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 Traveller's Tales: Getting around in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Know the most popular landmarks in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You may read about best transportation, recommended travel itinerary, suggested routes and directions. Also, you might want to read our
Angkor / Siem Reap city guide,
and Phnom Penh city guide.
Pages (1 of 8):
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| C Evans |
24 May 2005 |
Stayed at Cambodiana Hotel - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Booked taxi driver who took me from airport, to go to Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison -- dirt road to Killing Fields VERY potholed, so would recommend car. Haunting experience, to be in such places -- but essential for any visit to Cambodia. Read a book called 'Stay Alive My Son' to get the full picture of the horror of the Pol Pot years! After that, hired a tuk-tuk from outside Hotel Cambodiana to take me around for 2 days -- ask for a driver called Bhu, who is brilliant. In tuk-tuk you get the 'feel' of Phnom Penh in a way you don't in a car -- but be careful with possessions. I was warned all the time to hang on to my bag. Must-do's are Russian Market, Wat Phnom, cocktails in Elephant Bar of Le Royal, lunch at Friends restaurant and Le Rits (both helping disadvantaged Phnom Penhois), shopping at Centre for Disabled Persons (Norodom Boulevard, near Wat Phnom), lunch / sundowners at Foreign Correspondents' Club. Khmer Surin restaurant (street 57) offers great food for dinner in lovely old Khmer house with lots of atmosphere -- also surprisingly cheap! Take plenty of dollars, as money flies through your hands in Phnom Penh! I loved it there (you can still see lots of raw Indochina, rather than the sanitised version available in Asian cities such as Bangkok) and will certainly be going back.
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| B Arabian |
03 May 2005 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Visits to the Royal Palace and of the Silver Pagoda are of course indispensable. If you look for decor items and beautiful silk, Russian market is the place to go. Shopping at NGO-supported shops also helps these organizations in their much-needed actions; they are mentioned in every good guidebook.
One thing to mention for travellers going to Cambodia with young children is that it is still a very poor country deeply scarred by the civil wars and the genocide of millions. Disabled people are ubiquitous and this may be shocking for sensitive souls, although the kindness of Cambodian people highly smoothens this feeling.
Also, the contrast is very strong between the ambience of the streets and the one of the Raffles, something that one has to handle.
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| R Kircher |
19 April 2005 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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We spent two nights in Phnom Penh, arriving on the last day of the Cambodian New Year. The city seemed nearly deserted until we found that everyone was driving up and down the riverfront road, dousing each other with water, as is the new year's tradition. It was a madhouse! The next day was more normal, and we spent the day with a hired car and driver ($30 with our taxi driver from the airport instead of the $45-$65 the hotel quoted us to go through them) seeing the major sights of Phnom Penh.
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| C Bachmann |
17 April 2005 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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We had 2 weeks to spend which seems quite fitting to take in most of the highlights: 3nights PNP, car to Battambang, next morning boat trip to Angkor, 3 full days Angkor, flight to PNP and car via Kampot (overnight) and Bokor to Sihanoukville. It was a good experience to see smaller towns like Battambang and Kampot, which do not feature too many interesting things but give you some impression of "normal life" besides all the bars and internationalised restaurants in the more touristy places. The roads to both towns are sealed and in good condition. Be aware that during the dry season boats from Battambang take more than 7 hours (we even had to go by pickup for the first 1,5h - extremly dusty experience).
Take a taxi from the pier to SiemReap since the road is very bad. Angkor: If you know vaguely which temples you want to see, it is easy enough to hire a tuctuc (usually through your hotel) for the day (USD 12) and the driver will tell you which things to do first etc. Even during the hottest season I wouldnīt recommend taking a taxi since a) the difference in temperature can be quite dangerous and b) the tuktuks offers more direct contact to the environment. (Donīt be afraid: practically all roads around Angkor are sealed). Try "Khmer Kitchen" next to Old market for delicous and diversified Khmer food and donīt miss the Apsara Theatre. In Kampot the new "Long House" has a nice outward appearance (havenīt seen the rooms)- unfortunately the food is quite westernized. Bokor hill station is nice for the trip through the jungle and the spooky feeling at the remains of the hotel but donīt expect more than a fine half-day excursion.
