There is plenty do do, to see, to go and some
nightlife is waiting. In the 1920s, Phnom Penh Cambodia, built on
the banks of the Tonle Sap river plus the other rivers
is still somehow “eye candy” in terms of Khmer and
French architecture.
The name comes from Wat
Phnom or Hill Temple which was constructed in 1373. The Royal
Palace with the famous Silver Pagoda and the National Museum
close by is a fixed point at any visit to capital.
Flights come in from various destinations in Asia such as as
Kuala Lumpur Airport and Singapore’s
Changi Airport with Tiger Airways. They all
have cheap flights available, a different
story is with Angkor travel, flights to Siem Reap have a rather
high price tag when flying out of Bangkok since Bangkok Airways
has a monopole on that route and they milk the foreigners
strongly.
E.g. on the Bangkok - Phnom Penh rout Air Asia charge
around US$ 100,- (return) Bangkok Airways charge more
than double. Its is probably the best first to fly to Phnom Penh
airport and after take a bus or the Tonle Sap ship for Phnom
Penh to Siem Reap.
This
Cambodia Airport
is the biggest in the country, a rather new but relatively small one having all
the environment a newer airport must have, its hot in a somehow
relaxed tropical atmosphere. The visa at arrival procedure, pay
$ 20,- and supply a photo, is a quick one the same is with the
whole arrival procedure. Once you have your belongings just head
to Phnom Penh Airport exit and you will be through quick,
everyone is friendly and positive.
Just outside the airport arrival hall are some counters for
taxi, limousine and people running around offering tuk-tuk rides
to town. tuk-tuk ride is $ 7,-, the taxi is $ 8,- (end of 2020)
. You will immediately notice that everything is based on
dollars, actually there is no need to
change any money, there is
a bank to change at the Phnom Penh Airport but its useless to do
so since everyone takes dollars, only for tips and return small
cash he local currency called Riel is used.
The city has the main
Cambodian Airport with plenty of connection to other Asia cities
such as
Singapore,
Bangkok
and other destinations. Its is possible to come in by bus from
Bangkok where the bus is changed at the Thai Cambodian border,
after driving to Siem Reap and further on.
A other very
interesting route is from Bangkok to Trat, maybe having a trip
to
Koh
Chang and crossing the border into Cambodia a couple of
kilometers behind Trat Thailand
at Koh Kong, by ferry (about 4
hours) or taxi (about 6 hours) to
Sihanoukville
and after to the capital or directly with the bus to Phnom Penh
Cambodia but all this finally ends in Angkor since this
is the place why most people come to Cambodia.
Phnom Penh Cambodia
Phnom Penh what to do, visiting the Royal
Palace, national museum, go shopping, daytrip to Phnom
Chisor, river cruise Tonle Sap, dinner at Sisowath Quay
and more.
Suitable Phnom Penh Hotels
are plenty in the down town area and along
Sisowath Quay which is the river front. Probably the best hotels
are the relatively cheap ones in the streets branching off from
Sisowath Quay, there are quite a lot of cheap hotels for around
$ 20,- to 30. All this hotels have A/C and are in good
condition, taxis and tuk-tuk are in good condition too but
everything on the road moves very slow and chaotic. Since cheap
hotels are plenty there is no real need to try a very cheap
guesthouse since the trade off for the low price is poor
hygienic, noise and a very low level
accommodations, you
wont get something
like the royal
palace. Phnom Penh
hotels are plenty in every price category budget hotels start
around $ 15,- and in the downtown area it's easy to find a good
budget hotel for around $ 20,- which includes everything needed
inclusive sat TV, hot water shower, toilet withing, almost every
hotel also has a internet station for free use.
There is one
more thing you
should be aware, at
the airport they
charge you a visa
fee as indicated
above. If you take a
flight to Phnom Penh
you should highly
consider an
excellent travel
insurance. If
you are somehow
careful, stay away
from malaria
infested areas (this
are mainly the wild
jungle parts of the
country) and wear
long sleeves shirts
and trousers plus
high boots when
visiting remote
jungle areas
probably
nothing happen. But
accidents can happen
everywhere and in
the country there
are plenty of areas
with a higher risk
of an accident. When booking a
flight to Phnom Penh
Cambodia Air
Asia is offering a
insurance package
which can be booked
together with the
online ticket, since
the price is very
low, just a few
dollars this could
be a good travel
deal on your
journey
to Cambodia. At
Cambodia you will
find friendly people
and a good
infrastructure at
the tourist spots.
is especially
attractive during the monsoon time when the clouds are
hanging deep and the the Air Asia flight does a slight
slalom around the huge tower of tropical clouds the
scenery gets especially attractive when the sun flashes
in from a low angle in the afternoon. Most tourists take
a flight Bangkok to Phnom Penh, the more adventurous
take the bus from Bangkok to the border at
Aranyaprathet after to Poipet and Siem
Reap maybe stay there for a couple of days visiting
Angkor and take a boat from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
Cambodia or
vice versa. Parallel to this routing a bus from Phnom
Penh to Siem Reap Angkor is available leaving almost
every hour. The river cruise on the
Tonle Sap from Phnom
Penh to Siem Reap takes about 5 hours and starts every
day at 7.30 at the
Sisowath Quay just beside the river restaurant.
