Cambodia

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Phnom Penh

& around

exquisite pagodas and super-modern malls

With its colonial heyday long gone Phnom Penh is re-emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s most charming and dynamic capital cities. The wide boulevards remain and the beautiful French buildings are regaining some of their former glory.

Thankfully the dusty, fly-blown post-civil war atmosphere of decay is being replaced with burgeoning economic development and whilst the arrival of giant air-conditioned shopping malls might not suit the fantasies of Western travellers, Khmers are rightly feeling proud of the advances their capital city is making.

Phnom Penh is still a city of contrasts: East and West, poor and rich, serenity and chaos. Monks’ saffron robes lend a splash of colour to the capital’s streets, and stylish restaurants and bars line the riverside and many of the back streets in the city centre. However, the memory of the war is never far away, an enduring reminder of Cambodia’s tragic story. Perhaps the one constant in all the turmoil of the past century has been the monarchy – the splendid royal palace, visible to all, remains as a symbol of the monarchy’s once undimmed authority, something even the Khmer Rouge had to treat with caution.

Best for

Architecture History Restaurants Shopping

Historic centre

The riverside

Wat Phnom & around

South of the centre

Around Phnom Penh

Footprint

picks

Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, here

Highlights of the capital’s 19th-century concoction of temples, summerhouses and palaces.

National Museum of Cambodia, here

A magnificent collection of Khmer sculpture, mostly from the Angkor period.

Central Market, here

With its art deco dome, this is the place to pick up silverware, gold and gems.

Tuol Sleng Museum, here

A former high school used as the Khmer Rouge’s S-21 interrogation centre – a chilling reminder of the country’s recent history.

Choeung Ek, here

Now a peaceful place but once the scene of Cambodia’s notorious ‘killing fields’.

Kirirom National Park, here

Upland forest, small lakes and magnificent waterfalls – great for hiking and a popular respite from the heat.

Sights Phnom Penh

The Royal Palace area, with its glittering spires, wats, stupas, National Museum and broad green spaces, is perfectly situated alongside the river and is as pivotal to the city as the city is to the country.

Historic centre

the heart of the city: all the top sights are here

Royal Palace

Entrance on Samdech Sothearos Blvd, www.phnompenh.gov.kh/phnom-penh-city-royal-palace-125.html. Daily 0730-1100, 1400-1700. US$3, plus US$2 for camera or US$5 for video camera.

Of all the cultural sights in Phnom Penh, the Royal Palace is the most impressive. The scale of the palace (and adjoining Silver Pagoda) dwarfs the others and, given the rather gloomy recent history that pervades most of the city’s sights, the Royal Palace holds nothing nasty in store for its visitors. Built mainly by the French in 1866, on the site of the old town, the entrance is on Samdech Sothearos Boulevard via the Pavilion of Dancers (or Chan Chaya Pavilion). Opposite the entrance are the walls of the royal residence (closed to the public) and the stable of the white elephant (a highly auspicious and sacred animal treasured as a symbol of royal beneficence).

Throne Hall The main building facing the Victory Gate, the Throne Hall was built in 1917 in Khmer style; it has a tiered roof and a 59-m tower, influenced by Angkor’s Bayon Temple. The steps leading up to it are protected by multi-headed nagas. It is used for coronations and other official occasions such as the reception of foreign ambassadors when they present their official credentials. Scenes from the Ramayana adorn the ceiling. Inside stand the sacred gong and French-style thrones only used by the sovereign. Above the thrones hangs Preah Maha Svetrachatr, a nine-tiered parasol, which symbolizes heaven. A huge carpet fills the hall. Woven into the carpet is the pattern found in the surrounding tiles and the steps leading up to the building. There are two chambers for the king and queen at the back of the hall, which are used only in the week before a coronation when the royal couple were barred from sleeping together. The other adjoining room is used to house the ashes of dead monarchs before they are placed in a royal stupa. Only the main throne room is open to the public. Here there are Buddha images in the left nave, before which the kings would pray each day. The chairs closest to the entrance were reserved for high officials and the others were for visiting ambassadors. The yellow chairs were used by visiting heads of state.

