20231105 AAAA Trip - Sihanoukville, Cambodia Day 2 - Toothless cuties and Snoozing Buddha

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 50/105 - Sihanoukville, Cambodia Day 2

This is our last day in Cambodia.  We took the included tour, Sihanoukville Discovery, with stops at a fishing village, Wat Krom Temple, and Independence Beach. Our guide mentioned that some of the roads are not good.  They said that the bumps are known as "road massage".

Fishing Village

This truck was loaded so high that it missed taking down the overhead electrical lines by inches

As soon as we arrived, tons of kids greeted us

At first, it was all smiles

Ultimately, some were looking for a handout, but not all

Doorway adornments

A small shrine

The buildings on the pier are built on stilts

This part of the catch is repurposed as bait

Cleaning the catch

Downtime means net repairs

The boats vary in size - larger boats can go farther out and for longer

Ice blocks are being delivered

After our visit, we headed for Wat Krom Temple - a large Buddhist temple in the city.  We caught some sights along the way.

Wat Krom Temple

Wat Krom is an active temple and monastery with many resident monks.  Like all Buddhist temples that we have seen, gold is the predominant color with lots of brightly colored adornments. Depending on which guide you believe, somewhere between 85% and 95% of Cambodia is Buddhist.

The main building where the monks eat

An alter inside

The walls and ceiling were adorned in these images

The table was set for lunch for the monks - they eat twice per day

Preparing food

We wandered around the grounds looking at the other structures.

A cannonball tree

The flowers were beautiful

They smelled amazing too - these are common in Buddhist monasteries

Arlona saw what looked like a messy shrine - yes, that's a skull

We entered this building to see a dance performed

The dancers demonstrated several poses

Unfortunately, there was only time for a single dance.  The first dance introduced the small cups.  She hit the cups against each other to produce a rhythm.

The second dancer came out with cups as well

They performed intricate moves, hitting their own cups

They also hit each others' cups, always in beat with the music

The next thing to see was the big attraction at Wat Krom, the sleeping Buddha.  Here are several structures around the Buddha.

There is a stairway behind the Buddha.  It is lined with these statues.

The view from the top of the stairs

The sleeping Buddha

To us, the faces of the Buddhas that we have seen here look female.  This is different from the specific Lady Buddha statue we saw in DaNang, Vietnam.  I asked our guide and he said that Buddha is male but Buddha did things to become more beautiful, giving a more feminine appearance.  

Several dogs were running around the complex, including this good girl, feeding her family.

Like Wat Leu, Wat Krom is home to many macaques.

These two were having a ball, wrestling

Next, we headed to Independence Beach.  Along the way, we saw more interesting sights, including several casinos and some obvious wealth that contrasted with the rest of the area.

An Audi and a Maybach

Rolls Royce

Independence Beach

It is a beach.  There was nothing particularly special about it, but overall, it was a nice beach.

The water was clear enough to see fish swimming about

Did I mention that there was water here?

Nailed it!

After all that, it was time to return to the ship.  We ate some lunch and as we were wrapping up, the ship began heading out into the Gulf of Thailand, bound for Laem Chabang, Thailand.  Shortly after we departed, Arlona captured Sihounkville getting swallowed up by a massive cloudburst.

We watched the port talk for information on our next port of call, Laem Chabang and Bangkok.  We will be in Laem Chabang for three days.  This marks the end of this segment of the cruise, so November 7 will be disembarkation day for lots of passengers and embarkation day for many more.

One unusual thing is happening in Laem Chabang.  Australia and New Zealand will not allow Orion in until her hull is cleared of potentially invasive items.  Therefore, on our first and third days in Laem Chabang, after the morning excursions depart, Orion will undock and move offshore. While anchored there, divers will meticulously scrape the hull, cleaning any offending items. The ship will return to port in the evening as passengers return from excursions.  We will be squeaky clean when we depart Thailand.

Tonight's sunset was another early behind-the-clouds event, but still striking.

We enjoyed surf and turf night in the World Café.  You have to love the perfect grab-and-go filet mignon and lobster tail.

We started revising plans for day #3 in Laem Chabang tonight.  You'll have to wait a couple of days for the result.