Cambodia Happy Travel : Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. Its a great city still undergoing lots of development with lots of places to visit and sights to see as the city is divided into two banks of the river. Getting into Phnom Penh is easy via direct flights from all the major neighbouring cities like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and others.

In the last five years especially, the number of businesses and restaurants catering to tourists has exploded, and Phnom Penh offers just about anything a much larger and more developed capital could. Phnom Penh is also the stop-over point for many tourists venturing to the northern town of Siem Reap which is the gateway town to Angkor Wat.

The main sights in town include Wat Phnom from where you have great views over the city, the Silver Pagoda in the Royal Palace complex, where you can see the emerald Buddha and a Buddha made of solid gold. The National Museum is also worth a visit. Other sights include the Phnom Temple, the Orchid Garden, the central market and a 15th-century pagoda or you can take a boat ride on the Mekong River to see the floating villages and a crocodile farm.
On The Riverfront, take a romantic stroll or cycle along Phnom Penh's Sithowath Quay to enjoy the breeze and the view of the busy life of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers. The water level varies greatly depending upon what time of the year you visit and is at it’s highest at the end of the rainy season in October. The sunrise can be spectacular over the river in front of the Royal Palace. There are also regular 2-hour cruises during the day which are particularly pleasant if combined with lunch or dinner and sunset on board a cruising restaurant.

You should try and visit at least one traditional market while you are in Phnom Penh. The two best known are The Russian Market and the Central Market. The Russian Market is not so centrally located but is the best for souvenirs, curious and silks and the vendors seem more realistic in their expectations. The 1935 art deco-style Central Market is architecturally interesting but is geared almost entirely to the tourist who doesn’t have time to venture further afield and the vendors are most aggressive. More exclusive shopping can be found along Streets 178 and 240 where there are a number of elegant boutiques and galleries displaying contemporary Cambodian art, fine silks and sculptures.

There is a host of fine dining opportunities in Phnom Penh. Most restaurants, ranging from small, family run affairs to 5-star luxury venues offer excellent traditional Khmer cuisine and this should not be forgotten when faced with the plethora of western food delights on offer in the city. Given Cambodia’s history and relationship with France, it is not surprising to find that some of the most elegant venues are French, with food and wine reflecting that relationship. There are a number of excellent Chinese restaurants in Phnom Penh, ranging from places near the Central Market offering noodles and dumplings for $1 a plate to the fine dining experience offered at the Inter Continental Hotel. There are a number of Dutch, Australian and American style restaurants around the city if your favourites include steak, burgers, chips and salads. For lovers of Mediterranean-style food should seek out the streets lining and just behind Sisawoth Quay offer a variety of styles to suit every budget.
Whether its a snack, a casual meal or a bedtime dessert, Phnom Penh's fine bakeries beckon. The traditional French baguette is available on virtually every street corner. A large expatriate community ensures that in more sophisticated (and expensive) venues, you can purchase wonderful baked delights such as muffins, croissants, pastries, doughnuts, cakes and tarts.

Phnom Penh is the heart of the Cambodia's nightlife. Providing a good balance of fun and safety it's a pleasant change from the hectic Bangkok scene. The recent explosion of bars in the city offers greater choice than ever before. In the late evening though, do take precaution as not to be wondering in the alleys and out of town areas unless escorted.

Last but not least, do ensure that you bring along enough US currency as it is widely used in the capital for almost everything including fees for visiting places of interests to dining.

Some of the major attractions are:

• Independence Monument
• National Museum
• Royal Palace and ‘Silver Pagoda’
• Wat Phnom
• Choeung Ek Memorial (The Killing Fields)
• Toul Sleng Genocide Museum
• The River Front
• Central Market
• Russian Market
• Old Market

Siem Reap - Food 2

Roadside barbecue seems to be very popular in Siem Reap, and you can find stalls selling grilled chicken, quails and fish everywhere. They also serve other animal parts like liver, kidneys, etc, and other unrecognizable small animals best left to the connoisseurs.































































Another popular local delicacy is half-hatched duck eggs. The eggs have been hatched for about 20 days, until a duck fetal is half-formed. You can see the head, eyes, beaks and even feathers. They are sold on the road side, and eaten with salt and pepper.

Siem Reap - Food 1

Siem Reap is not yet a food haven, but with the number of tourists going there, it will get there soon enough. The street food here is mainly noodle soup and fried noodles, with the more exotic stuff like deep fried insects for the more adventurous. Hygienic conditions are not the best, so it is best to avoid raw food on the streets.

