Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh (/pəˈnɔːm ˈpɛn/ or /ˈnɒm ˈpɛn/; Khmer: ភ្នំពេញ, Khmer pronunciation: [pʰnum peɲ]) is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Tonlé Sap and Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonization of Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security, politics, cultural heritage, and diplomacy of Cambodia.

Once known as the "Pearl of Asia," it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina in the 1920s. Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, are significant global and domestic tourist destinations for Cambodia. Founded in 1434, the city is noted for its beautiful and historical architecture and attractions. There is a number of surviving French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards.

Situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers, the Phnom Penh metropolitan area is home to about 2.2 million of Cambodia's population of over 14.8 million, up from about 1.9 million in 2008.

Etymology

Phnom Penh (literally, "Penh's Hill") takes its name from the present Wat Phnom ("Hill Temple"). Legend has it that in 1372, a wealthy widow named Lady Penh found a Koki tree floating down the Tonle Sap River after a storm. Inside the tree were four bronze Buddha statues and a stone statue of Vishnu. Daun Penh ordered villagers to raise the height of the hill northeast of her house and used the Koki wood to build a temple on the hill to house the four Buddha statues, and a shrine for the Vishnu image slightly lower down. The temple became known as Wat Phnom Daun Penh, which is now known as Wat Phnom, a small hill 27 metres (89 ft) in height.

Phnom Penh's official name, in its short form, is Krong Chaktomok (Khmer: ក្រុងចតុមុខ) meaning "City of Four Faces". Krong Chaktomuk is an abbreviation of the full name which was given by King Ponhea Yat, Krong Chaktomuk Mongkol Sakal Kampuchea Thipadei Sereythor Inthabot Borei Roth Reach Seima Maha Nokor (Khmer: ក្រុងចតុមុខមង្គលសកលកម្ពុជាធិបតី សេរីធម៌ ឥន្រ្ទបទបុរី រដ្ឋរាជសីមាមហានគរ). This loosely translates as "The place of four rivers that gives the happiness and success of Khmer Kingdom, the highest leader as well as impregnable city of the God Indra of the great kingdom".

History

First recorded a century after it is said to have taken place, the legend of the founding of Phnom Penh tells of a local woman, Penh (commonly referred to as Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh /Old Lady Penh) in Khmer), living at the chaktomuk, the future Phnom Penh. It was the late 14th century and the Khmer capital was still at Angkor near Siem Reap 350 km (220 mi) to the west. Gathering firewood along the banks of the river, Lady Penh spied a floating koki tree in the river and fished it from the water. Inside the tree she found four Buddha statues and one of Vishnu (the numbers vary on different telling.)

The discovery was taken as a divine blessing and to some a sign that the Khmer capital was to be brought to Phnom Penh from Angkor. To house the new found sacred objects, Penh raised a small hill on the west bank of the Tonle Sap River and crowned it with a shrine, now known as Wat Phnom at the north end of central Phnom Penh. 'Phnom' is Khmer for 'hill' and Penh's hill took on the name of the founder, i.e. Phnom Duan Penh, and the area around it became known after the hill - Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh first became the capital of Cambodia after Ponhea Yat, king of the Khmer Empire, moved the capital from Angkor Thom after it was captured and destroyed by Siam a few years earlier. There is a stupa behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining Buddhist statues from the Angkorean era. In the 17th century, Japanese immigrants also settled on the outskirts of present-day Phnom Penh. A small Portuguese community survived in Phnom Penh until the 17th century, undertaking commercial and religious activity in the country.

Phnom Penh remained the royal capital for 73 years—from 1432 to 1505. It was abandoned for 360 years—from 1505 to 1865—by subsequent kings due to internal fighting between the royal pretenders. Later kings moved the capital several times and established their royal capitals at various locations in Tuol Basan (Srey Santhor), Pursat, Longvek, Lavear Em and Oudong.

