Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia and home to around 2 million people. Unlike many other metropolises in South East Asia, Phnom Penh is a city of mostly low-rise buildings, just recently started building up. You can see the pride of the people as this city awakens after years of abuse and neglect. The streets are being worked on, tall buildings being erected, infrastructure being improved or installed. At the same time there seems to be an attempt to keep the past…the French influence, the Khmer architecture, the pagodas, palaces, etc. The waterfront (Mekong River) is alive and bustling with activity, restaurants, markets, bars, hotels. Phnom Phen has it’s eyes on the tourist dollar and is quickly sprucing up the town. It is a town finding its identity.

The streets are filled with motorcycles, bicycles, tuk-tuks, cars and trucks all vying for a clear route forward. When traffic comes to a standstill the scooters move over to the oncoming lanes to move forward. It is not uncommon to have vehicles going both ways on your side of the road…and don’t forget the sidewalks…as good a place as any to move forward!!! I will never stop marveling at the creative means of getting from point A to point B in most SE Asian cities!!!

The official currency in Cambodia, the Cambodian riel, trades at around 4,060 riel to one US dollar. But there’s a 90 percent level of dollarization in the country, so there is no need to exchange your dollars for riel. If you pull money out of an ATM, it comes to you in dollars. Should you pay with dollars and there is change coming back to you, that is when you’ll get some riel…no quarters, nickels, dimes or pennies.

One thing you see about town is a large number of amputees. When the Khmer Rouge controlled the country, they closed the country to outsiders by placing land mines along the borders of Vietnam, Thailand and Laos….millions of them. And of course they were never removed when the Khmer Rouge were forced from power. It is estimated that between 1979 and 2013 that 19,684 people have been killed and 44,630 injured. Today the mines continue to indiscriminately kill and maim…children, farmers, all innocent victims. They say there are still millions of these land mines waiting quietly for someone to step on them. Your heart aches seeing the results of this insanity.

Unfortunately you also see much trash, piles of trash. Along the roads, in ditches, everywhere. Environmentalism is not alive and well in the general populace. I am hopeful the tide will turn. It is not just Phnom Penh, but in most of the SE Asian cities I have visited (except Singapore and Hong Kong).

I traveled to Phnom Penh just to get away from KL for a bit, but also to visit the Killing Fields which deserves a post of its own. (to follow) During this short weekend I visited the National Palace, the Russian Market and the Sisowath Quay area.

The National Palace
The National Palace was built during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It is remarkably similar to the National Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, with many of the exact design features. The current King and his family call the Palace their home so certain areas were off-limits. Adjoining the Palace, separated by a walled walkway, is the Silver Pagoda, aka Wat Preah Keo Morokat, which means ‘The Temple of the Emerald Buddha’. It has received the common moniker ‘Silver Pagoda’ after the solid silver floor tiles that adorn the temple building. The entire Palace complex sits right off the banks of the Mekong River. At night it is all lit up and quite the sight. I visited on Sunday, the busiest day as many Cambodians from outside the city come to visit and pay their respects.

You are not allowed to take photographs of the insides of the buildings, I wish I could have snapped some inside the Silver Pagoda. First off, the floors are tiled in silver. The Emerald Buddha, only a foot or so tall, is purported to be made from emerald or baccarat crystal…gorgeous. In front of the Emerald Buddha is a life-size 90 kg golden standing Buddha encrusted with 2086 diamonds including a 25 caret diamond in the crown and a 20 caret diamond embedded in the chest. All along the walls is glass case after glass case of gold and silver bowls, goblets, statuettes, etc. I cannot even hope to guess the value of the objects in this room….priceless to be sure.

The Russian Market
If you want to get a souvenir, a shirt, a knock-off brand-name purse, cigarettes, fish, handicrafts, meat, curios, well, just about anything, you come to the Russian Market. It got it’s name because during the 1980’s a large number of expats, predominately Russians, shopped in the area. The place is a MAZE with extremely narrow aisles snaking between booth after booth all under a low verigated tin roof. It is a sweltering, hot box of a market…but if you can stand the heat and you barter hard, you can escape with some pretty good deals.

Night Market and Sisowath Quay
On Saturday night I went looking for some local food and a walk about Sisowath Quay. Sisowath Quay is the main road boarding the river. It is one of the “happening’ spots in Phnom Penh…..nighclubs, bars, wide areas for walking and enjoying the evening. I purchased an amazing dinner from one of the stands….noodles and chicken, deep fried prawns, fresh spring rolls and deep fried spring rolls…..all for $2.00….washed it down with a $1.00 bottle of Angkor Beer. You can live pretty cheap in Cambodia. I found a nice bar on a second floor and just wiled away an hour or so just watching the crowds below. Grabbed a $7.00 hour-long foot massage and made it back to my room quite contented.

My Hotel….THE WHITE MANSION

I stayed at The White Mansion Hotel. Formerly, this building was the US Embassy. It has lovingly been converted onto this amazing 30 room hotel. When you enter the lobby there are beautiful curved stairways leading to the rooms above. You can picture heads of states and ambassadors meeting here during the embassy days, regal gatherings, formal parties all taking place on the shiny wooden floors. My room had 15 foot tall ceilings with fancy trim work. Like any nice hotel the room came with slippers, robes, free (albeit slow) wi-fi, free pop and water, etc. The bed was Asian hard but nice and there was a great little lap pool. And the service was amazing….friendly, helpful, waiting to see if you needed anything. Very nice indeed.

I think Phnom Pehn is a city on the rise. The Cambodian people have endured a lot of heartache in their past…nice to see good things happening.