Phnom Penh

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Introducing Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh: the name can’t help but conjure up an image of the exotic. The glimmering spires of the royal palace, the fluttering saffron of the monks’ robes, and the luscious location on the banks of the mighty Mekong; this is one of Asia’s undiscovered gems. But it’s also a city on the move, as a new wave of investors move in, perhaps forever changing the character, and skyline, of this classic city. Phnom Penh is a crossroads of Asia’s past and present, a city of extremes of poverty and excess, of charm and chaos, but one that never fails to captivate.

Phnom Penh can be an assault on the senses. Motorbikes whiz through the backstreets without a thought for pedestrians; pungent scents float up from stalls and markets; and all the while the sound of life, of commerce, of survival, reverberates all around. But this is all part of the attraction. It’s not just another metropolis, the identikit image of a modern capital; it is an older Asia that many dreamed of when first planning their adventures overseas.

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The colourful stalls of New Market in Phnom Penh
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The colourful stalls of New Market in Phnom Penh

Lonely Planet photographer
  • Richard I'Anson
  • Lonely Planet photographer
  • The stupa built in 1988 at Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields) as a memorial to the innocent victims of the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge regime.
  • Tai Chi in front of Royal Palace.
  • Female street barber at work.
  • Sovanna Phum puppetry performance.
  • Monk and clothes line outside monastery building.
  • A veteran takes in the Sisowth Quay waterfront .
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