I’ll be honest as I start this blog post – Phnom Penh has probably been our least favorite city we’ve visited so far on our trip. This is mainly due to the absurd amount of trash all over the streets combined with the lack of sidewalks and traffic laws (typical to Southeast Asia, but even more so here). Walking is a nightmare.
We arrived in Phnom Penh after taking the Mekong Express (Phnom Penh Travel Company) bus from Siem Reap. The bus company picked us up at our hotel in Siem Reap and drove us to the bus station, where we were the last to board (a lot of locals appeared to be traveling on this bus with few tourists). Every seat on the bus was occupied and the air conditioning wasn’t working well, so it was a hot trip. Fortunately, we did have two seats together. The ride itself took about 6.5 hours – our longest bus ride in Southeast Asia to date. We considered flying between the two cities, but the cost savings was well worth the hot bus ride ($12/person for the bus and over $100/person for flights). We were not surprised when the bus dropped us off at a random corner outside the city center in Phnom Penh. Since we had been sitting all day, we decided to walk to the hotel. It was about a 50-minute walk spent weaving around cars, tuk tuks, and motorbikes and avoiding trash. By the time we arrived, we were drenched in sweat and feeling like we should have opted for a tuk tuk ride instead.
We stayed at the YK Art House, which was a cheap, clean hotel near the Aeon Mall. Our room was plenty large, and the hotel also has a small pool in the courtyard area. Once we dropped our bags off, we headed out to find dinner. Since we were hoping to avoid a long walk and wanted something nearby, we decided to check out the mall food court. The first floor houses the typical food court area with many cheaper food options, while the third floor (near the movie theater and bowling alley) has several sit-down restaurants. We opted for the cheaper section – I ordered fried noodles with beef and Patrick picked up some sushi. Both were good enough, but nothing I would get again. The mall appears to be a popular spot for the locals; some company (not sure who) was hosting a kids’ concert-esque activity (I’m sure for advertisement purposes). They had young kids on stage singing songs and dancing, including the infamous “Baby Shark” – even in Phnom Penh!
The next day, we started our morning with brunch at a nearby restaurant, Eleven One. It had good online reviews and is plastic free! The food was delicious, and the seating area is a nice courtyard area with plenty of shade, plants, and fans. It was well worth the $15 (including tip) for loc lak beef with rice and a fish amok burger with two iced coffees. After brunch we visited the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, commonly referred to as the Killing Fields. This was a tough visit, but important for us to see. The entrance fee is $6/person including the audio guide, which we found to be well-narrated and informative. No buildings from the genocide still remain on the property – in the years that followed the war, these were torn down for their building materials as people were trying to rebuild their lives. The museum has put up signs were the buildings used to be and talks about the horrors in the audio guide. The audio guide also shares stories of some survivors of Pol Pot’s genocide. The atrocities that took place here are almost unimaginable. Pagodas have been built over some of the larger mass graves to designate and protect the graves. However, most of the graves have been dug up, and an extensive investigation was performed to try to identify remains and causes of death. A memorial was constructed at the Center in honor of those who died. Skulls and bones are displayed inside with results of the investigations. While it was a very somber experience, we are glad we went. It is tragically a part of Cambodia’s very recent history and was important for us to learn more about. We spent almost two hours here, not including the 50-minute tuk tuk ride each way. Our round trip tuk tuk (the driver waits for you during your visit) was $15 as this is located outside of the main city. Afterwards, we were dropped back off at our hotel and relaxed until dinner time.
We wandered north of our hotel along Samdach Sothearos Boulevard until we stumbled upon a small local hole in the wall restaurant. They were serving the pate bread sandwiches that Patrick had tried in Siem Reap, so we each ordered two and a pork bao bun with a couple beers for $5.10. Then we walked over to Bassac Lane (a touristy street/alley filled with small bars). We got a few beers at Red Bar and watched an English Premier League match before moving to another bar (Jack’s Saloon) down a small side alley for another beer. There was a band playing live Christmas music in the alley (even “All I Want for Christmas”!), so we listened for a while and enjoyed the scene.
The next day was our last day in Phnom Penh and Cambodia. We decided to give our hotel’s vegan restaurant a try for breakfast since the dishes on the weekend are only $1 per small plate. We each tried three items including mushroom sliders, fried buffalo cauliflower, black beans and avocado on an English muffin, and red curry soup. I can’t say I’m one to try vegan food usually, and this restaurant didn’t help with that. The food was lacking a lot of flavor. We wouldn’t recommend it, but the restaurant setting in the courtyard area is very nice. After brunch we walked up to Wat Phnom, passing the Royal Palace and riverfront areas along the way. Fortunately, there was decent stretches of walkable sidewalk in this direction, especially along the Tonle Sap riverfront. Based on reviews, we skipped going into the Royal Palace, but we did pay the $1/person entrance fee for the Wat Phnom temple and park area. It’s a quick climb to the top to see the temple and the park offers peaceful shade and respite from the heat. Well worth the entrance fee.
From there, we headed back to the Aeon Mall to catch a movie and take advantage of the air-conditioned venue. There are a few different movie-going options at this theater:
- Normal seat, 3D movie, $5.50 on weekends, $3.50 on weekdays
- 4DX theater, nicer lounge seats, $13 for rear, $11 for front on weekends
- VIP theater, 2D movie, fully reclining seats with pillows and blankets, served tea, coffee, cake, and a cookie in the VIP lounge, $15 on weekends, $12 on weekdays (note, these seats no longer get you free popcorn and drinks)
We initially purchased tickets for the normal, 3D movie because it was significantly cheaper than the other options. However, about 10 minutes after we purchased them and after Patrick read reviews for the VIP tickets (thinking we got free popcorn and beer, which we did not), Patrick decided we should go for the VIP seats. So, we went back to the ticket booth and asked if we could exchange/upgrade. I’ve never returned a movie ticket before, so combined with a language barrier, I am surprised that Patrick was able to make this happen. They told us they would have to resell our seats for the normal theater and would give us the cash back if they did. Meanwhile, we purchased the more expensive tickets. So ultimately, we were at risk for both tickets. Fortunately, we were very early for both showings, so they had plenty of time to resell our ticket. We got dinner at Ringer, a restaurant on the third floor of the mall, enjoyed our free tea, coffee, cake, and cookies in the VIP lounge, and then watched Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in our bed-like seats with pillows and blankets. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon/evening, although a pricey experience. We probably should have opted for the normal seat so that we could have indulged in popcorn and beer instead, but oh well! After we got out of our movie, we checked with the ticket office and turns out they did resell our tickets and gave us cash back on the spot. Strange, but it worked! By this time, it was late, so we walked back to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our flight to Vietnam the next morning.
Back in Siem Reap, we had decided to spend Christmas in Vietnam, so our time in Cambodia was shorter than it probably should have been. While we felt that we had more than enough time in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, we wished we had time to visit some of the areas outside of the main cities.