Phnom Penh, Cambodia

On a quiet Sunday afternoon , I was able to visit the Royal Palace which is actually a series of seven structures.
Below is the main structure

Another building on the royal grounds

The Silver Pagoda is also within the Royal Palace grounds

This was my driver, Janta, who spoke little English but communicated well and shared his expert knowledge of the city.

Janta showed me the market place

Along the way,  we passed a food stand or two.

We visited pagodas and saw a family watching a girl having her fortune told by a monk.

She kept this holy book on her head while the monk chanted and when he was finished he opened the book to a certain page which predicted her fortune.

A very representative photo of the Buddha .

These temple guardians ensured evil spirits would not enter the pagoda grounds.

These same guardians ensured that foreigners would pay before entering.

The Prince Sihanouk Monument in the foreground and the Freedom Monument in the background.

Bangkok, Thailand

We were in Bangkok for my work when we heard our daughter Ally and granddaughter Bella would join us for the weekend .  It was great news and a great weekend.

We did most of our travel around Bangkok by the BST or the Bangkok Sky Train

The Sky trains are colorfully painted and contain ads for movies and soft drinks. One ad for Coca Cola was so realistic and so deliciously cold,  I had to buy a coke after getting down from the platform.

To get to the river where our tour of the canals and a famous temple was we took a van instead of the train.

There is little crime in this area because Super Girl patrols the streets.

Besides,  people are too busy eating at sidewalk stands to even think of trouble.

There are stands flanking both sides of the lane. How can they eat so much and stay so thin?

Monks walk with their "begging bowl" into which people put either food or money.

Our destination was Wat Arun.  "Wat" stands for temple and "Arun" stands for dawn. This is the Temple of the Dawn.  Buddhists believe that when a person dies his / her soul goes to this temple to await rebirth.  Perhaps you were  here once.

At the entrance to every temple, there are guardians both sculptured and human.

Wat Arun is a series of structures. The picture to the right is one of the Thai king.

Symbols and statue of the Buddha are everywhere.

Inside the temple.

A beautiful princess.

We started our "klong" or canal tour from a dock at the temple.

Smaller temples dotted the route .

We really enjoyed the klong tour.

It was late in the afternoon so there was only one floating vendor. Earlier in the day, there were vendors selling drinks, flowers and fruit.

The canals in Bangkok are extensive .

These buildings mark the end of the canal as it feeds into the river.