Essential Phnom Penh and around

Finding your feet

Navigating Phnom Penh is reasonably straightforward. Every street is numbered but some major thoroughfares have names too.

Streets

The key to unlocking Phnom Penh’s geography is the simple fact that the horizontal streets (east–west) are evenly numbered while odd numbers (north–south) are used for the vertical ones.

Main roads

Monivong and Norodom boulevards are the main roads running north–south, while east–west are Confederation de Russie, Kampuchea Krom and Preah Sihanouk boulevards.

Favourite places to stay

Amanjaya Pancam, here

Anise, here

Paragon Hotel, here

Orientation

All Phnom Penh lies to the west of the rivers Tonlé Sap and Bassac which run north–south. The best French colonial architecture is on streets 53, 114, 178, Norodom Boulevard and Samdech Sothearos Boulevard. Sisowath Quay, the street which runs along the riverbank, has the highest concentration of restaurants.

Getting around

Hotels can arrange car hire around town and surrounding areas. When travelling on any form of public transport in Phnom Penh, be wary of bag snatchers. For transport details, see here.

Favourite restaurants

Pop Café de Giorgio, here

Romdeng, here

Asia Europe Bakery, here

Tuk-tuk

Fleets of tuk-tuks (lomphata in Khmer) provide the nearest thing to taxis.

Motodop

Most visitors use the local motodops (motorbike taxis where you ride on the back) as a quick, cheap and efficient way of getting around. Be advised that riding a moto can be risky; wear a helmet.

Public bus

Public buses started operating in Phnom Penh in 2014.

When to go

November to March is best, although it can be cool at higher elevations. Temperatures peak in April. The rainy season is May to October.

Time required

It takes at least a day to see the main sights.

Immediately to the south of the Throne Hall is a small unremarkable building which contains a collection of knick-knacks, curios, swords, small silver ornaments and costumes. There is also a display of the different coloured costumes worn by staff at the royal palace each day of the week.

Royal Treasury and Napoleon III Pavillion Built in 1886, the Royal Treasury and the Napoleon III Pavillion – or summerhouse – are to the south of the Throne Hall. The latter was presented by Napoleon III to his Empress Eugenie as accommodation for the princess during the Suez Canal opening celebrations. She later had it dismantled and dispatched it to Phnom Penh as a gift to the king. The elegant building is constructed around a slender wrought-iron frame and is packed with bric-a-brac. Programmes of long-forgotten, but no doubt memorable, royal command dance performances are strewn in glass cases. Upstairs there are some decidedly third-rate portraits and some rather more interesting historical photographs of the royal family. The prefabricated folly was renovated and refurbished in 1990 and its ersatz marble walls remarbled – all with French money – but the graceful building is still showing signs of age and is much in need of more money. Floor condition is under deterioration reads one melancholy warning sign. Next to the villa are rooms built in 1959 by Sihanouk to accommodate his cabinet. Beyond is the north gate and the Silver Pagoda enclosure.

Silver Pagoda

Daily 0730-1100, 1400-1700. US$3, plus US$2 for camera or US$5 for video camera.

Often called the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha or Wat Preah Keo Morokat after the statue housed here, the Silver Pagoda houses something of a magpie collection. The wooden temple was originally built by King Norodom in 1892 to enshrine royal ashes and then rebuilt by Sihanouk in 1962. The pagoda’s steps are of Italian marble, and inside, its floor comprises more than 5000 silver blocks (mostly carpeted over to protect them from the bare feet of visitors) which together weigh nearly six tonnes. All around are cabinets filled with presents from foreign dignitaries. The pagoda is remarkably intact, having been granted special dispensation by the Khmer Rouge, although 60% of the Khmer treasures were stolen from here. In the centre of the pagoda is a magnificent 17th-century emerald Buddha statue made of Baccarat crystal. In front is a 90-kg golden Buddha studded with 9584 diamonds, dating from 1906. It was made from the jewellery of King Norodom and its vital statistics conform exactly to his – a tradition that can be traced back to the god-kings of Angkor. The gold Buddha image is flanked by bronze and silver statues of the Buddha. Under a glass cover is a golden lotus – a Buddhist relic from India. At the back of the room there is a jade Buddha and a palanquin used for coronations which required 12 porters to carry it.

