Built in 1866, the Royal Palace opens when the King is away. Outside its southeast wall lives the white elephant used for imperial occasions. Inside is the famed Silver Pagoda, made of 5,000 silver tiles. The recently-restored National Museum houses over 5,000 works of art dating from the 7th to 13th centuries. A grisly but moving monument is the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, which was a school before the Khmer Rouge used it as a torture facility. It is part of the kingdom’s painful past so a visit will lend an important perspective to your impressions of Cambodia.