Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, blends its former charm with a leafy atmosphere, riverside promenade, and beautiful Buddhist wats. While a bit rough around the edges, it’s easily accessible for tourists and maintains its friendly reputation.
The city, though marked by historical events like the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng, offers more than its wartime past. Cambodian culture, art, and music are remarkable, and modern-day Cambodia is a friendly and youthful destination.
Phnom Penh is slowly developing with high-rises and shopping malls but remains one of the less developed capitals in Asia. French colonial buildings still exist, adding to its charm. The city’s innermost part, the “riverside,” is popular with tourists, hosting cafes and restaurants.
While the weather is typically hot and humid, the “cold season” from November to January is more pleasant. Be prepared for motor vehicle-generated pollution, especially in tourist areas.
Phnom Penh has a rich history, including the ancient Angkor Empire and tragic events of the 20th century. Despite past challenges, modern Cambodians are optimistic, and the city is evolving with improving tourist infrastructure.
For travelers seeking an authentic South East Asian experience, Phnom Penh offers a unique blend of history, culture, and a relaxed atmosphere. Be ready for tuk-tuk offers and vibrant street life as you explore the city’s hidden gems.
MY EXPERIENCE. Do you have a lot of dollars? Lots of small dollars? )) I mean, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 – then it will be convenient for you to spend them in Cambodia! There, in addition to the local currency, you can pay everywhere in US dollars, but they will give you change in local currency, which, as it seemed to me, even the locals themselves don’t really like! 😀 Or rather, they love dollars more!
Upon arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport, I went immediately to get a visa in my passport. A strict Cambodian uncle, as if even in military uniform, takes your passport, demands $30 and immediately puts a visa in your passport and gives it back to you! And I must admit, you don’t have to wait as long as in Macau – show at least 5,000 yuan, pay for the visa itself, and then wait another half hour or hour, everything is simple and fast here!
This was my first and only visit to Cambodia for now. I flew there with a friend for a conference work. We were met at the airport and taken by minibus to the 5 star hotel-casino “NagaWorld”.
What immediately catches your eye is, basically, the poverty and lack of infrastructure of everything around, if you compare at least with the other capital of neighboring Thailand – Bangkok. Around our hotel complex, which had everything for rich millionaires, there was nothing elite or expensive anymore. Ordinary small high-rise buildings, poor simple restaurants and a lot of all sorts of eateries on the street, “tuk-tuk” eateries of the type: cooked, brought, stayed, sold, left.
The most convenient thing for foreigners from America or Europe is the opportunity to pay for everything in dollars! And Cambodians gladly accept it! Apparently because in dollars they quote the price a little higher than if you pay in their currency. There are a lot of zeros on their currency, and you can really get confused about how much money you have!)) and with dollars everything is simple and clear!
Our first day was preparatory. We went for a walk around the center of Phnom Penh. Not on foot, of course. We took a tuk-tuk, which can accommodate 4 passengers, but we rented it in full for 5 dollars and the driver took us to a good Cambodian restaurant, as we asked. We ate well in that restaurant, but it was not Cambodian food, but European-type food. But it didn’t matter to us anymore, we just wanted to eat deliciously!
I will say in advance that during this two-day trip it was hot (we are Shenzhen guys!) and we constantly drank Cambodian beer, but sometimes I drank water, but my friend, it seems, never took a sip of plain water – only beer!))
In the evening we walked from the hotel in the other direction, and there was something like civilization there too, and some shopping centers, shops, spa salons. Street promoters saw that 2 foreigners were walking around and gave us business cards to visit a spa salon, or, more simply, go for a massage))
As we found out later, Cambodian women themselves do not work there, but ordinary Chinese women who come here to make money! I won’t say that it’s like that everywhere, but we didn’t have time to look for other places, and we didn’t really want it honestly.
My friend decided to go to the casino of our hotel in the evening and play for fun for $5!)) He acted according to the scheme of our mutual friend who loves to play in the casino. So, here my friend earned another 5 out of 5 dollars! 😀 ! And the next day he lost the same 5 dollars! 😀 !!! In general, it was a game for the sake of participation, and not for the sake of making money))
We tried Cambodian food on the street near our hotel. It seemed like some of the varieties of Chinese food that we ate many times in China itself.
Next, before leaving the hotel, we decided to go to the area where migrants opened Ukrainian and Russian restaurants. We haven’t been in Ukraine for a long time (a couple of months), and we realized that we wanted to eat our food. We were in both Russian and Ukrainian restaurants. We ate Olivier salad, “herring under a fur coat” salad, dumplings, herring, mashed potatoes, and even drank a little vodka! In general, we ate deliciously with “our” food!))
Another thing I wanted to mention is that if, in addition to tuk-tuks and mopeds, there are anything driving along the Phnom Penh roads (and there are a lot of this cars) – it’s old luxury Lexus! Usually, This is a Lexus RX350! Almost all taxis are exactly this model! But the point is that these are models from the late 1990s or early 2000s! Moreover, there are so many of these cars that it seems that all the old Lexus RXs from all over the world are brought here, to Phnom Penh! 😀
By the way, this was the taxi (Lexus RX350) we took back to the airport. The car was maybe around 20 years old, but inside it remains luxurious and very comfortable! So in this meaning, Cambodians know something about the cars! 😉