We spent the last days at Sokha Beach which offers all you can expect from a new resort (=lacks a bit of atmosphere) and has a magnificent private beach and a good seafood restaurant. All other beaches we saw (though principally of the same quality) were rather dirty (plastic etc). Donīt miss Claudeīs crow-nest for dinner - excellent wines and wonderful seafood. In PNP, SiemReap and Sihanoukville free copies of restaurant/hotel guides are available: very useful and reliable!!
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| C See |
25 February 2005 |
Stayed at Pacific - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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For travel between phnom penh and siem reap, take a rain check for the boat/river route. 'Express' means 7 hours. 'Cost' means $25. Compare this to road travel (air-conditioned coach): Time taken 4-5 hrs, Cost is a mere $6.
Road conditions really, aren't as bad as the lonely planet guidebook makes them out to be.
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| D Sun |
11 January 2005 |
Stayed at Pacific - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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T & Coffee across the road about 50 yards. Great Trung coffee and cakes and crossants. Most restaurants on Sisowath Blvd are good. Great Italian restaurants.
Be prepared to pay 5 USD for short return trips from your hotel from Monivong Blvd to Sisowath quay for example.
Bargain with taxis before getting in, fix dollar charges for trips, avoid motorbike pillion riding, unsafe. Be careful crossing roads, few traffic lights; if any, the Red lights not observed, Cambodians follow the chaotic french system of driving on the wrong side of road; hazardous unruly traffic.
Cambodians are gentle friendly people, do not let your cultural expectations color your views negatively. Poverty is rife, on the opposite spectrum, extreme wealth - both equally astonishing.
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| J Kilkenny |
31 December 2004 |
Stayed at Pacific - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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As a tourist visitor to Pnom Penh I found that this Hotel is not situated in a "touristy" area. Having said that just follow the side road from the left of the Hotel entrance (or take a ride on a Bike, Cyclo or taxi) and this will take you eventually to the river-side (10-15 min walk) where there are plenty of restaurants and bars including the famous FCC, along with the Silver Pagoda & Royal Palace. My driver (who collected me from the airport) acted as my guide and took me to the Killing Fields & the S21 interrogation centre. Both worth seeing and can easily be done in a morning. However I thought the driver was greedy (he expected $30/$75 half/full day), so bargain hard.
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| A Forsyth |
28 December 2004 |
Stayed at Pacific - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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After a couple of days in Phnom Penh, I travelled by boat to Siem Reap. If you don't already have a hotel booking in Siem Reap, it is a good idea to enquire of your Phnom Penh hotel about partner hotels in Siem Reap as they will also send someone to pick you up from the boat. After exploring the temples at Angkor, I went on a very scenic river journey to Battambang. The river is very low this season, so it took about nine hours. From Battambang back to Phnom Penh I took a shared taxi. For the four hour journey door-to-door it cost only 10 dollars. Very efficient!
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| B Bullen |
10 October 2004 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Some friends thought I was nuts for going to Phnom Penh. Having been to Siem Reap, I wanted to see the rest of the country. I found it very delighful. Really good restaurants, temples, museums and history. Most of the people speak English and they love talking to Americans. I met some sweet people at that, had stalls in the Scott's market. Of course you can see a lot of poverty. But I think the Cambodian people have a great sense of dignity considering all the've been through. Believe it or not there are a few good dance clubs as well.
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| J Avery |
24 September 2004 |
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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GoldFish restaurant has excellent Khmer food on the river.
The Palace was well worth seeing though the national gallery was very average with little information on the exhibits and little information in English. This is unfortuante as many of the best pieces of Angkor are here.
Tuk Tuk and Moto is best for getting around and hiring a car/Moto for trips to the Killing Fields and S-21 is best and saves the hassle of continously haggling fees.
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