I had travelled numerous times previously to Cambodia but had never visited Phnom Penh so I was excited to explore the capital city for a brief 3 day visit. The city of Phnom Penh is located on the confluence of two major rivers; the Mekong and the Tonlé Sap and was the original hub in Cambodia for the Khmer Empire and the French colonialists. From our hotel which was in the Chinatown area we had a stunning view over the two rivers and from there it was a short walk to the riverfront which was lined with parks, restaurants and cafes and had numerous boats plying the river taking passengers and cars to the opposite side of the river.
Close to the riverfront was the beautiful and colourful Royal Palace of Cambodia, the Silver Pagoda, the Wat Ounalom Monastery and the National Museum. Further north was the Wat Phnom and the fascination Central Market which exhibited a wonderful art deco style.
Around the city you saw beautiful examples of old French colonial buildings, some now converted to up-scale restaurants like the Kravanh Restaurant where we sampled some great local Khmer cuisine. Langka Street was an interesting area full of bars, speakeasy bars, cafes and restaurants and a great place to visit in the evening for drinks and food. Getting around the city was easy using the local tuk-tuks which were easily booked on Grab and rarely cost more that US$1 for each trip.
Techo International Airport is a stunning new airport offering an easy way in and out of Phnom Penh. The airport is designed to handle large aircraft and millions of passengers and is one of the largest airports in the world.
Passionate Photographer …. Lost in Asia
Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 40 years focusing on Asia with a documentary/photojournalistic style.
Stuart is available for a variety of assignments in subject areas of photojournalism, commercial, architectural, real estate, industrial, interior design, corporate, urbex, adventure, wilderness, and travel.
E-Mail : staylor@highlanderimages.com