It was not until 1866, under the reign of King Norodom I (1860–1904) the eldest son of King Ang Duong, who ruled on behalf of Siam, that Phnom Penh became the permanent seat of government and capital of Cambodia, and also where the current Royal Palace was built. Beginning in 1870, the French Colonialists turned a riverside village into a city where they built hotels, schools, prisons, barracks, banks, public works offices, telegraph offices, law courts, and health services buildings. In 1872, the first glimpse of a modern city took shape when the colonial administration employed the services of a French contractor Le Faucheur, to construct the first 300 concrete houses for sale and rental to the Chinese traders.

By the 1920s, Phnom Penh was known as the Pearl of Asia, and over the next four decades Phnom Penh continued to experience rapid growth with the building of railways to Sihanoukville and Pochentong International Airport (now Phnom Penh International Airport). Phnom Penh's infrastructure saw major modernisation under the rule of Sihanouk.

During the Vietnam War, Cambodia was used as a base by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong, and thousands of refugees from across the country flooded into the city to escape the fighting between their own government troops, the NVA/NLF, the South Vietnamese and its allies, and the Khmer Rouge. By 1975, the population was 2-3 million, the bulk of who were refugees from the fighting. The Khmer Rouge cut off supplies to the city for more than a year before it fell on April 17, 1975. Reports from journalists stated that the Khmer Rouge shelling "tortured the capital almost continuously," inflicting "random death and mutilation" on millions of trapped civilians. The Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated the entire city after taking it, in what has been described as a death march: Francois Ponchaud wrote that "I shall never forget one cripple who had neither hands nor feet, writhing along the ground like a severed worm, or a weeping father carrying his ten-year old daughter wrapped in a sheet tied around his neck like a sling, or the man with his foot dangling at the end of a leg to which it was attached by nothing but skin"; John Swain recalled that the Khmer Rouge were "tipping out patients from the hospitals like garbage into the streets....In five years of war, this is the greatest caravan of human misery I have seen." All of its residents, including the wealthy and educated, were evacuated from the city and forced to do difficult labour on rural farms as "new people". Tuol Sleng High School was taken over by Pol Pot's forces and was turned into the S-21 prison camp, where people were detained and tortured. Pol Pot sought a return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived as educated, "lazy", or political enemies. Many others starved to death as a result of failure of the agrarian society and the sale of Cambodia's rice to China in exchange for bullets and weaponry. The former high school is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where Khmer Rouge torture devices and photos of their victims are displayed. Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), 15 kilometers (9 mi) away, where the Khmer Rouge marched prisoners from Tuol Sleng to be murdered and buried in shallow pits, is also now a memorial to those who were killed by the regime.

The Khmer Rouge was driven out of Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese in 1979, and people began to return to the city. Vietnam is historically a state with which Cambodia has had many conflicts; therefore this liberation was and is viewed with mixed emotions by the Cambodians. A period of reconstruction began, spurred by the continuing stability of government, attracting new foreign investment and aid by countries including France, Australia, and Japan. Loans were made from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to reinstate a clean water supply, roads and other infrastructure. The 1998 Census put Phnom Penh's population at 862,000; and the 2008 census was 1.3 million.

Geography

Phnom Penh is located in the south-central region of Cambodia, and is fully surrounded by the Kandal Province. The municipality is situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong, and Bassac rivers. These rivers provide freshwater and other natural resources to the city. Phnom Penh and the surrounding areas consist of a typical flood plain area for Cambodia. Although Phnom Penh is situated at 11.89 metres (39 ft) above the river, monsoon season flooding is a problem and the river sometimes overflows its banks.

The city, located at 11.55°N 104.91667°E (11°33' North, 104°55' East), covers an area of 678.46 square kilometres (262 sq mi), with some 11,401 hectares (28,172 acres) in the municipality and 26,106 hectares (64,509 acres) of roads. The agricultural land in the municipality amounts to 34.685 square kilometres (13 sq mi) with some 1.476 square kilometres (365 acres) under irrigation.

Cityscape and architecture

The oldest structure is Wat Phnom from the founding days of the city, constructed in 1373. The main tourist attractions are the Royal Palace with the Silver Pagoda, and the National Museum, constructed during the French colonial era in the late 19th century in the classical Khmer style and hosting a vast collection of Khmer antiquities. The Independence Monument (Khmer: Vimean Akareach), although from the 1950s, is also constructed in the ancient Khmer style.

