Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
evenings, residents come here to take the air, snack on hawker food and enjoy the
impromptu waterside entertainment; the strip also shows the city at its most
cosmopolitan, lined with Western restaurants, cafés and bars. Three key tourist sights
lie close by. Arguably the most impressive of the city's attractions is the elegant
complex housing the
Royal Palace
and
Silver Pagoda
that dominate the southern
riverfront. The palace's distinctive four-faced spire towers above the pitched golden
roofs of its Throne Hall, while the adjacent Silver Pagoda is home to a stunning
collection of Buddha statues. A block north of the palace is the
National Museum
, a
dramatic, hybrid building set in leafy surroundings housing a fabulous collection of
ancient Khmer sculpture dating back to as early as the sixth century. Also near the
river are
Wat Ounalom
- one of five pagodas founded during Phnom Penh's first spell
as the capital, whose austere grey stupa houses the ashes of many prominent Khmers
- and bustling hilltop
Wat Phnom
, one of the city's prime pleasure spots, whose
foundation is said to predate that of the city. The old French administrative area,
often referred to as the
French quarter
, surrounds the hill on which Wat Phnom sits,
boasting many fine
colonial buildings
, some restored, while to the southwest the
daffodil-yellow Art Deco
Central Market
sits close to the city's business district. To
the south of the city, the jam-packed
Russian Market
is a popular souvenir-sourcing
spot while another much-visited sight, though for completely different reasons, is the
Toul Sleng Genocide Museum
: a one-time school that became a centre for the torture
of men, women and children who fell foul of the Pol Pot regime.
Many visitors stay just a couple of days in Phnom Penh before hopping on to
Siem Reap and Angkor, Sihanoukville and the southern beaches or to the
Vietnamese border crossings at Bavet and Chau Doc. There are, however, plenty of
reasons to linger. The capital has the best
shopping
in the country, with a vast
selection of souvenirs and crafts, and an excellent range of
cuisines
in its many
restaurants. There are also several rewarding
day-trips
from the capital out into the
surrounding countryside.
1
Brief history
Cambodian legend - passed down through so many generations that the Khmers
regard it as fact - has it that in 1372 a wealthy widow,
Daun Penh
(Grandmother
Penh), was strolling along the Chrap Chheam River (now the Tonle Sap) when she
came across the hollow trunk of a koki tree washed up on the banks. Inside it she
discovered five Buddha statues, four cast in bronze and one carved in stone. As a mark
of respect, she created a sanctuary for the statues on the top of a low mound, which
became known as
Phnom Penh
, literally the hill of Penh; in due course, the hill gave its
name to the city that grew up around it.
The founding of the city
Phnom Penh began its first stint as a
capital
in 1432, when King
Ponhea Yat
fled south
from Angkor and the invading Siamese. He set up a royal palace, increased the height
of Daun Penh's hill and founded five
monasteries
- Wat Botum, Wat Koh, Wat
Langka, Wat Ounalom and Wat Phnom - all of which survive today. When Ponhea Yat
died, his sons variously took succession, but for reasons that remain unclear, in the
sixteenth century the court had moved out to Lovek, and later Oudong, and Phnom
Penh reverted to being a fishing village.
Little is known of the subsequent three hundred years in Phnom Penh, though
records left by missionaries indicate that by the seventeenth century a multicultural
community of Asian and European traders had grown up along the banks of the Tonle
Sap, and that Phnom Penh, with easy access by river to the ocean, had developed into a
prosperous
port
. Gold, silk and incense were traded along with hides, bones, ivory and
horn from elephants, rhinoceros and buffalo. Phnom Penh's prosperity declined in the
later part of the century, when the Vietnamese invaded the Mekong delta and cut off