The 600-m-long wall enclosing the Silver Pagoda is galleried; its inward face is covered in frescoes, painted in 1903-1904 by 40 local artists, which depict epic scenes from the Ramayana and numerous scenes of the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace itself – the story starts by the east gate. The lower part of the fresco has deteriorated alarmingly under the combined assault of children’s fingers and rising damp. To the east of the Silver Pagoda is a statue of King Norodom on horseback (it is in fact a statue of Napoleon III with the head replaced with that of the Cambodian monarch). Beyond the statue is a stupa containing the ashes of King Ang Duong (1845-1859). Beyond the stupa, on the south wall, are pavilions containing a footprint of the Buddha (to the east) and a pavilion for royal celebrations (to the west). Next to Phnom Mondap, an artificial hill with a building covering the Buddha’s footprint, in the centre of the south wall is a stupa dedicated to Sihanouk’s favourite daughter who died of leukaemia in 1953. On the west wall is a stupa of King Norodom Suramarit with a bell tower in the northwest corner. Beyond the bell tower on the north wall is the mondap (library), originally containing precious Buddhist texts. The whole courtyard is attractively filled with urns and vases containing flowering shrubs.

ON THE ROAD

Phnom Penh’s inhabitants

The population of Phnom Penh seems rural in character and tends to vary from season to season: in the dry season people pour into the capital when there is little work in the countryside but go back to their farms in the wet season when the rice has to be planted.

Phnom Penh has long faced a housing shortage – two-thirds of its houses were damaged by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 and the rate of migration into the city exceeds the rate of building. Apart from the sheer cost of building new houses and renovating the crumbling colonial mansions, there has been a severe shortage of skilled workers in Cambodia: under Pol Pot 20,000 engineers were killed and nearly all the country’s architects.

Exacerbating the problem is the issue of land ownership as so many people were removed from their homes. These days there are many more qualified workers but sky-rocketing property prices coupled with the confusing issue of land title has created a situation where a great land grab is occurring with people being tossed out of their homes or having them bulldozed to make way for profitable developments.

National Museum of Cambodia

Entrance is on the corner of streets 13 and 178. Daily 0800-1700. US$3. French- and English-speaking guides are available, mostly excellent.

The National Museum of Cambodia was built in 1920 and contains a collection of Khmer art – notably sculpture – throughout the ages (although some periods are not represented). Galleries are arranged chronologically in a clockwise direction. Most of the exhibits date from the Angkor period but there are several examples from the pre-Angkor era (that is from the kingdoms of Funan, Chenla and Cham). The collection of Buddhas from the sixth and seventh centuries includes a statue of Krishna Bovardhana found at Angkor Borei showing the freedom and grace of early Khmer sculpture. The chief attraction is probably the pre-Angkorian statue of Harihara, found at Prasat Andat near Kompong Thom. There is a fragment from a beautiful bronze statue of Vishnu found in the West Baray at Angkor, as well as frescoes and engraved doors.

The riverside

Phnom Penh’s left bank: head here for restaurants and bars

Sisowath Quay is Phnom Penh’s Left Bank. A broad pavement runs along the side of the river and on the opposite side of the road a rather splendid assemblage of colonial buildings looks out over the broad expanse of waters. The erstwhile administrative buildings and merchants’ houses today form an unbroken chain – about a kilometre long – of bars and restaurants, with the odd guesthouse thrown in. While foreign tourist commerce fills the street, the quayside itself is dominated by local Khmer families who stroll and sit in the cool of the evening, served by an army of hawkers.

