Phnom Penh – A week in Cambodia’s Capital

Why, you might ask, are we back in Southeast Asia after we made such a big deal about the heat in several of our posts last year? Well, a too-good-to-pass-up opportunity for a cruise from Singapore to Athens (with stops in Sri Lanka, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel) presented itself last summer; this exact route has been on Howard’s radar for several years. So we figured we could add Cambodia to our list of post-retirement countries, see more of Vietnam, specifically the southern region, and maybe dive in the Philippines before landing in Singapore in May. As you’re no doubt aware, the route through the Red Sea is a bit of a &*%$ show at the moment making the likelihood of our cruise sailing as scheduled close to zero. This leaves our plans for this year in a state of flux, but for now we’ve got 29 days mapped out for Cambodia, beginning in the capital, Phnom Penh.

During our first visit to Cambodia in 2017, I was struck by the absence of elderly people. While it didn’t seem as noticeable this time, perhaps because as we inch closer to this demographic ourselves I just think everyone looks like us, even today the median age in Cambodia is only 27.1 years (compared to Canada and the US which are 40.6 and 38.9, respectively). This young population is directly attributable to the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979.

Cambodia has had a monarchy since 68 CE, although today it is a constitutional monarchy with the king elected from descendants of one of the two royal houses, House of Norodom or House of Sisowath. Despite being a powerful empire in its own right, the Khmers faced frequent invasions (and occupations) by their neighbours in Thailand and Vietnam. In most instances, they staged successful rebellions against the invaders but the Vietnamese proved to be a bit more troublesome in the 19th century. The king sought aid from the French with the net result that Cambodia became a French protectorate, where it remained (aside from a brief period of Japanese occupation during the Second World War) until 1953 when independence was declared.

The 50s, 60s, and 70s were pretty messy in Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) beginning with revolts against colonial rule and escalating as various ideologies sought to dominate the political landscape. One particular group of thinkers had been lurking in the political shadows of Cambodia since 1951. Originally, its ideology was split between Chinese and Soviet interpretations of communism. In 1960 the pro-Chinese contingent prevailed, and the Workers’ Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia) emerged with a, relatively speaking, moderate politician at its helm. He didn’t last long. Under somewhat suspicious circumstances he was killed in 1962 and his protégée, Saloth Sar, took up the mantle. For reasons that are not entirely clear, he began calling himself Pol Pot, which according to some sources might mean “the original Cambodian.” There is no question that Pol Pot held very strong nationalist views and dreamt of an agrarian socialist society that would eventually transform itself into a communist utopia. He changed the name of his party to the Communist Party of Kampuchea or as it is better known, the Khmer Rouge. Civil war dominated the next decade finally ending in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh which had been in the hands of the US-backed Khmer Republic. A totalitarian dictatorship, Democratic Kampuchea, was established.

Entire urban populations were redistributed to collective farms in the countryside. Money was abolished, black clothing was the only fashion choice, and anyone who was perceived as an opponent of the government was eliminated. What constituted government opposition? Intellect and affluence. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, civil servants and other white collar professionals were targeted. The simple act of wearing glasses or speaking a foreign language marked one as a threat to the state. The removal of that segment of the population coupled with the starvation that resulted from massive crop failure (urbanites aren’t typically well-versed in husbandry) had devastating consequences. In four years Pol Pot was responsible for the extermination of roughly one-quarter of the Cambodian population (1.5-2M people). The Cambodian-Vietnamese War put an end to the genocide, but Cambodia has continued to struggle as a success story. According to the United Nations, it is classified as an LDC (least developed country), the criteria for which are poverty, human resource weaknesses (nutrition, health, education/literacy), and economic vulnerability. The good news is the nation hopes to graduate to developing status in 2027.

Dollars – As Cambodia was our first stop after leaving North America we opted not to include the cost of that flight in our calculations for Phnom Penh as it would have dramatically skewed the numbers. We do include that figure as a separate amount in our spreadsheet on Spending. We thought the cost of living in Phnom Penh was high for this part of the world, especially so when you consider our daily average did not include any sightseeing, just barebones living expenses.

Environment – We stayed in an Airbnb in the Chamkar Mon district which was within easy walking distance of the Royal Palace, National Museum, Independence Monument, and tons of restaurants. Although we were renting a unit through Airbnb, the owner obviously had an arrangement with the apartment building and all our housekeeping needs, including toiletries and bathroom products, were within their purview. Given that role, we were somewhat surprised when we were advised that the building had run out of toilet paper and we would have to wait a day or two for more to arrive! The unit was reasonably comfortable, with a minimally equipped kitchen. Fortunately, it was cheaper to dine out rather than prepare meals at home so we only needed the two available bowls and accompanying spoons to meet our breakfast needs.

Tips, Tricks & Transportation – In the late 19th century, when Cambodia was a French protectorate, the remorque (a trailer pulled by a cyclist) was a common mode of transportation. Eventually, progress replaced manpower with motorcycles and today these trailers look more like large rickshaws. They don’t go exceptionally fast (maximum speed is around 50-60 kph / 30-37 mph) but are a fun alternative to a car. They are commonly known as tuk-tuks but a true tuk-tuk is an enclosed three-wheeled, squishy vehicle that wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the remorque.

