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Phnom PenhLegend has it that in 1372, a local widow named Penh, discovered four Buddha statues that had been washed up by the waters from the Mekong River. She saw them as bearers of good fortune and erected a temple on the hill to house them, and so the city grew around this structure, known as the Hill of Penh (Phnom Penh).
Once considered to be the loveliest of Indochina's French-built cities, this untidy capital sprawls at the confluence of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonlé Sap Rivers. Concrete buildings in need of repair, unsealed roads riddled with potholes and a confusion
of boulevards crammed with traffic, all make uninviting first impressions. Traces of Khmer and colonial eras can be found in the little details, redeeming those first hasty conclusions. These can be found in the heart of the city where French villas and street-side cafes perch along tree-lined boulevards and the occasional majestic Khmer building catches the eye.
Phnom Penh has a number of Wats (temple-monasteries), museums and other places of interest in and around the city, as well as sunset cruises on the Mekong and Tonlé Sap Rivers, and a bustling market place. There has also been a recent boom of new hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs sprouting up through the city and a nightlife that promises fun and flavor.
Getting Around: Phnom Penh has a limited public transport system, with no bus service. Taxis can usually be arranged through hotels, though can also be telephoned or found outside hotels. Taxis are not metered. Bicycle rickshaws (cyclos) are widely used, though are best for short distances only, and motorbike taxis are a very popular option. Fares should be negotiated before hand. Car rental agencies are available, as well as motorbike hire, but traffic can be hectic. The city is relatively small and is easy to negotiate on foot.
The Temples of AngkorThe famous Temples of Angkor are Cambodia's biggest tourist attraction. Situated close to the town of Siem Reap, the former capital and heart of the ancient Khmer Empire was built between the 9th and 13th centuries, and in an area of over 232 square miles (600 sq km) more than 100 temples have been uncovered. Today they stand as a monument to what was the greatest ancient civilization in South East Asia. The kings of the period built stone temples as a way of asserting their divinity and cities were created around them. Today it is the temples that remain, a mere sacred skeleton of what must have been one of the biggest cities of its time.
The best-known site is Angkor Wat, the spectacular Hindu temple surrounded by a moat and the biggest monument ever built to religion. Covering an area of 81 hectares (200 acres) the splendor and enormous dimension of the complex make it one of the wonders of the world. The walls of the outer gallery are a sculptural treasury, one mile (2km) of intricately carved bas-reliefs. Another of the well-known sites is the walled Royal City of Angkor Thom, which contains many monuments, notably the Bayon, a temple mountain situated in the middle of the city. Its special feature is the many gigantic stone faces gazing in different directions, surrounding whoever stands in the temple. Ta Phrom is the only temple that has been left to the clutches of the encroaching jungle and it looks as it might have done when the European explorers first laid eyes on it more than a century ago. It has particular charm, with trees and roots intertwined with the carvings and chambers of the buildings. The exquisitely decorated pink sandstone temple of Banteay Srey has the best example of Khmer classical art remaining. To visit the temple region visitors must buy a one-day pass (US$20), three-day pass (US$40) or seven-day pass (US$60).
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