Phnom Penh

[BarraBurger]

Spending about 30 days in Phnom Penh with work. Will have about 4 double days off during that period. What to do/see?

 

[AIRwin]

What a coincidence, today is Cambodia's Constitution Day!

Some of what I did/saw a few years ago (prior to the new KTI airport opening):

• Sunset cruise along the Mekong River
• Night market
• Phsar Thmey market
• Guided tour of the Royal Palace of Cambodia
• Independence Monument
• Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

 

[SYD]

Spending about 30 days in Phnom Penh with work. Will have about 4 double days off during that period. What to do/see?

Use one to see the sites of PP (Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda etc).

It’s a bit of schlep, but Angkor can be reach by car (private transfer ~4-5hrs - flying might be marginally faster but SAI is quite a way out of town, whereas the car will drop off/pickup from hotels). You can hire a rideshare Remorque and driver for a set number of hours to get around the temples. Maybe leave PP early, drop stuff at a hotel. Go to a couple of temples in the arvo and save Angkor for the next morning) before heading back to PP.

Haven’t done it, but plenty of Mekong boat rides.

 

[Chatswood]

I reckon PP’s sights can be covered using one of the double days, or even a sweaty one day.

Would definitely recommend a guide for the Royal Palace and maybe the National Museum to give some contexts to the thing you see, unfortunately they’re generally poorly signed. I would also recommend Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek and their audio guides are perfectly fine, but those are very sobering sights.

Wat Phnom is quite a nice temple too, it’s also close to the riverside for a walk in the evening - it gets really lively then.

If your interest is in economics the Sosoro Museum is also really good, it covers the economic history of Cambodia from ancient times to the present system.

 

[RooFlyer]

Someone has just tod me that US$ (crisp notes of course) are essential in Cambodia. The case today?

 

[SYD]

Someone has just tod me that US$ (crisp notes of course) are essential in Cambodia. The case today?

“Essential”, probably not. We put pretty much everything on CC and didn’t even change money.

But did have USDs. I think we paid a Tuk Tuk driver in cash (smallish notes ~$10-$20). It was about US$20 a day if paying direct. But you could book a random driver via Grab.

Some very “local” places were cash only, so we just moved on.

 

[RooFlyer]

Tuk Tuk driver in cash

And there's a tuk tuk app, requiring a local number? @BarraBurger I hope this is useful for you too.

 

[AIRwin]

It’s a bit of schlep, but Angkor can be reach by car (private transfer ~4-5hrs - flying might be marginally faster but SAI is quite a way out of town, whereas the car will drop off/pickup from hotels).

@BarraBurger I have my previous contacts if you're looking for a driver or guide in Siem Reap