• Land Area: City 290 km²
• Population (2008): 1,325,681
• Area Code: (855) 023
• Accessibility :

By Overland :

Poi Pet Border to Phnom Penh : The road 410km by National route No 6, 5 passing Sisophon, Battambang, Por Sat, Kampong Chhnang and taking 7hours.

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to Phnom Penh: 240km passing Neak Leung, Svay Reing and Bavet Border by National route No 1 and taking 6hours.

Loa Border (Voeung Kam/Dom Kralor) to Phnom Penh : To get to Phnom Penh crossing from Lao border, the road has recently been improved and is currently in comparatively good condition. Travelers used to take the ferry most of the way to Stung Treng, but now with the improved road conditions, most people go by road (545km) and taking 11-13 hour.

Siem Reap to Phnom Penh : the journey takes about 5 hours, by National Route No. 6 is paved and smooth 310km passing Skun and Kampong Thom.

Sihanouk Ville to Phnom Penh : The journey takes about 4 hours, by national Route No. 4 passing Kompong Speu Province (is one of Cambodia's best roads), it's 230km.

By Flight :
Phnom Penh International Airport is the largest of Cambodia's two international airports (the other is at Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat). There are daily flights from all major regional airports (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Luang Prabang in Laos, and Hanoi via Vientiane, Laos). The airport is about 11 km to the city centre.

By boat :
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh: Bullet Boat departure 7AM from Chong Kneas Boat Dock and take 4-6 hours. Travel is best during the wet season (June - November).

Chao Doc to Phnom Penh : Bullet boats leave every morning around 8am from Chau Doc in Vietnam's Mekong Delta and take 5 hours to reach Phnom Penh. The boats make the return journey the same day and leave Phnom Penh around 1 PM arriving in Chau Doc in the early evening.

By train :
the train is very slow, once-weekly (Saturdays) passenger train service between Phnom Penh and Battambang via Pursat. The journey is scheduled to take 14 hours but may be much longer, even though the distance by rail is only 275km.

Introduction

Phnom Penh first became the capital of Cambodia after Ponhea Yat, king of the Khmer Empire, moved the capital from Angkor Thom after it was captured by Siam a few years earlier. There are stupa behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining Buddhist statues from the Angkorean era. There is a legend that tells how Phnom Penh was created.
It was not until 1866, under the reign of King Norodom I, that Phnom Penh became the permanent seat of government, and the Royal Palace was built. This marked the beginning of the transformation of what was essentially a village into a great city with the French Colonialists expanding the canal system to control the wetlands, constructing roads and building a port.

By the 1920s, Phnom Penh was known as the Pearl of Asia, and over the next four decades continued to experience growth with the building of a railway to Sihanoukville and the Pochentong International Airport (now Phnom Penh International Airport).

During the Vietnam War, Cambodia was used as a base by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong, and thousands of refugees from across the country flooded the city to escape the fighting between their own government troops, the South Vietnamese and its allies and the Khmer Rouge. By 1975, the population was 2,000,000, the bulk of them refugees from the fighting. The city fell to the Khmer Rouge on April 17. Many of its residents, those who were wealthy and educated, were forced to do labor on rural farms as "new people". Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot's forces and was turned into the S-21 prison camp, where Cambodians were detained and tortured. Pol Pot sought a return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived as educated, "lazy" or political enemies. Many others starved to death as a result of failure of the agrarian society and the sale of Cambodia's rice to China in exchange for bullets and weaponry. Tuol Svay Prey High School is now the Tuol Sleng Museum in which Khmer Rouge torture devices and photos of their victims are displayed. Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), 15 kilometres away, where the Khmer Rouge marched prisoners from Tuol Sleng to be murdered and buried in shallow pits, is also now a memorial to those who were killed by the regime.

Climate :

• Cool season: November- March (22-28c)
• Hot season: March- May (28c -38c)
• Rainy season: May - October (24-32c, with humidity up to 90%.) 

The Royal Palace

Royal palace and the two magnificent pagodas in the Palace Grounds, the Silver Pagoda and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, are among the few public buildings in Phnom Penh really worth seeing. They were built in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian designs, and have survived the traumas of the 20th century amazingly intact. See them early before it gets too hot. They are in any case closed 11:00-14:00, when all sensible Cambodians take a nap. No photography is allowed inside the Silver Pagoda and some of the Palace buildings.