The French, who were the colonial masters from the 19th century to the 1940s, also left their mark, with various colonial villas, French churches, boulevards, and the Art Deco market Phsar Thom Thmei. A notable landmark of the colonial era is the Hotel Le Royal.

Starting with independence from the French in the 1950s and lasting until the era of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, Phnom Penh underwent tremendous growth as the capital city of a newly independent country. King Sihanouk was eager to present a new style of architecture and thus invigorate the process of nation building. A new golden era of architecture took off, with various projects and young Khmer architects, often educated in France, given opportunities to design and construct. This new movement was called "New Khmer Architecture" and was often characterised by a fusion of Bauhaus, European post-modern architecture, and traditional elements from Angkor. The most prominent architect was Vann Molyvann, who was nominated chief national architect by the King himself in 1956. Molyvann created landmark buildings such as the Preah Suramarit National Theatre and the Council of Ministers building. Other architects helped construct the newly founded Royal Khmer University, the Institute of Foreign Languages and the National Sports Centre. With the growth of the upper and entrepreneurial middle classes, new suburbs were built in the 1950s and 60s.

Although these buildings survived the Khmer Rouge era and the civil war, today they are under threat due to economic development and financial speculation. Villas and gardens from that era are being destroyed and redeveloped to make place for bigger structures. The landmark National Theatre by Molyvann was ripped down in 2008.

A movement is rising in Cambodia to preserve this modernist heritage. Old villas are sometimes being converted into boutique hotels, such as the Knai Bang Chatt.

Monuments and memorials to the genocide during the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s are the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (a former high school used as a concentration camp) and, on the outskirts of the city, the Choeung Ek Genocide Center. The Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument was commissioned by the Vietnamese communists as symbol of Khmer-Vietnamese friendship during the late 1970s following the liberation of Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge.

Culture

Phnom Penh also has its own dialect of Khmer. Speakers of the Phnom Penh dialect often elide syllables, which has earned it the reputation for being lazy speech. Phnom Penh is also known for its influence on New Khmer Architecture. Phnom Penh is notable for Ka tieu Phnom Penh, its variation on rice-noodle soup, a dish available in sit-down cafes as well as 'street' cafes. The city is both the economic and cultural center of Cambodia.

Music and the arts are making a revival throughout Cambodia, especially in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh currently hosts a number of music events throughout the city. 'Indie' bands (those without corporate sponsors) have grown in number.

The two most visited museums in the city are the National Museum, which is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum, and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former Khmer Rouge prison.

Festivals

Cambodian New Year; Chaul Chnam Thmey April 13–15

Main article: Chaul Chnam Thmey

At this time, Phnom Penh celebrates Cambodian New Year, an occasion increasingly popular with tourists. During this typically hottest part of the year, water gets thrown around adding to the party atmosphere along with dancing and music. The precise date changes year-by-year but this holiday lasts, at least, three days. This festival marks the turn of the year based on the ancient Khmer calendar and also marks the end of the prior year harvest.

Water Festival November

Main article: Bon Om Thook

The largest annual festival in Phnom Penh, this lively gathering celebrates the reversing of the flow of the Tonlé Sap River. The holiday lasts three days as people flood into the city to enjoy the fireworks, colourful boat races, live concerts, eating and partying. The boat racing dates back to ancient times marking the strengths of the Khmer marine forces during the Khmer Empire.

On November 22, 2010 at least 348 people were crushed to death in a bridge stampede at the festival.

Pchum Ben October 11–15 (2012)

Pchum Ben is a very important aspect of Cambodian culture. It may be translated as "gathering together" to make offerings and is a time of reunion, commemoration, express love and appreciation for one's ancestors. By offering food and good karma to those possibly trapped in the spirit world, living relatives help assuage their misery and guide them back into the cycle of reincarnation.

Visak Bochea May

Vesākha is an annual holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Cambodia. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday", it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment (nirvāṇa), and passing away (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha.