We joined a tour, so most of the meals are provided. These are mainly pseudo-Chinese food, nothing to get excited about. The breakfast at our hotel was really good though, theres lots of bacon and sausages, fresh fruits - and they even do a fantastic noodle soup !

Most of the local dishes we tried are quite similar to Thai food. The following are some of the highlights during our trip.

This is the Noodle Soup served at our hotel during breakfast. You can pick and choose your own ingredients - different types of noodles, pork balls, fish balls, chicken, vegetables, etc. The soup base is fish stock, with a sweet taste of the sea. It is really delicious.

















This is a vegetable curry. It is quite similar to Sayur Lodeh - the Indonesian version, except this is a lot more soupy and not as spicy. Quite tasty.

















This next dish would be familiar to anyone who likes Thai food. Its chicken stir fried with basil. Not that different from the Thai version, but this one has a lot more ginger in it.


















This is dried beef which has been deep-fried and served with pickled vegetable. It is quite beefy and chewy - good for a snack.

















Another item which seems to be quite common here is deep-fried pork. This one is served with sausages. Taste very similar to what we get back in Malaysia.

















This is a hot and sour soup - kind of like the Thai Tom Yam, but quite mild and subtle. Another dish which I like a lot. It has chicken, chili and oyster mushrooms which seem to be quite abundant in Siem Reap.

Siem Reap - Hotels & Resorts 2

There are many boutique hotels and resorts in Siem Reap, the choice is endless. You need do your research to find the gems. Most of them are in very convenient locations, due to the relatively compact size of the town.

La Residence D'Angkor is part of the Orient Express luxury hotel chain. While we visited it was closed for renovations. It is a small and intimate boutique resort in a walled garden. The rooms are arranged in 2-strey blocks around a central swimming pool. External walls are finished in mostly teak wood, giving it a very tropical feel overall. Check out their internet offers. There are some nice packages.

Another nice boutique resort we visited was Angkor Village Resort. It was also under renovation, and is a very Balinese style resort. All the rooms are arranged around a landscaped pond which covers almost the entire resort. Very nice !

One interesting feature of this resort is that the walkways both on the ground and upper floor are connected - you can actually walk all the way from one corner to the other around the rooms. Privacy may be an issue, but you get to enjoy great views from every angle.

Siem Reap - Hotels & Resorts 1

Siem Reap has a large range of hotels and resorts catering to all budgets. We visited some of the high end hotels and boutique resorts.

The Grand Hotel D'Angkor is one of the top hotels in town. Owned by the Raffles International group, it is in the same vein as their other signature hotels. The external facade is Colonial, so is the interior. Even the lifts are old-fashion European lift cages, complete with a concierge. You can imagine what it must have been like to travel in the turn of the century. Was that Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart at the piano bar ?

Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa is another 5 star resort offering international standard accommodation in Siem Reap. The external treatment is Colonial, but once you get inside it is more of a Balinese Style tropical resort. The rooms are arranged in 2 wings, with open corridors surrounding central courtyards. The courtyards are very nicely landscaped, with huge trees which reach up to the 3-storey skylight. Throughout the resort is finished to a very high standard, with some nice local decorative touches.

Siem Reap - Architecture Gems

On this trip we discovered some architecture gems in the most unlikely of places. We were basically driving around town, and stopping when we saw something interesting. It drove the driver nuts !

The Siem Reap Children's Hospital is an extension to an existing hospital complex. Done in the Modernist Style, it is definitely in the Le Corbusier mould. I suspect it was designed by a French Architect. The main facade along the road is deceptively simple, and features an unusual use of bamboo as a screening device. Inside it gets more interesting, with some Corbusian touches of raw bricks and concrete and bold composition of architectural elements. Definitely woth a visit if you are in Siem Reap.

The FCC Angkor is a small boutique hotel renovated from an old French Governor's mansion. There is a two storey main building which houses some shops and the coffee house on the top. The rooms wrapped around a central courtyard where you will find the beautiful pool. It is a beautiful oasis amidst the heat in Siem Reap.

Hotel De La Paix is located on the only main street in Siem Reap. It is a luxury hotel done entirely in Art Deco style. Design by the Bensley Design Studio, the interior spaces and landscaping are exquisite. For those who like to travel in style, this is definitely the place to stay in Siem Reap. The restaurant serves high end Khmer food, and the cafe provides a respite for those craving a cuppa and good pastries & sandwiches.