Everything You Need To Know Before Going to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Despite its challenges, Phnom Penh proves there is no such thing as a place not to visit on this planet. Had I let everything I read influence me, I wouldn’t have discovered the colourful pagodas, the growing expat community, and the friendly Cambodian people who have gained a space in my heart.
So, what do you know about Cambodia? As we crossed the border, I asked myself this and realised I knew nothing. When you think about a developing country where people live below the poverty line, joyous images are not the first things that come to mind. It feels like I’ve learned so much only in one month. As I write this, I miss Cambodians, their smiles, their willingness to help despite their lack of English, and their resilience. At the same time, they deal with a corrupted government and a silent caste system - a taste of French colonial leftovers. While there, I was heartbroken and didn’t want to be. Cambodia was a sober reminder of what travelling is all about Seeing and experiencing the world we live in. It is said that travel is the only experience that makes you richer. I would say travel is the experience that makes you humble.
1. Walking around is… tricky
One of the first things you realise when you arrive is that walking can be dangerous and complicated. Most people park their motorbikes and cars on the sidewalks, forcing pedestrians to walk on the roads, and since everyone drives, it can be dangerous. Stopping at red lights seems more of a suggestion than the norm. The best alternative to walking around is to take a tuk-tuk. Most people use “Pass App” or “Grab App”, but you need a local sim card to book their services.
View from the tuk tuk. All Rights Reserved.
A coffee break at Vibe cafe. All Rights Reserved.
2. There’s a growing Western startup scene focused on social enterprises
There are little cafes scattered around the city with menus written in English with buzzwords such as “vegan,” “brunch” or “craft beer”. None of this is related to Cambodian cuisine but to the global food trends that attract Western customers. Once you read their menus, you find out that 1. They are owned by either a French, American, British or Australian person, and 2. their intentions are good and focused on giving back to the community. “Vibe” was a great vegan restaurant with a quiet rooftop terrace, perfect to get some work done. Your purchases go into “The Good Vibe Foundation,” which aims to provide children with healthy food and education. Lot 369 had delicious food and promised their employees fair working conditions. Farm to Table was an outdoor restaurant with chickens running between the feet, a store with zero waste products and an amicable staff. The alleyway of 240 1/2 was full of fair trade shops. I fully support initiatives that improve people’s lives in Cambodia and improve the working conditions (especially in the fashion industry!). However, if you want to help the locals and directly impact your purchase, there is nothing like eating at a local restaurant or buying at a local shop.
3. Buddhism is the dominant religion
Unlike in Thailand or Vietnam, I saw the most Buddhist monks in Cambodia. Aside from the famous Wats, Wat Phnom, and Wat Langka, many pagodas around the city don’t appear on Google (I assume to preserve the monks’ privacy) and are beautiful. When we foreigners see monks, our first impulse is to grab our phones and take a picture of them. The following text is from a free pocket guide we found extremely useful while being there: Monks are highly respected and revered in Cambodia. They aren’t a tourist attraction or a photo opportunity. If you want to photograph a monk, ask for permission first. When talking to a monk, ensure you are positioned below them, even if it means sitting on the ground. Ladies, never touch a monk and do your best not to stand or sit too close to one. It is also essential to have your legs and arms covered to go into the temples (Wats) all over South East Asia. I recommend grabbing a free guide to inform yourself better about how to “behave” in the city. “Behave” is the right word since we sadly saw tourists disrespecting the locals.
“Monks are highly respected and revered in Cambodia. They aren’t a tourist attraction or a photo opportunity. If you want to take a photo of a monk, ask for permission first.”
— Pocket Guide Asia
4. Remembering the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a former Secondary school that tragically became a security prison during the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979). This is a must if you are willing to learn about this tragic period in the history of Cambodia. This tour is not easy to see or digest, but it helped me to understand the resilience and the mourning of the Cambodian people today. Pictures are only allowed outside the building because the rooms display gruesome content. There’s a famous book by Loung Ung called First They Killed My Father, the author’s true story about being forced to work in a labour camp as a little girl. The book was turned into a movie by Angelina Jolie and is currently streaming on Netflix for those interested. To this day, the Khmer Rouge period is still a susceptible topic for Cambodians, not something to be brought up with the locals in casual conversation.
