PHNOM PENH
★ GAY TRAVEL ★ GAY DAY ★ GAY NIGHT ★
AMAZING PHNOM PENH
Phnom Penh: the vibrant bustling capital of Cambodia! It was once considered the 'Gem' of Indochina.
Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. After 3 nights in Singapore, we took a flight from Singapore via Jetstar Airways to Phnom Penh International Airport.
We stayed in Phnom Penh for 4 nights, more than enough to see the main highlights.
At the end of this article, valuable tips for anyone visiting Cambodia!
To enter Cambodia you need to apply for a Visa. We applied online through the website evisa.gov.kh and it was quick and easy. We apply for the T Visa, which applies to tourists and you can stay in Cambodia for 30 days (that's how long we stayed, exactly 30 days!).
Upon arrival at Phnom Penh airport, we had a transfer waiting for us to take us to the hotel, right in the city center next to the Royal Palace (we had a view of the Palace from the balcony!). We booked the transfer through booking.com and paid €15 (about USD $16) for two people.
In Cambodia they use two currencies: the US Dollar and the national currency, the Cambodian Riel. At the end of this article, see the tips we give on this subject.
What to say about Phnom Penh? Cambodia's capital offers plenty of history, architecture, food and culture within a vibrant atmosphere. It is noted that it's still a city in evolution towards the future.
It's worth visiting Phnom Penh and spending a few days walking the streets and avenues, visiting the various temples, including the Royal Palace, passing through the Central Market and trying the different traditional dishes of Cambodia.
As we said, we were right in the city center, in the Daun Penh area and right next to the Royal Palace. It's a good area to stay because you can walk to the main attractions to visit. The most iconic and must-see tourist attractions in the city are here. This is also where you'll find the Mekong River as well as the best nightlife in the city along with a vast amount of restaurants. We also stayed here because some gay bars in Phnom Penh are located in this area and we were able to visit them on foot at night.
We leave you a big tip: take a tuk-tuk for longer distances (or even small ones at times!). If you don't have the patience to constantly negotiate prices, install the GRAB app because in addition to cars, you can also call a tuk-tuk and you'll know the price you'll pay! Very practical, cheap and always worked very well.
When the tuk-tuk arrives, always confirm the license plate so you know it's yours, because tuk-tuk drivers are constantly calling you on the streets and if they see you with a mobile phone in your hand, they'll come right away!
As we stayed 4 nights in Phnom Penh, we had plenty of time to visit and just walk through the streets, shops and markets as we like to do.
On the day of arrival, we took the opportunity to get to know the area where we were staying and walked around. Of course we saw the Royal Palace because it was right next to the hotel and there's also Street 178, known as 'Art Street' for the local art galleries that line the road near the National Museum.
At night, for dinner, we called a tuk-tuk through the Grab app to take us to the famous Night Market in Phnom Penh.
From food to clothing, it's a very busy market and we chose to have dinner there. They have a lot of mats on the floor where you can sit together with other people and eat. There are many stalls and just choose what you want. We opted for some grilled meats from a stall and a juice from another stall which, when made, was brought to the mat. It was a different experience and everything was fine.
After dinner, we strolled along Sisowath Quay: a 3-kilometre riverfront strip along the Tonlé Sap River, lined with hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops. A place not to be missed.
And then of course we went to a gay bar, but to find out more check out the Phnom Penh by Night tab.
In the following days, we walked around the city visiting the main highlights. Depending on the time you have, because some people only stay 2 nights in Phnom Penh, organize an itinerary with what you really want to see, but here are the highlights:
- National Museum of Cambodia - Home to the world's finest collection of Khmer sculpture and located at the heart of Phnom Penh (very close on foot from our hotel). You can get up-to-date information on timetables and prices on the official website: cambodiamuseum.info
- Royal Palace of Cambodia - A complex of buildings which serves as the royal residence of the King of Cambodia. To be able to enter, the shoulders and knees must be covered. Also pay attention to the hours because it opens from 7am to 11am, then closes and reopens from 2pm to 5pm. Entry price is $10.
- Royal Palace Park - This park is in between the river and the palace compound. In this area, be prepared for many, even many tuk-tuk drivers to surround you to take you on visits to the city.
In all our trips we always go with the security of having a Travel Insurance.
We always take out travel insurance with IATI because it has the best conditions and prices. You'll see it's the best price! And if you use our link, you get a 5% discount.
- Really, take advantage of the discount!
- Walk on the riverside promenade - Preah Sisowath Quay, the beautiful riverside street in Phnom Penh.