Tourism

Understand

Despite being a bit rough on the edges, Phnom Penh retains its former charm as a leafy South East Asian capital with a nice riverside promenade and numerous beautiful Cambodian Buddhist wats, palaces, and other artifacts. A large infrastructure catering to tourists makes it easily accessible, and many consider it to be one of the friendliest capitals in Asia, as Cambodians have not yet become jaded by mass tourism. Widespread poverty can still be seen, as in all of Cambodia, and increasing traffic can be a problem at certain times of the day.

The innermost part of the city, known as "riverside" is where most tourists will go, as it hosts cafés and restaurants aplenty. Standard tourist sites are few, which makes the city a place to relax, watch the street life and absorb the local colour. Phnom Penh is a worthwhile destination for those who enjoy an 'edgy' experience as well as those interested in authentic South East Asian people and culture.

Weather is pleasant during the "cold season" from November to January, highs are around 30 degrees C. Staring February the temperature begins to rise, and by March the daily highs are 35-38 degrees C, making it hardly bearable. This is followed by the rainy season, which is more humid than rainy, as on most days it just rains briefly in the afternoon. Arguably, the humid heat of rainy season is even worse than the extreme heat of hot season. Occasionally, there are massive downpours that cause major flooding, making parts of the city inaccessible.

Motorbikes can be rented for US$5-6 per day, sometimes through guesthouses. Traffic is chaotic and dangerous, even by Southeast Asian standards - wear a helmet and drive carefully. If you're not experienced with a motorbike, just don't do it, as each year visiting foreigners die from motorbike accidents. Two rental shops are in Monivong Boulevard - Lucky Bike Rental and New Bike Rental. Vannak Motorcycle is in 130 street, near the riverside. Accept that paying US$1-2 police 'fines' is part of driving. Theft is common: park in designated guarded areas and pay a small parking fee or use a lock and chain, which should be provided.

See

The Royal Palace, (Bus Line 01 stop 37). 08:00-11:00 & 14:00-17:00. Including the two magnificent pagodas in the Palace Grounds, the Silver Pagoda and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, are among the few public buildings in Phnom Penh really worth seeing.

The National Museum of Cambodia, Street 13, Sangkat Chey Chumneas, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh (opposite the Royal Palace, Bus Line 01 stop 37), ☎ +855 23 211753, +855 12 621522 (mobile) (museum_cam@camnet.com.kh, fax: +855 23 211753) Daily 08:00-17:00, last admission 16:30. Contains an excellent collection of art from Cambodia's "golden age" of Angkor, and a lovely courtyard at the centre. A main attraction is the statue of King Jayavarman VII (1181-1219) in mediation pose; other exhibits worth seeing include graceful statues of Hindu gods, ancient stelae (tablets) inscribed in Sanskrit and Old Khmer, and artefacts from a prehistoric burial site.

Plae Pakaa/Fruitful, National Museum; Our Traditional Dance Show showcases one of Cambodia's most famous arts. Our dancers take you on a journey from the Angkorian palaces to villages today. The troupe, featuring live singers and musicians, present eight Classical and folk dances at our stage in the beautiful grounds of the National Museum. Time: 7-8pm, doors open at 6.30pm. Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. (events@cambodianlivingarts.org)

Wat Phnom, (on a hill at the centre of a small park near Sisowath Quay, on St. 94. Bus Line 01 stop 21). Name means "Hill Temple". The temple itself is notable more for its historic importance than physical structure, but the park is a pleasant green space and a popular gathering place for locals.