Factory Phnom Penh. All Rights Reserved.
5. Innovation and Street art at Factory Phnom Penh
One of our favourite spots was Factory Phnom Penh, A co-working and creative hub where innovation is brewing. The group of warehouses is so big that they offer bicycles to move around the space. It’s covered in street art, stating that there are no boundaries when it comes to creative and innovative ideas. While it is also a haven for digital nomads, the majority of people we saw were Cambodians. I suggest you check out their events page to mingle with the people fighting for a new Cambodia in Phnom Penh. (I took around fifty pictures of the street art, but I figured it’s better to go and see it yourself.)
6. Nightlife can be found in hidden alleyways
The city shuts its doors after sunset; parents advise their children and teens to be home before 8:00 p.m., so finding a place to hang out past 9:00 p.m. can be complicated. Most of the nightlife happened on Street 308. Still, we felt more comfortable at the hidden alley 036, where we enjoyed a cocktail at BattBong, a hidden speakeasy-style bar behind a vintage Coca-Cola machine. We also had a delicious French dinner at Bistrot Langka for Kevin’s birthday and a beer at Embargo. For a quieter night, we enjoyed spending time at Fizz and La Petanque Bar.
Phnom Penh at sunset. All Rights Reserved.
Phnom Penh at sunset, Cambodia. All Rights Reserved.
7. Cambodia faces real human rights violations and children are at the heart of them
Phnom Penh family in a motorbike. All Rights Reserved.
This is one of the reasons why it took me so long to digest what I saw and put it in writing. As Anthony Bourdain once described, Cambodia can also be “a dream come true for international losers”. Tax evaders, human traffickers and straight-up paedophiles are allowed to sit in cafes and eat in restaurants next to you (old white men groping teen girls AND boys in Kampot is a vision that my mind still finds hard to forget). When travelling across the city and the country, the inequality is blatant due to the broken system led by Hun Sen - who wants to be addressed as “Lord Prime Minister and Supreme Military Commander.”- He is well known for allowing an extended list of human rights violations. While visiting the country, it can be daunting to experience, and I felt like no expat or tourist was willing to address it. When you research travel blogs, very few people talk about what they see and instead would pose in front of a monument or a sunset, recommending “the ultimate guide” to something. In Kampot, we felt like every expat or backpacker we met had drank the “Kool-Aid” and kept telling us how great it was to be there. In contrast, I felt like no one was addressing the pink elephant in the room - Mostly old white men, looking very unhealthy and lurking around for cheap satisfaction. We could not leave Kampot any faster and felt extremely uncomfortable during our time there. Doing a bit of thorough research, we felt exactly what it is nowadays advertised as the new “hotspot” for paedophiles and sex offenders.
8. There’s so much more to see other than Phnom Penh
Kevin living his best life on the outskirts of Kep. All Rights Reserved.
Okay, this one is a bit cheeky, but don’t visit Cambodia and only see Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. This is one of the most wild and undiscovered countries I’ve ever seen. There are Angkor Empire ruins all over the country, not only in Siem Reap, and it’s a hidden gem for outdoor lovers and explorers. Every time we travelled, we saw miles and miles of green landscape. Waterfalls and national parks all around the country promise not to disappoint. We tasted it crossing through Boutum Sakor National Park, Bokor Mountains and Kep’s National Park—beautiful islands in the South and quaint towns on the northern border with Laos. So please don’t go to Cambodia to only see Angkor Wat.
Where to Stay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
We booked this Airbnb apartment in The area of Tuol Tuoumpong, also known as The Russian Market. We loved it; the area is great during the day but quiets at night.
Hotel Corduroy is a classy Japanese hotel near all the main tourist attractions; however, we found it a bit loud at night and early in the morning.
Hotel Eco Boutique was very cute with a great staff, but it was far from the main areas to hang out at night.
