General Information Boeng Kak Central Market FCCC National Library National Museum Royal Palace Tonle Sap river Train Station Victory Monument Wat Ounalom Wat Phnom Places to Stay
Phnom Penh is a nice town situated on the crossings of the Tonle Sap, Bassac and Mekong rivers. It breathes the atmosphere of French Indochina and has many buildings left from this period. There is a rule that newly erected buildings cannot be higher than the Royal palace, so the skyline from the beginning of the last century is largely preserved. In the north-east part of the city you will find many examples of French art-deco as well as the grounds of the Royal palace. Most tourists flock to the east side of the city for the many restaurants and shops on Sisovath quay, along the Tonle Sap river.
Getting around in the city is not difficult, as long as you have good nerves. Not much traffic rules seem to apply, most people drive on the right side of the road but the number of lanes on the major north-south boulevards is always a point of discussion. Phnom Penh is festered with thousands of mopeds, for sure the national means of transportation. For 500 to 1000 Riel you can get a ride to almost anywhere in the city. Taxis are also available, but not used that much in the city and a lot more expensive than taking a ride on the back of a moped. Buy a Phnom Penh Post newspaper before you set out venturing into the city. The Post has a good map of the city in every edition.
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Communication has improved greatly over the past
few years. Postal service is still slow and most companies and organisations use
private mail bags. The general post office is the building on the stamp above. Telephone
calls can be made from the public Telstra card phones to be found near to major
buildings like the National Museum and tourist spots.
There are now a few mobile phone companies operating in Cambodia, even GSMs seem
to work there. Coverage is limited to major cities, however.
In the city center four or five Internet cafes have opened, so staying in touch
by E-mail isn't a problem. Rates are about US$ 3 for an hour.
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The main boulevards of the city run north to south. In the city centre (north along the river up from the Cambodiana hotel) most streets have names. Most other streets have numbers, but as streets are not laid out along a grid this can be quite confusing. In general odd streets go north to south, even streets go east to west. In general, mind you.
This is the large lake at the north side of the city. At it's east side you will find a few nice restaurants with terraces on the water. The most southern one is called Raksmey Boung Kak and serves excellent seafood meals. Between Boeng Kak Lake and and the Boulevard Monivang is a ever growing shantytown.
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Phnom Penh has a number of interesting markets where you can buy everything from electronics to jewelry, and from fresh fruit to silk. The biggest one is the Central market, also known as New market or Psar Thmay in Khmer. TheArt Deco building is shaped in the form of a cross with an nice central dome.
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A number of other markets can be found shattered over the city, specialising in local artifacts, souvenirs, fresh goods and illegal CDs from China.
This stands for the Foreign
Correspondents Club of Cambodia. The club played a famous role in
the film "The Killing Fields". On the third floor you
will find a nice bar open to everyone. In the afternoon they
serve a range of snacks, and you can also have dinner there.
Twice a week english-spoken films are shown for a largely expat
audience, entrance is free for members, non-members pay US$2..
Have a look at the notice board, you will find all kind of
announcements there, including job offerings.
Right next door is the Apsara restaurant, a few doors further
away you will find the French "Le Tavern". In the other
direction you will find the "Happy Herb" pizza. Take
care, a "happy pizza" can be quite intoxicating...
All moto and cyclo drivers know where to find the FCCC. Some
tourist have been mugged walking home from the FCCC at night, so
it might be a good idea to go home by moto and in a group.
Sometimes (movie nights?) the FCCC offers a bus service which
brings you back to your hotel.
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Be sure to visit the National Museum (left picture below) if you are planning to visit the temples at Angkor. The museum isn't very big, in an hour or two you will have seen their collection of statues and artifacts from Cambodias rich past.
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The National Library is a nice building in French colonial style, dating back to the 1920's, I guess. The library has only a small collection of reading material for foreigners. A lot of the books were destroyed during the seventies when Pol Pots soldiers threw them out on the street or used them for cooking fires. The library is during business hours open to the public.
Part of the grounds of the Royal palace is open to the public, mainly the compound where you can find the Silver Pagoda. Sometimes other parts of the grounds are open to the public when King Sihanouk isn't in. The Silver Pagoda (first picture below) has a floor of 5000 silver tiles, opinions vary whether it is a 1 cm thick layer or silver or whether the tiles are massive silver. The wooden building contains a number of objects like bronze, silver and golden Buddhas and other Khmer and foreign artifacts of great beauty. The entrance fee for the grounds is US$ 2, with an additional US$2 if you want to bring a photo camera, US$ 5 for a video camera. There is a small souvenir shop at the entrance of the complex.
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A walk along the Tonle Sap river is a nice way to spend an afternoon. Here you will also find the fast boats to Siem Reap. It is also possible to rent a local boat and lazily tour the Tonle Sap, Bassac and Mekong river for a few hours. You will find the bots along Sisovath quay, 10 minutes north of the FCCC.
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Another nice example
of French architecture of days past. |
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The city has its share of statues and monuments, the largest one being the 1958 Victory monument, depicted on banknotes past and current. You will find the monument at the large crossing of Preah Norodom and Preah Sihanouk boulevards.
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Wat Ounalom is one of the temples in the city and an important one
because the head of the Buddhist hierarchy resides here. It also
functions as a point in the yearly Peace Rally. The Wat was damages in the Khmer Rouge but much of it has been restored to its former beauty and work on the many buildings still goes on. A stroll on the ground shows some small but beautiful French style buildings tucked at the back. |
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Wat Phnom is the place that originally gave the town it's name
as Phnom Penh means "Penh's hill". It is said that in the 14th century
a woman called Penh found four Buddha images at the banks of the river. The
pagoda was built to honour Buddha and has been rebuilt many times over the ages.
Around Wat Phnom is a small park when you can buy small things to eat and people
try to sell postcards and carvings to flocking tourists.
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Nowadays Phnom Penh has many hotels and guesthouses catering to anyone's budget. The biggest is probably the Cambodiana hotel (below left) prominently placed on Preah Sisovath along the Tonle Sap River. It is a Sofitel International hotel, so bring your gold and platinum credit cards. |
The building below is the relic of the Royal hotel as I photographed it in 1996, Since then the building has been renovated by the Raffles group of Singapore and it is now the most posh hotel in town. Prices start at
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The beautiful hotel above is the Renakse hotel, very near to the Royal palace. Its ambience is very "Indochine" but service is the most laid back I have ever experienced. In 1997 a major renovation was carried out and prices doubled . I hope the ornate wooden panelling in the rooms is still intact. |
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| The Gold hotel is middle class, prices are
reasonable at US$ 20-25 for an aircon room. The service is good as the
hotel is run by the friendly Chinese Mr. Meng and his family. It is a
situated at the south side of the city centre, a five minute walk from
the Victory monument. Note that the Tousamuth and Achar Mean
boulevards on the business card above are now called Norodom and
Sihanouk blvd.
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