Sisowath Quay aka Riverside, (Bus Line 01 stop 21 or Terminus of Line 02 and 03). A very popular attractive boulevard running along the banks of the Mekong and Tonle Sap. It's fronted by a large, long open space with manicured lawns, palm trees and open pathways, all recently re-done as part of a Japanese funded project to upgrade the flood infrastructure along the river. The built-up side of the street is home to many cafés a very good choice of restaurants and shops and the better class of bar, and is popular with tourists and expat westerners. The esplanade along the river is also popular with Cambodians, who come here in the cool of the evening to enjoy the quasi-carnival atmosphere. It begins at the riverfront park opposite the Royal Palace, and is perhaps best experienced in the early evening. Dawn at Sisowath Quay is also a busy time, with locals doing calisthenics in front of the Royal Palace, and the sun rising over the river.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 Prison), Street 113, Boeng Keng Kang 3, Chamkar Morn (Bus Line 01 stop 41), ☎ +855 23 300-698. A school converted into Cambodia's most important prison in 1975. More than 14,000 people were tortured here before being killed here or at the Killing Fields; only 8 prisoners survived. The museum is easily accessible and a must-see for everyone interested in Cambodia's horrific recent past.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, (About 17 km south of Phnom Penh, 40min by taxi or moto or tuktuk. Bus Line 02 Terminus Ta Khmao Market and tuk-tuk transfer). A former Chinese cemetery, this is where the Khmer Rouge killed many thousands of their victims during their four-year reign of terror. Today the site is marked by a Buddhist stupa packed full with over 8,000 human skulls - the sides are made of glass so the visitors can see them up close. There are also pits in the area where mass graves were unearthed, with ominous scraps of clothing still to be found here and there. It is a serene yet somber place. Regularly throughout the day, a small museum screens a documentary with gruesome video images of human remains that were unearthed when the mass graves were found in 1979.

Do

Cruises on the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, Tourist boats are clustered together on the river along Sisowath Quay just north of the Passenger Port near Wat Phnom. Short river cruises and sunset cruises along the riverfront (Highly recommended). A tour cruise typically takes about 1 - 2 hours and runs up the Tonle Sap River along the central riverfront area providing a picturesque view of the Royal Palace, National Museum, and Phnom Penh skyline, and then across the Tonle Sap and up the Mekong River to view floating fishing villages. Some of the attractive boats have English speaking guides and serve wine and beer.

Bicycle Tours and Rental, ☎ +855 89 834704 or +855 15 696376 (contact@2cyclecambodia.com). Sa-Su 09:00-17:00. During the week upon request. Take a short trip to the other side of the Mekong River or into the countryside. USD2.  

Cambodia Cooking Class, frizz Restaurant, #67 Street 240, ☎ +855 12 524801. Classes are held every day on a rooftop terrace. Begins with a tour around a local market, then return to the restaurant to make at least three different Cambodian dishes.

Khmer Cooking Class at Feel Good Cafe, 79 Street 136, ☎ +855 982 52533 (nara@feelgoodcoffeeshop.com). Feel Good Cafe offers a Khmer cooking class which will teach you the ins and outs of preparing your own Khmer multi-course meal from scratch. The owner, Nara, speaks fluent English and is a hoot (as well as an excellent chef and instructor!). Classes last several hours, beginning with a coffee on the house and a trip to a local market, and ending with you devouring the scrumptious meal Nara has helped you prepare! If you're feeling extra-adventurous, Nara also offers a street-food tour in the evening.

Cambodia Golf and Country Club, Rte #4, 35km south of Phnom Penh, ☎ +855 23 363666. 18 hole course spread over 120 acres, palm trees, several water features. Restaurant, swimming pool, tennis courts.

Interactive Wildlife Tours at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, (Book at www.phnomtamaotours.com), ☎ +85595970175, or 095970175 from within Cambodia (WildlifeToursPT@wildlifealliance.org). Interact with rare wildlife rescued from the illegal wildlife trade: Walk with elephants in the forest, interact with baby macaque monkeys, enter keepers' private areas such as the tiger dens and get up close with some of Cambodia's last tigers, meet baby animals at the nursery in the private rehabilitation area, have the chance to bathe an elephant and get painted in a t-shirt, observe how the animals are trained with humane positive reinforcement, visit & hear the rescue stories of the leopards, pythons, binturongs and other animals, many of them rescued by the official Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team established by the government and Wildlife Alliance. Lunch, transportation, water and park entry all included (details on website). 100% of profits go directly to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of wildlife in Cambodia. www.phnomtamaotours.com

Massage & Spa; There are a large number of places, check with your tour operator or hotel.

