feel the extraordinary beauty of this structure. Bayon is a three-level building, in the center of which there is a 45-meter tower, and in addition to it, the temple is decorated with 52 more towers, each of which depicts the face of Avalokiteshvara. Each of the towers is located at a different height, so being anywhere, it always seems that the saints are looking at you.

National cuisine of Cambodia

The national cuisine of Cambodia has absorbed many traditions from neighboring countries, but has not lost its uniqueness. The inhabitants of the kingdom are able to eat anything that grows or moves. In fact, there are no exaggerations here, on crowded streets, like seeds, they sell fried salty spiders, grasshoppers and a wide variety of insects that are found here. An unusual tradition of local cuisine is pickled vegetables and fruits, their difference lies in the fact that they are harvested at different stages of growth, which makes the taste unusual. Such dishes are served in many public establishments and their price, as well as the prices for food in Cambodia in general, is very low. As in many Asian countries, the basis of any dish here is rice, in restaurants it is most often served as a side dish. In addition to rice, all kinds of noodles are quite developed. Tourists rarely find milk or dairy products on the local menu, but cheese is very popular here. The most common dish in all restaurants and cafes is kiteow, which is a soup with noodles and a variety of seafood. This soup can contain anything from dried fish to snails. The local cuisine succumbed to quite a lot of French influence. This is reflected in the production of bakery products, which are of very high quality. In the morning, you can buy freshly baked bread or a bun in any store. As for drinks, local beer is very popular, despite the fact that its taste for a tourist will be unusual, but still of high quality and is quite inexpensive. There are also different types of whiskey, but because of the peculiar taste, it is not popular among most tourists.