Wat Ounalom

North of the National Museum, at the junction of St 154 and Samdech Sothearos Blvd, facing the Tonlé Sap.

This is Phnom Penh’s most important wat. The first building on this site was a monastery, built in 1443 to house a hair of the Buddha. Before 1975, more than 500 monks lived at the wat but the Khmer Rouge murdered the Patriarch and did their best to demolish the capital’s principal temple. Nonetheless it remains Cambodian Buddhism’s headquarters. The complex has been restored since 1979 although its famous library was completely destroyed. The stupa behind the main sanctuary is the oldest part of the wat.

Wat Phnom and around

a tranquil park and stunning art deco market

The Wat Phnom stands on a small hill and is the temple from which the city takes its name. Be careful when visiting after dark; there have been muggings and bag snatchings.

Wat Phnom Blvd Tou Samouth where it intersects St 96, US$1 was built by a wealthy Khmer lady called Penh in 1372. The sanctuary was rebuilt in 1434, 1890, 1894 and 1926. The main entrance is to the east; the steps are guarded by nagas and lions. The principal sanctuary is decorated inside with frescoes depicting scenes from Buddha’s life and the Ramayana. At the front, on a pedestal, is a statue of the Buddha. There is a statue of Penh inside a small pavilion between the vihara and the stupa, with the latter containing the ashes of King Ponhea Yat (1405-1467). The surrounding park is tranquil and a pleasant escape from the madness of the city. Monkeys with attitude are in abundance but they tend to fight among themselves.

West of Wat Phnom is the National Library 0800-1100 and 1430-1700, exemplifying the refinement of French colonial architecture. Original construction began in 1924, and the resplendent building was set in blossoming gardens. Not surprisingly and somewhat sacrilegiously, the Khmer Rouge ransacked the building, transforming it into, of all things, a stable. Books were either burnt or thrown out on to the streets. Fortunately many of the discarded books were grabbed by locals who kindly returned them to the library after 1979. There are some antiquated palm-leaf manuscripts, photo documentation from earlier years and some fascinating artworks.

Central Market (Psar Thmei)

The stunning Central Market is a perfect example of art deco styling and one of Phnom Penh’s most beautiful buildings. Inside, a labyrinth of stalls and hawkers sell everything from jewellery to curios. Those who are after a real bargain are better off heading to the Russian Market where items tend to be much cheaper.

French Embassy

Intersection of Monivong Blvd and St 76.

The French Embassy bas been rebuilt as a low concrete whitewashed complex for the French to occupy once again. This was the building into which 800 expatriates and 600 Cambodians crowded when the Khmer Rouge first occupied the city in mid-April 1975. Within 48 hours of Pol Pot’s troops’ arrival in Phnom Penh, the French vice-consul was informed that the new regime did not recognize diplomatic privilege. Cambodian women married to foreigners were allowed to stay in the embassy (some marriages were hastily arranged), but all Cambodian men were ordered to leave. The foreigners were finally escorted out of Cambodia; everyone else was marched out of the compound. Jon Swain, who was caught up in the Khmer Rouge takeover, gives a graphic first-hand account of the sanctuary provided by the French Embassy, in his book, River of Time.

Boeng Kak Lake

10- to 15-min walk northeast of the Central Market.

Boeng Kak Lake will appeal to backpackers as it’s well supplied with cheap food and guesthouses. The lakeside setting with the all-important westerly aspect – ie sunsets instead of the sunrises of Sisowath Quay – appeals strongly to the nocturnal instincts of guests (some bars and restaurants open 24 hours a day). The lake was quite beautiful but close to the guesthouses it becomes more like a floating rubbish tip and, with not much lake left, it looks more like a canal. On the water not much differentiates one guesthouse from another – all are of the same ilk. In the eyes of the law, the places on the lake are considered ‘squatted’ so their future is unsure. The lake has been partially filled and families are being evicted from this area to make way for new development, but many bars and guesthouses are still standing. Local guesthouse owners estimate that it will take another two years to fill the lake completely, but only time will tell how fast it will develop.