During daytime there is also a Tonle
Sap river cruise, floating down the
river and see the city from a different perspective between three rivers, the Bassac, the Tonle Sap
and the Mekong. The city is the major
economic, cultural, tourist and historical center of
Cambodia today and one of the major attraction is the Royal
Palace. The city has more than one million
inhabitants, actually its not very clear how many, that is
similar to Thailand where also nobody really knows who many
people live in
Bangkok. The name of the city
came from the
hill temple -Wat Phnom Daun Penh- but later it was changed to Daun Penh,
a woman who was a rich widow at that time, also referred as
Grandma Penh which lived on the west side of the river.
Legend tells that in the rainy season of 1372, many Koki
trees were floating down the Tonle Sap river and in one of the tree
some holes were found with bronze Buddha statues hidden inside. Daun Penh built a temple using the Koki tree trunks who hold
the five Buddha statues. The temple was called
Wat Phnom Daun
Penh and, in the end, the city got the name Phnom Penh. Today
this is the capital of Cambodia and the largest city in
the country with plenty of attractions such as the Royal Palace,
Cambodia National Museum,
Central Market and a great
riverfront at at
Sisowath Quay
with plenty of
Khmer Restaurants, other restaurants,
bars and pretty
Khmer Girls in bars at the side roads. A focused view of the past
is visible at the
just next to the museum, built
with the help of the French colonialists in 1866. The Royal
Palace has a Khmer architectural style and is the official
residence of the king of Cambodia. Most part of the palace
is open to the public but the king's residential quarters are
closed
Royal Palace
Phnom
Penh
to the public, the Royal Palace
Throne Hall is open to
public and that's a impressive hall with plenty of gold around.
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha
which is also called the
Silver Pagoda was
reconstructed in 1962. This
Buddhist temple has a 90 kg
gold Buddha statue, and other
Buddha statues plus a floor
consisting of over 5000 silver tiles. Don't
expose knees or shoulders in the temple as this
is considered to be disrespectful. Wat Phnom
Pagoda was constructed in 1373 and enshrines
four Buddha hairs. The
National Library of
Cambodia is close to Wat Phnom, with a French
Colonial architectural, built in 1924.
The Royal Palace was built twice. First
construction was in 1434. After the Royal Family
moved
the court to Oudong, north
of Phnom Penh. The second
time a Royal Palace was
built in 1866 and this is
the one seen today. The
Cambodian name of the Royal
Palace indicates its
location near the confluence
of four rivers, Mekong,
Tonle Sap and Bassac.
The
Royal Palace
compound is a square of
about 430 meters with a high
wall around in , traditional
Khmer architecture. Most of
the palace building are
decorated with Khmer
antiques and have tiered
roofs topped by towers being
a symbols of prosperity. The
previous buildings were
wooden, after reconstruction
was with concrete and their
original forms have been
preserved, see
more pics here.
Phnom Penh shopping
Some of the most
interesting and exotic are arts and crafts
available in many Phnom Penh shops. Antiques are always an eye catcher in any living
room in particular gorgeous Khmer
Buddha statues,
figurines, Buddha painting, sculptures and images, old or
new, everything is available, that's real antique
shopping. A very interesting
antique shop
in Phnom Penh, actually its a real treasure trove, is
here. Only about 20 m off Sisowath Quay at 148 street
and full with
Shopping
Central
Market
hidden treasures of Chinese, South East
Asian plus Indochinese Antiques and Arts. Plus furniture
and other decorative items.
The
central market has been renovated and looks very
"fresh", at least the main art deco hall. The market is the usual mixture of
everything goes, wet market, souvenir market etc. you can
find plenty of native handicrafts and other interesting
things, markets means, go shopping.
Its similar to the
Bogyoke Market in Yangon, the central market in
Kuala
Lumpur Chinatown and
Bangkok
markets, Phuket
and elsewhere in the region. But this new age markets
are mainly places where the Chinese offload their
consumer goods, the Phnom Penh central market is
almost filled up to about 80% with textiles
and other cheap stuff from China. The only native items
at the central market is food, flower and some cheap
silver jewelry plus some so called "Chinese Jade" which
actually is
Myanmar
jade
jewelry.
The Phnom Penh nightlife
scene is a
pleasant surprise with plenty of bars and
restaurants along Sisowath quay and at the side
streets. Actually most bars and clubs are in the
side streets and most of them have some cute
Phnom Penh bar girls sitting around waiting that
something is happening, means a guy come in and
spend some money for drinks and if everyone is
happy and agree he might take the lady with him,
in the area all Phnom Penh hotels
One of the best
locations in
Phnom Penh Cambodia is Sisowath Quay
just along the riverfront of the Tonle Sap River
, actually this is the real town center where
the easy accessible hotels are, all the "in"
restaurants, where the nightlife is on, the
girls are out in the bars and a great after
sunset starts. Sisowath Quay along the Tonle Sap
is great during the day and in the night, the
good news among other is prices are low means value for your
hard earned money,
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