• Cambodia, Phnom Penh has regained much of its old charm, but to see the real thing, cross the Chruoy Changvar Bridge
  WEBSITE TEAM-MPP
  October 25, 2005

PHNOM PENH-even the name sounds scary. Khmer Rouge, killing fields, urban violence. In recent memory, the Cambodian capital has tragically been lumbered with a bad reputation. But don’t believe all the hype. After 30 years of conflict and civil war, Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is once more becoming the “Pearl of Asia”, a charming backwater capital on the banks of the Mekong River. With the war truly over, much of the French colonial architecture intact, fascinating traces of Cambodia’s recent past lingering among renewed urban development and more than 200 bars and restaurants catering to tourists, Phnom Penh is the most enigmatic of Southeast Asia’s capitals. While Phnom Penh remains a city with an edge, it has become as safe a place to walk around as most big cities in Asia. What’s more, with a population of only two million and few high-rises, old world charm and a real 20th century feel have so far resisted the kind of development seen in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur.

Phnom Penh has been the capital of Cambodia since the fall of Angkor to the Siamese in the 15th century. The city lies right in the heart of Cambodia at the confluence of the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River, which provides easy access to Tonle Sap, Asia’s biggest freshwater lake and the source of almost halt of the country’s protein intake. Until the French turned Cambodia into part of this Indochina colonial empire in 1863, the city remained a backwater squeezed by the Siamese and the Vietnamese.

Flying into Phnom Penh’s Pochentong International Airport, the mood of regeneration is fell as soon as one steps off the plane. Visas on arrival are a mere formality for most nationalities, baggage retrieval is swift and efficient and only tourists from neighboring countries are pressed for bribes.

The drive into town is an exhilarating first impression Cambodia remains an impoverished country and the preferred mode of transport is the motorbike. Cars are few and the roads are good. Incredibly, Phnom Penh is one of the very few Asian cities with virtually no traffic jams. The modern layout of Phnom Penh is a French creation. Colonial landmarks can be seen all over the capital, including the National Museum and the beautiful art-deco Central Market.

Phnom Penh is the most enigmatic of Southeast Asia’s capitals. While it remains a city with an edge, it has become as safe a place to walk around as most big cities in Asia.

Psar Themy, as it’s also called, built in 1937, is a big yellow dome surrounded by a myriad of small stalls selling everything from fish and vegetables to second-hand clothes, cheap foods, T-shirts that read “ I survived Cambodia”, garish paintings of Angkor and wide variety of pirated books on Cambodia and Asia. Fortune-tellers and musicians are on hand to provide light relief from shopping. The ice-coffee, laced with canned milk, is viciously sweet.

The French are definitely gone and few Khmer today speak French, but the crumbling colonial architecture, interspersed with flourishing pagodas, lends Phnom Penh an otherworldly charm that other cities in Asia can only dream of.

The city also survived the Khmer Rough atrocities far better than its citizens, many of whom never returned from the infamous killing fields. S21, a former political prison, now a grim museum documenting Cambodia’s and Phnom Penh’s darkest hours, is a poignant reminder of the country’s catastrophe.

Today, old men slowly pedal their cyclos along the Tonle Sap promenade, smoking strong smelling cigarettes and looking for a fare, just a they did in the 1960s. Young lovers cavort on the manicured lawns round the riverfront and in the shadow of the Independence Monument, and rich Cambodians show off their imported cars. Fishermen ride their long-tails on the choppy waters of the river, making good catches right in front of the Royal Palace, while naked kids use a makeshift platform to jump into the brown waters.

In the early evening, expatriates and tourists gather here to watch the sunset from the balcony of the Foreign Correspondents Club or one of the many bistros along the river. International cuisine is what’s on offer here- from pizzas to phad thai. Khmer food is better eaten in Khmer restaurants on Sihanouk Boulevard or on the east bank of the Tonle Sap River. There’s a neon kilometer of restaurants along the highway, most of them constructed on stilts over the water.

On weekends, thousands of people from Phnom Penh enjoy food and entertainment here-most restaurants feature a stage bathed in psychotic colors where young singers try their luck and comedians do slapstick routines. The performers’ glittering costumes and the lights are reason enough to cross the Chruoy Changvar Bridge in search of the “real” Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh has recently become one of Asia’s nightlife capitals and boasts a 24-hours bar scene. Thankfully there are no go go bars in Phnom Penh, though many bars employ small armies of hostess or “taxi girls”. The riverside is the most bustling part of town in the early evenings, but by midnight, foreigners usually desert the banks of the Tonle Sap for a number of bars in the inner city. The Heart Of Darkness bar on Street 51 has been Phnom Penh’s prime night spot for a decade and its reputation has spread all over Southeast Asia. Owner Sangnam spins an eclectic mix of gay disco, rock’n’ roll and current dance tunes and the “Heart”, as it’s called by Khmers, is packed almost every night.

To recover from the sightseeing and a hedonistic nightlife, the city offers an incredible variety of accommodation. The shores of Boeung Kak Lake, in the north of the city, have become a charming backpacker centre of guest houses and shops selling bootleg DVDs and pancakes. The location is idyllic and the better guesthouses and built on stilts. Here lazy days, suspended in hammocks, fly by and the relative bustle of Phnom Penh seems a world away. Back in town, a number of former colonial villas offer excellent mid-range accommodation. While these hotels often operate on a shoestring budget and offer few amenities beyond a comfortable bed and air-conditioning, their charm is undeniable. At the top end, is Phnom Penh’s Hotel Le Royal now restored to its former glory.

In Phnom Penh, the Khmers welcome visitors with open arms and prove that there’s more to Cambodia than just temples. The “Pearl of Asia” awaits her guests.