South of the centre

gruesome reminders of the recent past

Independence Monument

South of the Royal Palace, between St 268 and Preah Sihanouk Blvd.

The Independence Monument was built in 1958 to commemorate independence but has now assumed the role of a cenotaph. Wat Lang Ka, on the corner of Sihanouk and Norodom boulevards, was another beautiful pagoda that fell victim to Pol Pot’s architectural holocaust. Like Wat Ounalom, it was restored in Khmer style on the direction of the Hanoi-backed government in the 1980s.

Wat Lang Ka

Corner of Sihanouk and Norodom Blvd (close to Independence Monument).

Another beautiful pagoda that fell victim to Pol Pot’s architectural holocaust but, like Wat Ounalom, it was restored in Khmer style on the direction of the Hanoi-backed government in the 1980s. It is a really soothing get-away from city madness and the monks here are particularly friendly. They hold a free meditation session every Monday and Thursday night at 1800 and anyone is welcome to join in.

Tuol Sleng Museum (Museum of Genocide)

Southwest from Independence Monument, St 113 (close to St 350), Tue-Sun 0800-1100, 1400-1700; public holidays 0800-1800. US$2; free film at 1000 and 1500.

After 17 April 1975 the classrooms of Tuol Svay Prey High School became the Khmer Rouge main torture and interrogation centre, known as Security Prison 21 – or just S-21. More than 20,000 people were taken from S-21 to be executed at Choeung Ek extermination camp. Countless others died under torture and were thrown into mass graves in the school grounds. Only seven prisoners survived because they were sculptors or artists and could turn out countless busts of Pol Pot.

Classrooms were subdivided into small cells by means of crude brick walls (now liable to topple over). In some rooms there is a metal bedstead and on the wall a fuzzy black and white photograph showing how the room was found in 1979 with a body manacled to the bed. Walls on the stairways often have holes knocked in them and one can all too easily imagine the blood and filth that poured down the stairs making these outlets necessary. The school was converted into a ‘museum of genocide’ by the Vietnamese (with help from the East Germans who had experience in setting up the Auschwitz Museum). One block of classrooms is given over to photographs of the victims. All the Khmer Rouge victims were methodically numbered and photographed. The pictures on display include those of foreigners who fell into the hands of the Khmer Rouge but the vast majority are Cambodians – men, women, children and babies – all of whom were photographed. Some have obviously just been tortured or raped and stare with loathing and disgust into the camera, while others appear to be unaware of the fate that awaits them. The photographs are quite easily the most poignant and painful part of the museum. One block contains the simple but disturbing weapons of torture. It is a chilling reminder that such sickening violence was done by such everyday objects.

PHNOM PENH

Background

Phnom Penh lies at the confluence of the Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers and quickly grew into an important commercial centre. Years of war have taken a heavy toll on the city’s infrastructure and economy, as well as its inhabitants. Refugees first began to flood in from the countryside in the early 1950s during the First Indochina War and the population grew from 100,000 to 600,000 by the late 1960s. In the early 1970s there was another surge as people streamed in from the countryside again, this time to escape US bombing and guerrilla warfare. On the eve of the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975, the capital had a population of two million, but soon became a ghost town. On Pol Pot’s orders it was forcibly emptied and the townspeople frog-marched into the countryside to work as labourers. Only 45,000 inhabitants were left in the city in 1975 and a large number were soldiers. In 1979, after four years of virtual abandonment, Phnom Penh had a population of a few thousand. People began to drift back following the Vietnamese invasion (1978-1979) and as hopes for peace rose in 1991, the floodgates opened yet again: today the population is approaching one million.

Phnom Penh has undergone an economic revival since the Paris Peace Accord of 1991. Following the 1998 coup there was a brief exodus of businesses and investors but by 2014 money was pouring back into the city with large developments, including office space, housing and even shopping malls on the rise.

Former US Embassy

Intersection of Norodom and Mao Tse Tung boulevards.