Tuk-tuks, remorques, or cars can all be ordered through Southeast Asia’s ride-share service, Grab, but Tuk-tuks and remorques are also available everywhere and are less expensive than a car. If you do hail one on the street be sure to negotiate the price for your ride BEFORE you get in, and most drivers are not that familiar with street names when pronounced by a foreigner, so you are much better off giving a landmark as your destination or show it to them on Google Maps. It is also best to use small bills – asking drivers to make change is a hassle. Honestly, we preferred to just book through the Grab app whenever we wanted a ride, which has a fixed price to your destination (no haggling), and uses our credit card on file to pay the driver.

Petty theft is a significant problem in Phnom Penh, specifically phones, so be mindful of your surroundings – even using caution while you are in a remorque as backpacks can be easily plucked out by passing motorcyclists.

Out and About – This was our second visit to Cambodia and we were using the week to recoup from our flight from California (15-hour flight from LAX to Taipei, 3.5-hour layover, then another 4 hours to Phnom Penh), thus did very little sightseeing. There are, however, several places worthy of a visit if this is your first time in the city.

While approximately 300 “killing fields” have been identified in Cambodia, likely the best known is a former orchard about 17 kilometers south of the city center, Choeung Ek. As a companion to that killing field is the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, aka S21. Security Prison 21 was housed in a former secondary school and of the roughly 20,000 people imprisoned there only seven are known to have survived. Both of these testaments to the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge are gut-wrenching experiences, but do bring to mind the adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905), and in our opinion should be included on any itinerary for this city. Less difficult for the psyche is the National Museum, home to one of the world’s largest collections of Khmer art.

As this was our second time in Phnom Penh we did not repeat any of these sites, instead meandering the city streets, which is more enjoyable after the sun sets and the temperature drops slightly. We particularly liked strolling the well-maintained promenade along the banks of the Mekong.

I had read that Phnom Penh had some lovely colonial French architecture, and found an online map detailing a walking route past the best examples. What a disappointment. These buildings have not been maintained and most appeared to be abandoned. To be fair, I am sure there are far more important projects in need of tax dollars.

The walk ended at the Central Market, an Art Deco building completed in 1937. At the time of construction it was billed as the largest market in Asia. It houses the usual selection of ticky-tacky tourist trinkets in an attractive setting.

One bit of “architecture” that I did find absolutely fascinating was the power/phone lines. Overhead lines are not unusual in SE Asia, but Phnom Penh has taken the business of stringing these wires to epic proportions!

Us – We do not feel the need to ever return to Phnom Penh. It is rather dirty, with massive piles of garbage spilling over from bins or threatening to topple as it accumulates at the edge of the road. The sidewalks are almost non-existent so anywhere we walked we were sharing the street with traffic. The idea of choosing to walk rather than hop in a tuk-tuk is clearly odd behavior and we were constantly declining rides from the proliferation of tuk-tuk drivers, some of whom were not easily brushed aside with a polite “no thank you.” The city has little to no charm, which surprised me as after our short stop in 2017 I thought it deserved another visit. In retrospect, I wonder if that was a reflection of travel style. In 2017 we were travelling with friends on a private tour and were whisked around to all the important sites as opposed to forging our own path in 2024. Off to Siem Reap!

Restaurants – Amok trei (fish amok) was supposedly first served in the royal court of the Khmer Empire (802 to 1431). Whether the recipe truly originated in Cambodia is up for debate, but it is considered their national dish. It is a mild green coconut curry seasoned with lemongrass, rhizome (sand ginger), cinnamon, and galangal (similar to turmeric). A version with prahok, a very salty fermented fish paste, is popular too. While traditionally, as the name implies, fish is the protein, chicken and vegetarian versions are readily available. I quite liked it and tried it on several occasions (with chicken). The first time I ordered it was at Banteay Srei which funnily enough we realized was the same restaurant in which we dined seven years ago, although it is now far more upscale and the kitty cats roaming beneath the tables, rubbing against the patrons, have been relocated. That version was okay, but the one prepared by Davids Noodles, just down the block, was less expensive and tastier.

Speech – The earliest inscriptions in Cambodian, or more properly, Khmer, date from the 7th century. Its script is as ornate as that of its neighbour Thailand, both of which share Sanskrit as a common ancestor, but Khmer contains many sounds that do not exist in the Thai language.

It is a tough language for Westerners to master with many considering it more challenging to speak than Mandarin and even more difficult to read than Chinese or Japanese. Using these phonetic pronunciations we managed to drop a few words into our interactions with the locals.

• Soo sdai – Hello (and should be accompanied by a sampeah (a small bow with hands pressed together in prayer);
• Lee-hi – Goodbye;
• Bah – Yes (male) / Chaa – Yes (female);
• Aw-dteh – No;
• Suom – Please;
• Aw-koon – Thank you / Aw-koon che-rahn – Thank you very much (again accompanied by a sampeah);
• Tah nyek neeyay preesah ahng-lat-tay – Do you speak English?
• Suom ket loy – the check please (in a restaurant);
• Suom-toe – Sorry or Excuse me.

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