Accommodation

Phnom Penh has a wide variety of accommodation, ranging from budget guesthouses (about USD5-20) to good quality mid-range hotels (USD20-50) to extravagant palaces with extravagant prices to match.

Get in

Note: (please check your tour operator for current prices)

By plane

Phnom Penh International Airport (IATA: PNH) is the largest airport in Cambodia, located 7km west of the city.

The following airlines operate service to/from Phnom Penh:

• AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok)
• Asiana Airlines(Seoul-Incheon)
• Bangkok Airways (Bangkok)
• Cambodia Angkor Air (Ho Chi Minh City, Siem Reap)
• China Airlines (Taipei)
• China Eastern Airlines (Kunming, Nanning)
• China Southern Airlines (Beijing, Guangzhou)
• Dragonair (Hong Kong)
• EVA Air (Taipei)
• Jetstar Asia Airways (Singapore)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Qatar Airways (Ho Chi Minh City,Doha)
• Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai)
• SilkAir (Singapore)
• Thai AirAsia (Bangkok)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok)
• Tiger Airways (Singapore)
• Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane)

The new terminal is a thoroughly pleasant and modern facility, and features a post office, bank (including ATMs), restaurants, duty-free shop, news stand, tourist help desk, and business centre. As of April 2011 there is no more departure tax to be paid at the airport - all taxes are now incorporated into the ticket price.

Duty Free prices in Cambodia seem to be horribly inflated - alcohol and cigarettes cost half as much at shops and supermarkets in the city, like the Lucky Supermarket - so stock up on alcohol (put it in your checked baggage due to liquid restrictions for carry on baggage) and cigarettes before you come to the airport. For example, 1L of Absolut Vodka is USD21 at the airport, and USD11 at supermarkets in the city. Electronics are also overpriced (but at least they're the genuine article) - and check out some of the antique shavers that are still on sale!

Getting from/to the airport

Public transportation

There are now air conditioned public city buses: Line 03 of the Phnom Penh City Bus line which began service in 2014. This new line runs between the Night Market and Chom Chav Roundabout. The fare for using the bus irrespective of distance is KHR1,500 (USD0.37) to the city centre. The bus stop is just outside the airport, 100 meters from the gate. Operation hours is from 5.30 am (starting from the night market area) to 8:30 pm.

Private transport

Taxis from the public taxi stand at the airport cost a flat USD12 (June 2014), and tuk-tuks cost USD7 officially. If you are willing to lug your bags outside the airport fence you can catch a tuktuk into town for USD5-6 depending how hard you bargain. For visitors on a budget without a lot of luggage, you can catch a motorcycle officially or unofficially, though be aware this ride can be extremely uncomfortable especially if you arrive during the afternoon or morning rush hour the trip can take about an hour in stop and go traffic. If you do catch a motorbike, the older types with the large flat seats are much more comfortable than the newer ones. A motorbike ride during rush hour on the back of a small seated newer bike is likely to be a very strenuous experience and highly not recommended. An expressway is in the works but in the meantime, it may take an hour to an hour and a half to get from the airport to the city depending on the severity of rush hour traffic.

Be aware during rush hour (3-8 pm) riding in on a tuktuk can be very dusty and polluted with traffic fumes. If you are sensitive to this, taking a bus or taxi is recommended.

By bus

Cambodia is finally aiding its development through improving its roads. Since around 2008, asphalt has been blazing trails into unexpected and remote places making for faster, year-round accessibility. The main highways that run on either side of the Tonle Sap from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Battambang, Sisophon and Poipet (for Thailand) are both well paved and in good condition.

The quality of buses runs the gamut, with the less desirable buses being a few dollars cheaper than more comfortable buses (for example on-board movie). Safety standards are low and crashes (not always reported) are common with both 'quality' and 'cheapie' bus line alike.

The rather chaotic bus station at the southwest corner of the Central Market is the base for buses run by Mekong Express, Phnom Penh Sorya Transport, Capitol Tours, Giant Ibis, and GST Express. The other bus station is next to the night market, at the Northern end of riverside road (Sisowath Quay). Don't rely on the displayed bus timetable, buy your ticket the day before and confirm the departure time with staff.

