I’ve just returned from almost two weeks in Cambodia, with my friend, Steph. We arrived for the last day of Khmer New Year (water fight mayhem!) and had a few days exploring Phnom Penh before meeting up with an Intrepid group for our trip to Angkor Wat. We finished by heading south to the idyllic Koh Rong island.
Firstly, I love hot weather but Phnom Penh was next-level-hot (38 degrees and 80% humidity hot), so our days included lots of stops for smoothies and/or ice-cold beers.
We saw loads. Started with a walking tour of city landmarks (we were stopped every 100 metres by someone asking “You want tuk tuk?” and looking flummoxed when we said we were happy walking. Note: on day two our exploring was done and we decided legs were redundant – tuk-tuked everywhere).
Our walk took in the Wat Phnom temple, the huge Psar Thmei market and the monuments along Wat Botum Park.
Walking around the city we noticed people lining the streets holding Cambodian and Chinese flags. We soon discovered that Xi Jinping was visiting Phnom Penh. And we had a great view of his eventual arrival at the Royal Palace from our rooftop pool. Complete with snipers! (evidence below – note the large cases holding the rifles). We were later told that many of the people lining the street were likely paid to be there, and interestingly, the Chinese news reports had the crowds looking far more extensive and more enthusiastic than what we saw.
Day two we headed to Silk Island and watched the mindbogglingly complex weaving before visiting the impressive Wat Kean Kleang (Golden Temple), and then returning to the city for a smoothie break.
Headed to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in the afternoon – you can walk around the grounds and peer into a few of the state rooms but it’s really a place to simply admire the ornate architecture.
The day finished with a ‘fancy’ Khmer restaurant – Wat Damnak – the standout was a seared beef salad with pickled bamboo shoots and water celery. At the end of the meal we were served a selection of fruits (largely unidentifiable) with chilli salt – one was so sour it literally sucked the air out of me (since identified as plai te lung tung or bilimbi fruit).
We joined a morning market and street art tour on day three. It included two breakfasts (the first was my fave – cold, coconutty-sweet noodles with tofu at the Russian market) and a fascinating look at the graffiti culture, focused largely around Beoung Kak Lake, which has a controversial political and urban development history. Our tour guide explained the anti-development (and anti-Chinese) messages in some of the graffiti.
Our last day in Phnom Penh was spent visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. It’s impossible to describe places like these, short of saying that they are extremely confronting.
As sweltering as it was, I loved walking around Phnom Penh. We quickly mastered crossing the road (don’t hesitate and hold up your hand to stop traffic); always felt safe; and found the people to be so warm and friendly. If you find yourself there, head to the river on a Friday or Saturday night when they close the roads and expand the promenade – hundreds of food stalls, music, and people out enjoying the evening. There are obviously things to see in the city but the most fun is to be had wandering through markets, enjoying the street food, and seeing how the city residents go about their day.
Our first few nights in Phnom Penh were at the Frangipani Royal Palace Hotel and our last two nights there (when we joined our Intrepid group) were at the Katari Hotel – Katari was fancier but I preferred the quaintness, the location and the rooftop pool of Frangipani.
We ate very well but difficult to report where when it’s street food! I think my favourite though was a chicken amok (a light curry, traditionally served in banana leaves). So delicious.
Stay tuned for part two (Siem Reap and Koh Rong).