The former US Embassy is now home to the Ministry of Fisheries. As the Khmer Rouge closed in on the city from the north and the south in April 1975, US Ambassador John Gunther Dean pleaded with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for an urgent airlift of embassy staff. But it was not until the very last minute (just after 1000 on 12 April 1975, with the Khmer Rouge firing mortars from across the Bassac River onto the football pitch near the compound which served as a landing zone) that the last US Marine helicopter left the city. Flight 462, a convoy of military transport helicopters, evacuated the 82 remaining Americans, 159 Cambodians and 35 other foreigners to a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Thailand. Their departure was overseen by 360 heavily armed marines. Despite letters from the ambassador to all senior government figures, offering them places on the helicopters, only one, Acting President Saukham Khoy, fled the country. The American airlift was a deathblow to Cambodian morale. Within five days, the Khmer Rouge had taken the city and within hours all senior officials of the former Lon Nol government were executed on the tennis courts of the embassy.

Around Phnom Penh

pleasant farmland gives way to the spectacular Kirirom National Park

Choeung Ek

Southwest on Monireth Blvd, about 15 km from town. US$2. Return trip by tuk-tuk US$5-10.

Now in a peaceful setting surrounded by orchards and rice fields, Choeung Ek was the execution ground for the torture victims of Tuol Sleng – the Khmer Rouge interrogation centre, S-21 (see here). It is referred to by some as the ‘killing fields’. Today a huge glass tower stands on the site, filled with the cracked skulls of men, women and children exhumed from 129 mass graves in the area (which were not discovered until 1980). To date 8985 corpses have been exhumed from the site, although researchers believe the number of victims buried is closer to double that figure. The site, once an orchard, is peaceful now, with only the odd bird or quacking duck to break the silence – and rather more numerous children begging. Signs attempt to explain the inexplicable: The method of massacre which the clique of Pol Pot criminals was carried upon the innocent people of Kampuchea cannot be described fully and clearly in words because the invention of this killing method was strangely cruel. So it is difficult for us to determine who they are for they have the human form but their hearts are demons’ hearts …. The really sad part is that Choeung Ek is just one of 4973 grave sites uncovered by the Documentation Centre, dedicated to investigating Khmer Rouge atrocities.

Oudong

Take Route 5 north from Phnom Penh, turn left down a track before Oudong town (at Vihea Luong medical centre); 1½ hrs (40 km) by moto. Buses depart hourly from the Central Market with Phnom Penh Public Transport Co. Alternatively, buses going to Kampong Chhnang pass through Oudong (get off at the Oudong billboard). To avoid too much climbing get your moto driver to drop you off at the foot of the steps. Oudong is busy on Sun. There are drink stalls at the foot of the hill.

Oudong was the royal capital between 1618 and 1866 and only the foundations of the ancient palace remain. The skyward-soaring stupas can be seen from miles away emerging from the forest-clad hills. At the top of the larger of two ridges, just south of Oudong itself, are the ruins of Phnom Chet Ath Roeus. The vihara was built in 1911 by King Sisowath to house a large Buddha image, but was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Beyond the wat to the northwest is a string of viharas – now in ruins – and beyond them, several stupas, which house the ashes of King Ang Douong (1845-1859) and King Monivong (1927-1941). On the other side of the ridge stands a memorial to those murdered by the Khmer Rouge, whose remains were unearthed from mass graves on the site in the early 1980s. The stupas themselves are nothing special but the views over the vast surrounding plain are spectacular. The town itself is a nondescript, sleepy little place, a short ride north of the temples. Its chief function seems to be washing mud-caked cars and pickups coming in from the country so that their occupants can drive in to Phnom Penh with some dignity. Oudong is also home to Prasat Nokor Vimean Sour, a kitsch, concrete model of Angkor Wat built in 1998.

Koh Dach (Koh Dait)

5 km north of the city over the Japanese Friendship Bridge. Either take a moto to the ferry dock on Route 6 and catch a ferry from there (cheapest option) or take one of the small tourist boats on the riverfront, north of St 178, US$10-20 for 1- 2 hrs.

