Yesterday marked the 1-week anniversary of my arrival in Phnom Penh. I’m actually starting to feel settled.
Almost got the office routine figured out and started working on agency agreements, targeting likely prospects and building relationships. I understand the traffic pattern, but will never be able to really get used to it. I have my lunch spot picked out and have made friends with the workers. Joined a bike ride with the Phnom Penh Hash House Harriers. Bought a new bike. Scoped out my neighborhood. Ready to roll!
From a tourism perspective, Phnom Penh would probably not be high on my list of things to see in Cambodia. The National Museum and Royal Palace (both within 2-3 blocks of my apartment) are really nice, and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & Killing Fields (as disturbing as they may be) are also very important parts of the history. (Man, I can’t even write about it without tears coming to my eyes.) But if my time and funds were limited, I’d stick with the Angkor Temples and some of the more remote areas for trekking.
I’'ve been posting pictures and regular updates on my Facebook and Google+ pages, if you’d like to see more.
Wow, I had no idea you were moving there. Have fun, but . . . BE CAREFUL. Sure, there are lots of beautiful sites/sights in Cambodia and most of the people are wonderful (I had a great time traveling around Cambodia years ago), but I would imagine there are some real hazards there, due to the extreme poverty and hellacious history.
So far I’ve only been to Siem Reap (and surrounding areas) and Phnom Penh, but plan to do a lot of cycling and trekking. I’ll be in Phnom Penh for 3 - 6 months, and then I’ll go open our branch office in Siem Reap. Definitely prefer Siem Reap. More my speed.
This history sure is tragic. Never really got it, until I went to the Killing Fields.
Biggest hazard here in Phnom Penh today is the traffic. Makes Taiwan traffic seem downright polite and civilized.
Somber, soul-shaking and sobering places. Worth visiting, if only to reduce the chances of such horrors happening again.
Phnom Penh has a number of interesting sites already mentioned; then there’s the Russian Market, Wat Phnom, and the Independence Monument. Worth a three- or four-day stay. Good food, too. And easy access by boat to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat.
You will begin to like Phnom Penh (PP), and then you will love it. There are few “must see” attractions, and that is a plus, actually. It’s a real, living city, not filled with tens of thousands of tourists passing through quickly to take a picture of something so that they can tell people “I WAS THERE!” Enjoy those $2 breakfasts of fresh BBQ chicken or pork over fresh steamed rice. I love those thick lines of telephone wires blocking out the sun on the backstreets, love the old colonial mansions crumbling up on Norodom Blvd and elsewhere. Stay away from the tourist zone within 3 blocks of the river.
PP has got have about 10,000X more style than, say, Taipei, or any other city in Taiwan, whose architecture reeks of “functionality” (bathroom tiles, tin, etc).
I live in Siem Reap, but go to Phnom Penh occasionally. No more COVID restrictions, if that’s what you’re asking. The city is still as hectic and chaotic as ever. Lots of development. Cambodia has implemented an e-arrival process replacing the paper arrival documents that should be completed within 7 days of arrival. https://www.arrival.gov.kh/
You mentioned “within 7 days of arrival”—does that mean this online process should not be done until after one lands? Or in the seven day period immediately before one’s scheduled flight?
But, you still need to apply for a visa separately. And this e-arrival process doesn’t work for land crossings. Have you done it at the Vietnamese/Cambodian border at all?