The Beauty of Phnom Penh, Cambodia Revealed
Phnom Penh, Cambodia is often misspelled as Pnom Penh, Phnom Penn, Phnom Pen or even Phnom Phen. But there is no mistaking it as the Capital city of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The city is home to the Tonle Sap River, Wat Phnom, The Killing Fields and some great nightlife. Phnom Penh is one of my favorite cities in SE Asia. It is the one place that epitomizes my belief that a country is only as great as its people regardless of the facilities available or even the level of wealth at their disposal. The city has gone through a massive makeover in the last few years. This year (2009) it is a much cleaner city than just a few years ago but there is still the ever present grimy dust that hangs in the air and gets in your teeth and up your nose.
But it is an earthly tasting dust because the air is actually cleaner than almost every other city in South East Asia. In the past the visitor who could not adjust to rubbish filled streets and large numbers of beggars could give Phnom Penh a miss. But this city has transformed in the last few years and become a welcoming tourist destination. Finding your way around Phnom Penh is pretty easy. You can copy the maps here and print them out if you'd like but they are rags compared to the stuff you can pilfer from any of the big hotels. Just walk into any hotel with your nose high and go nuts with the brochures, maps and day-old Newspapers. My personal favorite is the Phnom Penh Hotel. It is an audacious palace full of helpful brochures and maps. I once walked in there in shorts with a towel over one shoulder. They have a nice pool! The Lakeside and the cheap Guesthouses are all located directly behind the Phnom Penh hotel. If you get lost just remember that in Phnom Penh Odd-numbered streets run North-South with rising numbers as you head West from the river. Even numbers run West-East, increasing as you head South (with some exceptions, e.g. the West side of Boeung Kak lake). House numbers, however, are quite a different story with no apparent rhyme or reason. Sums Cambodia up pretty well but then again my way of doing it may seem monkey-like to them. So, don't expect houses to be numbered sequentially in any given street; you might even find two completely unrelated houses with the same number in the same street. You can divide Phnom Penh into 3 distinctly unique areas.
The lakeside (Boeung Kak Lake) is the best place to stay if you are on a tight budget and are young (Even at Heart). It's an area made for backpackers with sunsets that are unmatched anywhere in Phnom Penh.
The rooms at some of the Guesthouses are practically floating on the lake (Some of them really are!). The soft way they play wonderful selections of music and the laid-back manner in which the staff treat you all add to the experience. But that soft music can become loud and annoying as they run it until 3am most nights. If you plan on a quiet night then the Lakeside isn't for you. The restaurants in the Guesthouses and on the road offer a good selection of western food and other food from around Asia. If you eat in the guest house at Number 9 your food is all brought to you as you relax on one of the deck chairs or hammocks, watching the sunset bloom over the sky above Boeung Kak Lake. Number 9 Guest House N° 9A, Street 93, Boeung Kak Lake, 12201 Phnom Penh, Cambodia Mobile Phone 012 424 240 Get here soon though. There are many planned hotels going up and they plan on filling the lake in with dirt to make room for them. Here's a video guide that will show you how to get from the Central Bus Station in Phnom Penh to The Lakeside and the budget Guesthouses like Number 9.
Sisowath Quay runs parallel to the confluence of three great rivers. They are the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers. The hotels are more upscale ($25USD - $125USD a night) than at the lakeside ($6USD - $8USD a night) and the restaurants are varied and abundant. The tourists here are a bit older and lacking in tattoos and body piercings. If there is an area in Phnom Penh that is most cared for and where crime is least likely, it is on the Riverside at Sisowath Quay. The Riverside is the most developed area of Phnom Penh in terms of amenities for tourists. I stayed in the Paragon Hotel right on Sisowath Quay. Paragon HotelN° 219B, Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel & Fax 023 222 607. Here is a video we took of the Riverside from our balcony at the Paragon Hotel.
