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Phnom Penh Holidays, Hotels & Travel Guide
Travel guide to hotels & holidays in Phnom Penh
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Phnom Penh Holidays Overview
A guide to holidays in Phnom Penh - Legend has it that in 1372, a local widow named
Penh, discovered four Buddha statues that had been washed up by the
waters from the Mekong River. She saw them as bearers of good
fortune and erected a temple on the hill to house them, and so the
city grew around this structure, known as the Hill of Penh (Phnom
Penh).
Once considered to be the loveliest of
Indochina's French-built cities, this untidy capital sprawls at the
confluence of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonlé Sap Rivers. Concrete
buildings in need of repair, unsealed roads riddled with potholes
and a confusion of boulevards crammed with traffic, all make
uninviting first impressions. Traces of Khmer and colonial eras can
be found in the little details, redeeming those first hasty
conclusions. These can be found in the heart of the city where
French villas and street-side cafes perch along tree-lined
boulevards and the occasional majestic Khmer building catches the
eye. Phnom Penh has a number of Wats
(temple-monasteries), museums and other places of interest in and
around the city, as well as sunset cruises on the Mekong and Tonlé
Sap Rivers, and a bustling market place. There has also been a
recent boom of new hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs
sprouting up through the city and a nightlife that promises fun and
flavour.
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Phnom Penh
holidays - Top Places To Go
1. The Royal Palace
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What is it? This is the principal attraction of the city
and contains the best examples of 20th-century Khmer architecture.
The Royal Palace is the official residence of King Norodom
Sihanouk. Although off-limits to the public, several buildings
within the gleaming yellow walls of the compound can be visited.
Set among the perfectly maintained gardens is the exquisite Throne
Hall, the Elephant Pavilion where the king's elephants were kept,
the Royal Treasury and the Chan Chaya Pavilion, made especially for
performances of classical Cambodian dance. The highlight of the
compound, the Silver Pagoda, takes its name from the floor of the
temple, which is completely covered in silver tiles. The internal
walls are decorated with frescoes depicting episodes of the
Ramayana myth, painted in 1903 by 40 Khmer artists. Also called the
Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha, the magnificent baccarat crystal
image of the Emerald Buddha sits in the centre on a gilt pedestal.
There are other intricately carved Buddha images on display,
notably the life-size solid gold statue that stands in front of the
pedestal, decorated with 9,584 diamonds.
Hours of Operation: Daily 7.30am to 11am and 2.30pm to 5pm
Phone: |
2. National Museum
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What is it? The museum houses the country's most
important collection of ancient Cambodian culture and Khmer art. It
is made up of four galleries containing relics, sculpture, art and
crafts covering history from the pre-Angkor period (4th century)
until the present. The pieces are arranged in chronological order
and the collection continues to grow as new treasures previously
hidden from the Khmer Rouge are discovered. There are also original
relics and sculptures from the temples of
Angkor.
Hours of Operation: Daily 8am to 5pm
Phone: |
3. Tuol Sleng Museum
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What is it? When the Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975
they commandeered and converted a secondary school into a primitive
prison where they detained and tortured anyone suspected of
anti-revolutionary behaviour. Between 1975 and 1979 an estimated
20,000 victims were imprisoned in Security Prison 21, or S21, as it
was known. The museum was established after the Vietnamese invasion
of Cambodia and today it appears exactly as the fleeing Khmer Rouge
left it, and serves as a testimony to the crimes and atrocities of
the organisation. It is a tremendously depressing experience, and
the pictures, instruments of torture and bloodstained walls give a
thorough idea of the extent of the pain and horror borne by the
Cambodian people. Thousands of victims were transported from here
to the extermination camp outside the city, Choeung
Ek.
Hours of Operation: Daily 8am to 11.30am and 2.30pm to 5pm
Phone: |
Phnom Penh
holidays - Top Events
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