Koh Dach (also known as Mekong Island) is a fairly touristy yet reasonably serene island jutting from the Mekong. Just 12 km long, it is home to five villages which, for the most part, cultivate beans, corn, sesame seeds, peanuts and banana crops. However, the island is famed for its weaving and visitors are welcome to come and observe the criss-crossed weaving of looms. There are a few hut-style restaurants on the river edge, which make for a good lunch spot. In the dry season, the shore recedes, providing a good sandy beach for swimming.

Kien Svay

12 km east of Phnom Penh. Follow Route 1 until you pass L’Imprevu Hotel and turn left 1 km later and follow the road through the archway. Buses run from the Central Market (US$0.50).

The small resort of Kien Svay (also known as Koki Beach) has become the definitive Cambodian picnic spot. Every weekend the folks from Phnom Penh descend on the site, to get a bit of R&R by the small Mekong tributary. The main attraction is the multitude of water houses for rent – small, sheltered bamboo stilt platforms protruding from the water. The huts are accessible via a small boat trip and usually the huts’ owner will take you there and back. The plethora of fried insect and bug hawkers could fulfil anyone’s nutrition quota, but for those not fond of six-legged creatures there are also stalls selling chicken, rice and other Khmer dishes. Longer boat rides around the area can be also organized. The boat trip to the hut and rental of the hut for an hour should cost around US$0.50-1 but this needs to be negotiated from the outset. The trip takes about 40 minutes and a moto from Phnom Penh should cost US$6-7. Possibly more interesting than the riverside itself are the surrounding villages. Most of them are silk-weaving centres and provide an insight into Khmer life. This is probably one of the best places to pick up a kramar (see here).

Tonlé Bati

33 km south of Phnom Penh on Route 2, then 2.5 km off the main road. Take a bus from the Central Market to Takeo (31 km from Phnom Penh), several daily from 0700, returning until 1300 but tell the driver where you are going or you could end up at Takeo, 46 km away. If driving, don’t go straight over at the Takhmau roundabout or you’ll end up at Sa’ong. A shared taxi en route to Takeo is also an option. Entry US$3 (includes a drink).

This is a popular local weekend picnic site, 33 km south of Phnom Penh. Besides the tranquillity of the Bati River and shady foliage there is the added attraction of the temple of Ta Phrom. The temple dates from Jayavarman VII’s reign (1181-1201) and, unusually, it is consecrated to both Brahma and the Buddha, though some of the Buddhist iconography is easily recognizable as being modern. The reclining Buddha carved on the front lintel is modern as are the Buddha statues inside. Interestingly two are fixed into Yoni – the Sivaist ‘female’ pedestal. The temple is made largely of laterite with a central tower of limestone – notice how the carving of Vishnu is superimposed with Buddha images. The temple has been modelled in traditional form: four outer sanctuaries and the central sanctuary in cruciform layout. Each sanctuary contains a linga. There is a smaller temple, Yeay Peau, 100 m north of Ta Prohm. Both temples have a number of fine bas-reliefs.

LEGEND

Yay Peau

Yeay Peau is steeped in legend and is believed to be named after King Ta Prohm’s mother. King Preah Ket Mealea fell in love with a young fisherman’s daughter, Peau. Together they produced a son, Prohm. As the king had to return back to his royal duties he left a ring for his son, to enable the boy to prove his royal lineage. Upon being told that his father was the king, Prohm set off to track him down. After showing his genealogical proof (the ring), Prohm took up residence in his father’s court for several years. So much time was spent away that when he returned to Tonlé Bati he didn’t recognize his mother. Besotted with her beauty, Prohm demanded that Peau should be his wife. Refusing to believe Peau’s pleas that she was his mother, she suggested a contest to settle the dispute. She proposed a ‘winner takes all’ competition – they were both to build temples and whoever finished first would have the final say in whether the marriage was to proceed. The pair of them undertook their construction at night, the women villagers