As we again got off early, Geraldine and I went to the National Museum, which is a beautiful building filled with wonderful statues sadly looted from various temples all around the country. No photography was allowed inside, but apart from some cool slabs inscribed with Sanskrit and some beautiful carvings that bore quite a similarity to a lot of Hindu gods, it was just lots of Buddha statues. After a while, you can only see so many before you start to zone out. 
We did sit in the middle of the building in a rather beautiful courtyard with hanging bougainvillea, tranquil fish ponds blooming with lotus flowers and the wonderfully heady smell of Frangipani and jasmine all around us.
It reminded me that I didn't mention that once you are outside Phnom Penh (which has it's very own set of highly pungent aromas) Cambodia's countryside is unbelievably, deliciously and surprisingly fragrant. Flowers and fresh air take over from fish-paste and rubbish and you can hardly believe it's the same place!
I found out what the upturned ends that you see on the ends of the roofs of all the ornamental buildings here... they are Elephant trunks!! (not real ones, purely ornamental of course!) The upturned Elephant trunk is considered to be a symbol of good luck here and so they appear all over the place, which I think is rather lovely.
I also forgot to mention that yesterday at Phnom Wat, Geraldine got chased down the stairs by an angry monkey which is still making me giggle even now.
It's been 2 weeks since I left home and I am nearing the threshold of the longest time I've ever spent outside the UK, and suddenly I am missing home. (yes, yes, already!) Leaving my nieces behind was probably the hardest bit and I got messages though from them today which made me cry embarrassingly in the office, but it was just wonderful to hear that they are thinking of me too.
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