Phnom Penh: A few observations

It's now been a couple of weeks since I arrived, enough time to soak up the sights and smells of this very interesting city.

First impressions: there is nothing quite like the humid air that blasts you as you arrive in a warm country. Grabbed a tuk tuk and took my first cruise through the city on the way to my journo friend Jared's place. The smells along that way: diesel fumes, jasmine, clove, bbq, sewer, burnt brakes. An endless sea of motorbikes, SUVs, tuk tuks and toyota vans piled high (and wide) with people and products. Moto drivers transport virtually anything too: enormous glass panes, closets, 20 foot steel beams, giant wicker baskets brimming with fresh baguettes, sacks of flour and rice, bbqs still cooking meat, entire families.

The rules of the road are simple: If there is an open space you drive into it. Into oncoming traffic, wrong way? No problem. It would seem that the Cambodians developed their driving ‘rules’ from the French – everything ahead of you is your problem, everything behind you is everyone else’s problem. What this means is a constant mash of traffic that flows like water (or more accurately, treacle!), following the quickest route whatever opens for you. Traffic becomes seriously congested once rush hour comes and as I have been chugging around in this city I realized that if rules were actually followed this place would come to a standstill, as the road system is already overrun for the number of vehicles on the road. People cannot speed, which is likely why I’ve only seen a few minor accidents in two weeks.

Phnom Penh is a boom town. Construction is everywhere, and the noise of pile drivers, concrete and rebar cutting, welding and heavy machinery is unavoidable. Houses in BKK 1, a wealthier part of town, go for well over a million dollars now. Totally overvalued? Yes. There is much talk among the journalists that I have talked to about this boom – “fuelled by dirty money – smuggling, prostitution, corruption.” This country has 28 national banks. Building continues despite an economic downturn, and has only been halted on the largest of projects, those with heavy Korean investment (so I’ve been told). Cambodia is soon to open its own stock exchange!

Cambodian people are friendly as a general rule, and even the haggling is muted. Unless you really are in a high profile area, there is little in the way of the aggressive opportunism that I have viewed in other travels (especially Africa). Yes there is a need for some street smarts when travelling off the beaten track but Jared said it best: “this place is easy, too easy”.

The scars of war show however – missing limbs, disfiguration. Two million people died under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Many older Khmer men sport intricate tattoos inked during wartime, which carry magical powers to repel bullets. Everybody over the age of 40 here was seemingly spared death for a reason. People hold many secrets.

I brought along an old Lonely Planet guide for Southeast Asia (1993) that I had lying around at my place and inside, the section on Cambodia was a mere sliver to the rest of the countries. “Travel is not advised outside of areas controlled by the military”. This meant that adventurous folk were largely stuck in Phnom Penh, and even that was not so safe (The Khmer Rouge were only kicked out of power shortly before this, but there were plenty of pockets of resistance in the rest of the country). There were only a few recommended places to eat. Now the city is brimming with nightlife, and every variety of food that you can imagine. I even found a decent Mexican restaurant (!). I also came at a good time, as it is mango and watermelon season. I have developed a pleasurable addiction to mango shakes.

At the centre of the city is the King’s palace, and dotted around city are wats (temples) of various heights and levels of grandiose. All local areas are entered through beautifully crafted ornate gates, with symbols of Buddha, elephants, serpents. Cambodia is known for its stonework artisans, and it shows in the fine detail. Many of the wats that are under constant renovation (under the Khmer Rouge many wats were either destroyed or used for other means which meant they fell in disrepair). Cambodia’s king is reportedly gay, single and a former ballet dancer who is fluent in Czech. He has no heirs.

To get away from the city life I spent a few days down in the south this week – Sihanoukville – the former (and increasingly current) playground of the local elite. As Sihanoukville proper is a bit touristy I edged off to Otres Beach, about 10 km south of the town. White sand beaches, lazy beacher expats, little bungalows, even cheaper mango shakes, and virtually no tourists. The rules for the first place I stayed in were amusing: “no strong smelling fruit, especially durian” (if you don’t know durian, it’s the king of fruit and you either love it or hate it), and “no radioactive substances” (I suppose that means no shady Russian arms dealers allowed!). Along this stretch of beach are the grand walls of former estates, although according to locals, this land originally intended for the Khmer Rouge elite, was never developed, apart from the walls themselves. Now the land is owned by local Khmer families (until someone higher up decides that they do not), and as it stands the lazy beach guesthouses are existing on borrowed time. Already an entire section was recently razed – squatters that for years had been living in a small shanty town on the north end. This area is too good to be true and I’m sure that it will only be a matter of time before it becomes what the grand visionaries of this country really want – big mansions, big hotels, big development. The Prime Minister already has a Hollywood – style mansion on the beach. Others will inevitably come, or are being built.