No, you won’t be kidnapped in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Notes from a 15 minutes sharing about Phnom Penh as a weekend destination for a mostly Singapore audience.

Locals often use PP as an abbreviation for Phnom Penh. PP is one of my favorite weekend destinations. I like to go there and do nothing much - just stay put at some cafe and write something or just chat with people. Also eat interesting stuff. Sometimes I go to the new “Chinatown” and pretend that I am back in time.

If you want to meet people from all over the world, go to Bangkok. If you want to try food from all over, go to Phnom Penh. The city has particularly good food from Africa. For example the dish below from Ethiopia. Use Google map and search for African food.

Getting There

You can take Emirates on Friday late noon and return on Sunday night.  Singapore Airlines is another option.

You can buy local SIM cards just as you exit the customs area. There is a grab pickup stand just next to the exit gate of the airport. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to get to the city. But give yourself a buffer of one hour, as sometimes there is a jam. You can order a car or a tuk-tuk via the Grab app.

Where I stay in PP

Tourists typically stay by the riverside, but I would recommend these two neighbourhoods.

• BKK 1
• Russian Market

Both these areas have decent hotels, loads of nice cafes with wifi, good local and international food and less tourists.

BKK1

In BKK1, there is a hidden away alley called Langka Lane. I will recommend the Patio hotel inside Langka Lane. The rooftop has a pool and nice views of the city.  The alley has good international and local food, a couple of bars and a stand up comedy place. The alley also has a backpacker place called Fuji Hostel.

Just outside Langka Lane is the beautiful Temple Cafe. This cafe is open 24 hours and has good Wi-Fi. You will find many students and local professionals working and studying here. Sometimes they have live music

Lots of Burmese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese and Western restaurants around in BKK 1.

Try a local cola made of herbs and local pepper. You can get this is Pizza4P at BKK1

Russian Market

Russian Market is another of my favourite areas to stay in Phnom Penh.

Below is the La Chronique Hotel. The hotel has a cafe with immaculate service. And again a lot of good food and cafes around.

Turkish, Nepalese and Russian food at Russian Market

Other neighbourhoods

There is a small Chinatown with food from North West China. It feels like a 2000s Chinese boom town. To get here, look for “The Peak” on Grab app.

Bassac Lane It’s close to the BKK1 neighbourhood that I mentioned earlier. This lane has a lot of bars and pubs and mostly people around 20 to 30 years old. On the weekends it’s very lively.

The Riverside is nice for a walk, but I wouldn’t recommend staying here.  The hotels here are expensive and you often get hassled by people trying to sell you stuff.

Street 172 is near the riverside. This used to be a popular backpacker area, but after Covid it has quieted down. You can still find some inexpensive hostels and hotels in this lane.

The central market. You can buy local stuff here.

A souvenir that does not take much space is the Cambodian scarf, the Krama. They are inexpensive and unique.

I like the old buildings around the Central market. They are slowly being demolished and turned into modern structures.

The National Museum. Good place to explore Khmer history. There is the university of fine arts behind it.

Local food

Amok is a fish paste that is awesome.

 Cambodian curries are also good.

See what creative locals are up to

F3 is near the National Museum. It is a space that has events on the weekends. You can buy local green and sustainable products here.

The Factory is another venue that hosts creative events. It is a good place to connect with local people.

Culture stuff

Cambodia used to have a lively music scene in the 1960s. Many of these artists perished during the Khmer Rouge period.  The songs are still popular and almost everyone in Cambodia knows about them. It is a good topic to get talking to locals.  Check out this documentary

Many people speak good English and they are friendly. There are a couple of regular events. I also run a travel/book meet a couple of times a year.

Recently we hosted a “Small things, mostly” meet at the Old House cafe in BKK1. We shared a photo from our recent travel and told its story.

Safety

I have been traveling to PP since the early 2000s. Only once in 2013, a motorbike guy unsuccessfully tried to snatch an iPad that was in my hand as I was walking on a main street. I have avoided looking up at my phone facing the street. Both BKK1 and Russian market neighbourhoods have people (including women) around till late in the night. I have never felt unsafe.

Talk of scam compounds always comes up. From what I know, they recruit people online first and then bring them to South East Asia. I have not heard of any kidnappings in PP itself.

Links:

Locally published hotel and city guides: https://www.canbypublications.com/phnompenh/ppintro.htm

WikiVoyage Guide to Phnom Penh: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh

Check out Reddit Cambodia page for latest updates by people living in or traveling to Cambodia. https://www.reddit.com/r/cambodia/

Nerd Night Phnom Penh: https://www.nerdnightphnompenh.com