"Pardon Phnom Penh" a Phnom Penh Travel Page by richiecdisc

Phnom Penh offers a chaotic sensory assault with its odd mix of gentle Asian beauty and raucous Wild West sensibilities. From the clandestine tourist areas to the squalor of its backstreets, one is constantly confronted with obscene displays of wealth and those of abject poverty. It’s an unlikely place to see so many SUVs but that is just what you find along with a ragtag conglomerate of amputees, beggars, and street urchins that you soon come to appreciate as more a true indictor of the condition of the economy than the shiny luxury vehicles cruising by. Just when you are ready to write off the Cambodian capital as corrupt beyond pardoning, you cannot help but notice the helpful and friendly everyday citizen. It’s the person frying up that plate of noodles or blending up your fruit shake with a beaming smile that shines from within and in no way is a mere enticement for your business. Phnom Penh is full of the requisite tourist sights and amenities that travelers crave when out on the road. But when it’s all said and done, and you are back home looking at your much sought after photos, it’s the smiles you never captured that you now look back on as your fondest memory of a city trying desperately to become an integral part of Southeast Asian tourism.