Tickets are available at the bus station. Guesthouses and travel agents throughout the city will also arrange tickets for a $1-2 commission.

Some passengers have experienced valuables being stolen from their luggage when stored out of sight.

To avoid getting scammed, you can try the online ticket aggregator CamboTicket.com. Camboticket has partnered with most of the top bus operators and allows online search, selection and payment for bus tickets and e-tickets get delivered to your inbox. The site is secure and has received positive feedback and reviews for prompt service.

Stray Asia Bus is a reliable company and offers flexible travel passes which allow passengers to hop-on and off along their Southeast route. Stray buses are safe, have an English speaking guide on board and run to a reliable time schedule. Stray is a reputed New Zealand travel company who also operate in Southeast Asia.

International services

Borders are not open 24 hrs: some night buses will wait at the border until it opens. If entering Cambodia, watch out for visa scams and avoid the Kumho Samco if coming in from Vietnam.

• Bangkok (US$15, around 14 hrs) change of bus required at the Poipet border.

• Ho Chi Minh City (US$10, around 6 hrs) no change of bus.

• Pakse (around 14 hrs)

• The Four Thousand Islands region of Laos.

• Vientiane (around 27 hrs) A generally inconvenient and stressful trip. Shambolic border procedure, multiple bus changes, through tickets not being honoured and nocturnal groping should all be expected. Travelling via Bangkok (theoretically also around 27 hrs but with tight connections) should be seriously considered as the 8PM Bangkok-Nong Khai (Laos border, 20 km from Vientiane) sleeper train (13 hrs) will be safer and more comfortable than any overnight bus through Southern Laos.

Buses arriving from Pakse enter the city at night (around 7:30 to 8:00 pm) via Monivong Ave, leaving tired and emotional travellers prone to being preyed on tuktuk touts. Watch out!

Domestic services

Phnom Penh is the domestic transport hub and direct buses run to just about every provincial capital, including far flung town like Pailin, Samraong, Banlung and Sen Monorom. The crowded peasant mover Paramount Angkor specializes in out-of-the-way towns, avoid it for intercity travel as it's the same price as more genteel companies but does not guarantee a seat.

More frequently visited destinations include:

• Siem Reap ($US5-10, 6 hrs) Capitol Tours (US$5) is the only company that runs buses to central Siem Reap. Other companies leave travellers at the mercy of tuk-tuk touts in an out of town bus station.

• Sihanoukville (US$5-10, 5-6 hrs)

• Poipet for Aranyaprathet in Thailand.

• Koh Kong

• Battambang (US$5, 4 hrs)

• Kampot

• Sisophon

By boat

Ferries connect Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and usually take 6 hr; tickets for foreigners cost US$35. Many, but not all, of these ferries offer the option of sitting on the roof, which makes for a much more scenic, albeit less comfortable ride than the bus; take sun block, a hat, and enough water to last you for several hours just in case the boat gets stuck. The boat leave 7:30am. Fast boats leave every morning around 8AM from Chau Doc in Vietnam's Mekong Delta and take 5 hr to reach Phnom Penh. The boats make the return journey the same day and leave Phnom Penh around 1PM arriving in Chau Doc in the early evening.

There are 3 choices of boat to Chau Doc:

• Hang Chau Speed Boat (no pickup, tour guide, water, snack, insurance), leaves at 12:00, takes 4hours, Price US$22
• Mekong Tour Slow Boat, leaves at 7hr 30 min, takes 7-8hours, price US$12
• Cawaco hydrofoil from Can Tho ( contact directly for cost)

Slow boats to Vietnam (US$9-10) are a scenic alternative to the bus (US$10, 6 hr). The 8 hour journey begins at 07:30 with a minibus to the boat, which then goes to Chau Doc in Vietnam, stopping for an hour at the border for immigration and a change of vessel. Faster boats (US$10) to Ho Chi Minh City take around 6 hours and depart 3-7 times per day. The journey can be also stretched into a 2-3 day Mekong tour (US$40-60).

For Visa: http://www.cambodiaimmigration.org/faq

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh

http://wikitravel.org/en/Phnom_Penh