Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
includes a soft drink or beer) are screened daily at Meta
House, a fantastic multimedia centre that also hosts
exhibitions, workshops, visual poetry and musical events
including jazz, DJs and live bands at weekends.
Tues-Sun
10am-10pm.
Sovanna Phum
Cnr streets 99 & 484
W
shadow
-puppets.org.
Cultural
shows at a performing arts society
a little way out of town, with performances of classical and
folk dance, and shadow puppetry at 7.30pm on Fri and Sat
nights ($10).
Platinum Multiplex
Sorya Mall, Street 63, near Psar
Thmei
W
platinumcineplex.com.kh.
Three screens,
including one in 3D; movies are shown throughout the day,
with start times from 9am to 9pm.
1
GALLERIES
Asasax Art
Cnr streets 178 & 13 (opposite the park in
front of the National Museum).
Displays work by local
modern artists and sells attractive prints.
Daily
8am-7.30pm.
Chinese House
45 Sisowath Quay
W
chinesehouse
.asia.
Permanent and temporary exhibitions by Asian
artists in a beautifully restored colonial villa in the heart of
the French quarter.
Reyum
47 Street 178, near the National Museum
W
reyum.org.
In conjunction with the Institute of Arts and
Culture, Reyum puts on varied exhibitions of work by
Cambodian students.
Romeet
34E Street 178
W
romeet.com.
Established
by Battambang-based NGO Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) in
2011 as a platform for the work of artists graduating
from the Visual Art School. Focuses on Cambodian
contemporary art.
Tues-Sat 10am-noon & 2-6pm,
Sun 2-6pm.
CINEMA
The Flicks 1 & 2
Street 95 (next to Terrace on 95) &
Street 136 (next to Number 11 Backpackers)
W
theflicks-cambodia.com.
These intimate volunteer-
run community movie houses show a weekly changing
selection of Western, art-house and Cambodian films
nightly (cover charge $3.50 for the day).
The Killing Fields
is
screened daily at 10.30am at The Flicks 2 and occasionally
on Sun nights. You can reserve your ticket online.
Institut Français
218 Street 184
W
institutfrancais
-cambodge.com.
Regular free screenings of French
films, usually subtitled in English, shown during the
week at 6.30pm.
SHOPPING
Phnom Penh is the best place to shop in Cambodia, with
traditional markets
selling everything from beautiful
silk
sampots
- the word for both the traditional Khmer skirt and a su
cient length of fabric to make one - which a
tailor
can
then make up into garments of your own design, to myriad hand-crafted wooden, stone and silver trinkets. Contemporary
woodcarvings and marble statues make bulky souvenirs, but are so evocative of Cambodia that it's hard not to pick up one
or two. You will also see hundreds of intricate (usually low-grade) silver pots in the shape of animals on sale, which tuck
more neatly into backpack or suitcase.
Jewellery
is sold in abundance too, gold and silver, set with stones and gems in all
imaginable designs and colours, and there are wonderful
antiques and curios
, both originals and replicas of old wooden
pagoda statues and a huge assortment of decorative boxes and trunks.
Haggling
is an essential part of market shopping,
with prices starting ludicrously high - check around a few stalls before buying, as they will often sell identical pieces.
Psar Kandal
Street 13, near Wat Ounalom; map p.66.
A
genuine and easily accessible low-slung market close to
the riverfront, where you can browse the usual displays of
clothing, jewellery, electronics, fruit, meat and vegetables
and get a cheap meal at one of the noodle vendors.
Daily
7am-6pm.
Psar Olympic
Off Street 199 southwest of the Olympic
Stadium; map pp.58-59.
A top spot for fabrics, visited by
people from all over the country who buy wholesale here
for resale.
Daily 7.30am-5pm.
Psar Orussey
Street 182; map pp.58-59.
Vendors
from all over Cambodia, selling just about anything from
dried fish to TVs, trade at this sprawling place with two
floors and a mezzanine. The stalls are crammed together
and it can be confusing, but the merchandise is a good
bit cheaper than elsewhere. The adjacent Street 166 is
big on traditional Khmer medicine shops, where leaves,
tree bark and various animal parts, usually boiled in
MARKETS
Psar BKK
South of streets 380; map pp.58-59.
Very few
visitors venture to this market, which is a shame as it's one
of the cleanest in the city. The fresh food stalls are
particularly appealing and the main
ban hoi
(rice noodle
salad; 5000 riel) vendor has been cooking this same
breakfast dish here for some 25 years. Uniquely, Psar BKK
also has a few stalls selling vintage clothes and bags from
across Asia.
Daily 7am-5pm.
Psar Chas
Cnr Street 13 & Ang Duong; map p.66.
Otherwise known as the Old Market, and located at the
southern end of the French quarter, this is one of the city's
more traditional markets. Although it's not the cleanest it's
easy to get to, and its fruit and vegetable stalls are
particularly photogenic.
Daily 8am-6pm.
Psar Kabkoh
Street 9, south of Sihanouk Blvd; map
p.66.
A small market geared around fresh produce, with a
number of good food vendors.
Daily 7am-6pm.