- Wat Ounalom temple - The most important wat of Phnom Penh, and the center of Cambodian Buddhism.
- Wat Phnom - A Buddhist temple (wat), a pagoda, that symbolizes the name of Phnom Penh. Wat Phnom is the only hill in town.
- Independence Monument - Built in 1958 to memorialise Cambodia's independence from France in 1953.
- Russian Market - The best place to buy souvenirs. We bought some there but don't forget: you're going to have to bargain!
- Bassac Lane - A small street, which is trendy and more alternative with shops, bars and restaurants. Well decorated spaces. To visit day or night.
- Wat Botum Park
- Wat Langka - One of Phnom Penh's five original wats (1422).
- Sorya Center Point - A shopping mall.
- Central Market - A market and an art deco landmark in Phnom Penh.
These are the main places to visit but of course, it all depends on how much time you have and if you can see more or not and it also depends on your interests.
For food you have a lot of choice, from traditional food (try the Beef Lok-Lak, we liked it) to western food. And we have bad news for some: in Cambodia there are no McDonald's! Restaurants, the Night Market or Street Food, choose and try!
We really recommend a visit to Phnom Penh. We liked the city and it's very different from Thailand or Vietnam. And get ready for the heat!
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HELPFUL TIPS WHEN VISITING PHNOM PENH
- We took a trip through Asia, 3 countries: Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam for a month and a half and we always like to have mobile internet. Many people know that you can buy a SIM card on arrival, but this time we opted for something different and very practical: an e-SIM. No physical card is needed, we bought it online still in Portugal before starting the trip and only activated it upon arrival in Singapore. We can say that it has always worked very well and it only takes one person to have it installed, because you could share the internet with another device. Easy to install and top-up was very easy too. You just have to pay attention if your equipment is compatible with an e-SIM. We bought ours at airalo.com
- Install the GRAB app (similar to Uber) and call cars and mainly tuk-tuks using the app. You'll find out the price right away and you don't have to negotiate prices with the tuk-tuk driver. It Works very well.
- Another app (similar to Uber) is PassApp. It's an app only for Cambodia and we advise you to install it because wherever Grab doesn't exist in that city, you always have the PassApp available. We say this because it was what saved us in another city in Cambodia, in Sihanoukville it was the only app available.
- In Cambodia the currencies used are the US Dollar and the Cambodian Riel. Both are accepted everywhere. But the question remains: which one should I use? At ATMs, which currency should I choose to withdraw? We leave here our opinion.
At ATMs we always make withdrawals in Reils. If you withdraw in US Dollars, the high probability is that the machine will only give you $100 bills, which can then be complicated to make payments, because there will be no change.
Once you get used to Reils, it's easy. You'll always talk about having millions, but it's a matter of habit. We also noticed that in terms of conversion, if we pay in Reils, it pays off a little more.
And even if you don't want to pay in Reils, the chance of paying with US dollars and receiving change in Reils is very high and most likely.
There is also a greater chance that counterfeit $100 bills exist.
- There are blogs on the internet indicating that in Cambodia they do not accept banknotes in poor condition, dirty or a little torn. It's not entirely true. This applies to US Dollars but not to Reils. We were in Cambodia for a month and almost always used Reils and whatever condition it was in (some banknotes in very bad condition) everyone accepted it.
- Cigarettes are very cheap in Cambodia and if you buy national brands, they cost around €0.50!
- On the street, be careful with your cell phone in your hand or on tables outside. Someone might try to steal it. Be careful with your cell phone, suitcases and valuable items, even inside a tuk-tuk, don't take objects outside of it that are close at hand. On the terrace of a restaurant, the owner came to tell us not to leave our cell phones on the table, so you really have to be careful. We were always careful and always felt safe in the city, day and night.
- Don't buy things from children on the street.
- If you want to go inside temples or temple complexes, be careful to cover your shoulders and knees.
- There are many tuk-tuk drivers and they become annoying with insistence. Get ready. It gets to a point where you just ignore it.
- If you carry money in your country's currency and want to exchange it for US Dollars, there is a very easy and practical way. In Phnom Penh, in some stores and mini-markets there are automatic currency exchange machines for 12 different currencies. The conversion rate may not be the best, but it's safe, easy and practical. We used it to exchange Euros for Dollars and it worked very well. The machine only exchanges for Dollars and does not issue bills larger than $20, which is practical.
The machine we used was in a mini market in this location.
- You'll want to do the laundry. There are many laundries in Phnom Penh city. The one we used twice was close to our hotel and we really liked it. It's called Dryclean Laundromat and it's HERE.