The National Museum

Is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum. It houses the world's largest collection of Khmer art, although as a centre of Khmer historical commemoration it tends to be overshadowed by the great temple complex at Angkor and the associated museums and displays in the Siem Reap region.

The museum was built in 1917-20 by the French colonial authorities then in control of Cambodia, in a traditional Khmer style, with French influence.

Cambodia's National Museum, Located near the Royal Palace, offers a charming setting for a stunning collection of ancient Khmer art. Predominantly constructed of sandstone, the sculptures date from both the Angkorean and pre-Angkorean eras. These exhibits are complemented by more recent examples of Cambodian art. The museum is housed in a terra-cotta-roofed structure of traditional Cambodian design, which was built between 1917 and 1920. Until recently, the building was also home to a large colony of Cambodian free tail bats, which lived in the rafters. They moved out after renovations to the roof and ceilings in March 2002.

Wat Phnom

Is one of the most important pagodas in Phnom Penh. Built in 1373, it stands at 27 metres and is the tallest religious structure in the city. Built on an artificial hill by the wealthy widow Daun Chi Penh after a great flood washed statues of Buddha downstream, it has since been renovated. There have been many additions to the original shrines over the centuries. The largest stupa houses the ashes of King Ponhea Yat and it is the center of city celebration for the Cambodian New Year, and Pchum Benh.

Independent Monument

The Independence Monument (Vimean Ekareach) in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, was built in 1958 following the country's independence from France. It stands on the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Sihanouk Boulevard in the centre of the city. It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, of the style seen at the great Khmer temple at Angkor Wat and other Khmer historical sites. The monument was designed by the influential Cambodian modern architect Vann Molyvann.

During national celebrations -- most notably, Independence Day -- the monument is the center of activity. A ceremonial flame on the interior pedestal is often lit by a royal or high official on these occasions, and floral tributes line the stairs. Most of the year, however, the monument is visited by photo-taking tourists and locals looking for some quiet conversation.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)

(Street 113, Boeng Keng Kang 3, Chamkar Morn) was a school converted into Cambodia's most important prison in 1975. More than 14,000 people were tortured here before being killed at the Killing Fields south of Phnom Penh; only 8 prisoners made it out alive. The museum is easily accessible and a must-see for everyone interested in Cambodia's horrific recent past. The infamous "skull map" has been dismantled, although there are still skulls stacked in cabinets, implements of torture and disturbing photographs. For an introduction and further reading, try David Chandler's "Voices from S-21".

Cheoung Ek Killing Fields

The Killing Fields at Cheoung Ek, about 17km south of Phnom Penh, is where the Khmer Rouge killed many thousands of their victims during their four-year reign of terror. Today the site is marked by a Buddhist stupa packed full of human skulls - the sides are made of glass so the visitors can see them up close. There are also pits in the area where mass graves were unearthed. It is a serene yet somber place.

Central Market

(in Cambodian called Psar Thmei - "New Market") is a 1930s Art Deco covered market near the Riverfront (Sisowath Quay) district. The market is well set out, and sells everything from flowers to video games. Sorya Mall, currently Phnom Penh's main Western-style mall, is nearby - less colourful that the traditional markets, but it is air-conditioned and contains a range of cheap fast-food outlets as well as a well-stocked supermarket named Lucky Supermarket. If looking for Sorya, go SOUTH of the Central Market. It's on a north-south street on the west side. Asking anyone in the Central Market will be futile, however they DO understand "Sorya". On the south-west edge of town is the even newer Sovanna mall. Freezing aircon and modern shops make this popular too, though the food court has given some Westerners food poisoning.

Russian Market

(Cambodian "Psar Toul Tom Poung" - it gained the "Russian Market" moniker following the Vietnamese occupation of the city in the 1980s, but many motodops are not familiar with the name) offers the opportunity to buy fake designer clothing, fake Swiss watches and pirated software at low prices. It also has the best ice coffee in the city. Russian Market is located away from normal tourist areas, but motodop drivers who cater to tourists will know it.
Street 178, just north of the National Museum, is known as Artist Street and has many interesting boutiques.