The National Musem was by far the most impressive museum I saw in Asia. Too bad, we couldn't take pictures in there. I was awed by the beautiful courtyard with birds flitting through--so peaceful--I felt like I had stepped back into the 14th century.

The museum was filled with bronze and stone slabs and statues taken from ancient Kymer temples; it was here we were introduced to the incomparable art of the great Kymer empire that had dominated all southeast Asia from the 5th to the 15th centuries. Their language, inscribed on stones, looks part Sanscrit and part hieroglyphic, with elegant ohm-like swirls. In their picture carvings artists had perfectly rendered animals and gods, with graceful limbs and poignant but humorous expressions. I was even impressed by the placement of statues in the museum, so balanced and harmonious--the Kymer esthetic is obsessed with symmetry.