I consider this area to encompass both the Central Market and Street 51 where all the most popular bars are. I often stay in the Walkabout hotel. The Walkabout HotelOn the corner of Streets 174 & 51, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. +855 (0)23 211 715
It is a pub/restaurant that is open 24 hours. There is something I like about waking up at 3am, unable to sleep but having the option of walking downstairs to find everything I could ever need. The Walkabout Hotel is on Street 51 so you never need to walk very far for anything you need. They charge $10USD a night for an air-conditioned room with satellite T.V. The rooms are comfortable but modest. Check out their website above for more details and even book a room online if you like. When I flew into Phnom Penh from Shanghai, China they picked me up at the airport. And it was 2am in the morning! So ask for the airport pickup when you do your online booking. If you are looking for a great place to book cheap Hotels for Phnom Penh then try Hostelbookers.com I have used them a lot without any problem.
There are many things to see in Phnom Penh. Here is a list of the most worthwhile and popular. I'll list them all so that the choice is yours depending on your inclination.
You can get into the Palace Grounds and into many buildings like the Coronation hall, The Open-Air Theater where the Royal Dance Troupe perform and the Silver Pagoda, which houses a solid gold Buddha encrusted with 9584 diamonds and weighing 90 kilos and a small 17th century emerald and baccarat crystal Buddha. The floors are covered in 5000 quarter-inch-thick .999% pure silver tiles. All the jewels and the silver floor and the sheer audacity of it all in such a poor country got me. You can also see the architecturally incongruous Napoleon III Pavilion shipped and reassembled in Cambodia as a gift of the French Empress Eugenie in the early 20th century. Only the King's residence is off limits to tourists.
There are more than 5,000 works of art on display ranging from the 7th to the 13th century. It takes a certain type of person to enjoy a place like this. The air inside is stagnant and the pieces all start to look the same after an hour or so. If the subject interests you then it is an important stop. The Khmer art was interesting for about an hour and then I got that bored trapped feeling and got the hell out. It's there if you are an Asian art buff but if you've come down here from Angkor Wat then it's a let-down.
This Monument was inaugurated in 1958 to celebrate the independence of Cambodia from foreign rule. It now also serves as a tribute to Cambodia's war dead. It's a tall brownish-colored pillar with some striking Khmer sculpting designs. Trespassing onto the monument is illegal but it's set at the center of a large, busy roundabout so you can drive around it as many times as you want. Rent a motorbike or hire a motorbike driver from anywhere. From the Riverside or Central market it's not far so don't pay more than 2-3,000 Riel (4,000 Riel=1 Dollar US). It's cool and should be included if you do a drive around the city. I prefer to spend the day on the deck at the Lakeside, sipping orange-banana milkshakes while nestled in the holds of a comfortable hammock instead. The killing fields' of Choeung Ek is the site of the deaths of thousands of victims of the Khmer Rouge. It is now a group of mass graves and a Memorial Stupa Monument. It saddened me especially after already visiting the Toul Sleng Museum that same day. But I did visit the Killing Fields and you can see the video here. Prior to 1975 Toul Sleng was a high school but under the Khmer Rouge (KR) it was transformed into a torture facility.The building now serves as a museum and a Memorial. Photos of some of the victims as well as paintings of the very few survivors hang on the walls. The photos on the walls and the remains of torture devices and chains used to tie the victims to their bedposts are numerous. It really hit home the horrible suffering these people have endured. This is a small hill crowned by an active Temple and claimed as the founding place of Phnom Penh. Get more information about Wat Phnom including how to get there and what to look out for here. Here's a video I made of a walk through the lobby in one of the Guesthouses on The Lakeside. I walk right into the $3USD a night room and you can get a good look at what to expect from the cheap rooms in that area. Phnom Penh Too Dangerous to Visit?Many people say that Phnom Penh is too dangerous and opt instead to visit the much more dangerous city of Bangkok. Tell them what You have experienced in Phnom Penh and help us settle some fears. What Previous Visitors Had to Say About ItClick below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
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