"Phnom Penh" a Phnom Penh Travel Page by jmmorgan

When we said we were visiting Cambodia as part of our holiday we got some really strange looks. These folks just don't know what they are missing!
For a capital city Phnom Penh is no sprawling metropolis with skyscrapers and gridlocked traffic. We found it to be a charming city with very friendly, but not pushy, people. I would certainly visit again.
Our journey started at the airport where we were picked up and whisked to our hotel by our guide. We stayed at Le Royale, owned by the Raffles Group, in the centre of the city. We were quickly checked in and shown to our room by a porter wearing a traditional, colonial style, costume. Our room was quite comfortable although I felt the bathroom needed refurbishment.
We had most of the day to ourselves so following a shower and an exploration of the hotel we went out for a walk to the Central Market which was close by. It was very, very hot and sticky so the first thing we did upon arriving at the market was get a drink. Two coke $1from a friendly but non-english speaking vendor. We enjoyed our trip around the market. In the centre there are many gold and jewellery stalls. By now we were being folloewd by a group of children but it appeared they were not allowed entry to this part of the market area so we lost them.
Radiating from the centre were "arms" selling textiles, household goods etc. Outside there were food stalls and the fruit and vegetable market. We spent a fascinating couple of hours wandering around and purchased some T Shirts $2 each (good quality) and more drinks. We could have had some snacks too but I didn't fancy fried spiders or beetles!

That evening we took a cab down to the FCC Club at sisowath quay. The club is up some narrow stairs at the top of the building. It was quite busy but we found stools at the balcony and watched the sun go down with a couple of reasonably priced beers. I couldn't see any great reason to stay especially as a couple of backpackers with very strident voices were beginning to annoy me. We paid our bill and went out into the street. There are loads of restaurants in this area and we settled in one a few doors up that appeared to be busy and had plenty of local people dining there. I find locals tend to know where the food is good. Our meal was delightful, lots of fish to choose from, and the bill including drinks was around $30 for 2 people.
The following day we did the tourist sites, the palace (excellent), the museum (boring), and the Tuol sleng prison and Killing fields (unique).
It was very hot during the day and we returned to our hotel feeling very tired. A dip in the pool sorted us out and we then went out for dinner again. This time we chose a Thai restaurant at Sisowath Quay. The food was superb and the people who owned it so friendly. The lady worked at a bank during the day and as my husband does too they had each met a friend! Eventually, when they were closing we got a cab back to the hotel. We were told not to walk the streets at night and I certainly did not put that piece of advice to the test. Taxis are cheap, arrive quickly, and safe to travel in. They all appeared to be fairly modern Japanese made cars and berst of all they had Air-Con!

On our final day we were free until late afternoon when we were to go to the airport for our journey home to England via Bangkok.
The hotel granted us a late checkout until 3.00PM so we went a walk to the market again then took a cyclo to sisowath Quay where we had lunch. Back at the hotel we packed and checked out spending our last few hours in the Elephant Bar.
The trip to the airport was uneventful until we got there. Firstly the driver couldn't find the way in! Apparently they had moved the entrance for the third time that week due to works.
Once inside I had my cigarette lighter confiscated at the security check, odd because I had been through at least 10 airports in 3 weeks with it and no-one else had thought it dangerous! My husband was surprised that I didn't make a fuss but I explained that I had at least 2 more in my hand luggage which had gone through the x ray machine. We then found the check in was not open so settled down to wait. Eventually it opened and they didn't speak English but were trying to tell us something that seemed quite important. Thankfully a gentleman at the back of the queque stepped forward and translated. It appeared that the flight was delayed and the aircraft was changed to a slower one. We should have had about 2 hours to transit in Bangkok but our time was cut to about 45 minutes. This seemed to be something we could do nothing about so we settled down to await our flight.
We eventually arrived at Bangkok 35 mins before our flight to London was to leave and we still had to check in! A mad dash through the airport saw us at the Qantas desk (said British Airways in very small letters) with a long queque in front of us. After politely waiting for about 10 mins while people were changing their flights and seat tomorrow my patience snapped. We had less than 20 mins before the flight was leaving. I shouted to the clerk that we needed to check in for London NOW. He looked stunned but quickly called us to the front. An Australian gentleman was most unimpressed and objected to us jumping the queque. If you are reading this mate you don't know how close you were to being punched. We were then notified that our bags had been found (were they lost?) but might not make the flight and we were told to run to the gate as it was 20mins walk away and the flight would leave in 15. We raced through the airport and as we approached the gate a member of British Airways staff was yelling us to run faster. Exhausted we boarded to hear the door close behind us. As we sat down the plane started moving and was airborne before I got my breath back. That was close!
Non of the crew knew whether our baggage had made it and we were very relieved to see it appear at Heathrow.

I also have pages on Cambodia and Angkor Wat with many more tales and pictures