SE Asia Trip Dispatch: Part Five (Phnom Penh)
After leaving Siem Reap I decided to break up the impending grueling 12-hour bus ride and head to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, about 6 hours to the southeast. It’s likely secure to say most people do not know substantially if something about the city, and the first issue they wonder is how to pronounce it (for the record: drop the 1st “ph” in Phnom and the “h” in Penh and you have got it). Far from the current, turbulent history of the city, Phnom Penh is now a bustling capital, a great deal like Saigon, with construction going on all more than the city, and a burgeoning middle and upper class emerging. Brimming with NGO workers, rural migrants, and, yes, Cambodian yuppies, Phnom Penh is a surprisingly lively, vibrant city. The city’s most famous landmark is the Royal Palace, positioned close to the Mekong River near the center of the city. Built in 1866, the complicated is house to the King of Cambodia, and regardless of its relative newness (at least compared to Angkor), t...