After more than a decade, I find myself back in Cambodia for a first glance of its capital, Phnom Penh. I traveled to Siem Reap with my dad before then and didn't really have any desire to visit the capital. That time, the country was just 'freed' from the Khmer Rouge's shackles but the stories of robberies, pick pockets and disorder in the capital were rampant. Siem Reap's Angkor Wat was the country's only saving grace.
Fast forward to 2014. My travel path is taking me back to Indochina and the roads less discovered, thus Phnom Penh.
Typically, before I get to a strange city, I try to read up a bit but this time I decided to be surprised. Just go with the flow. This trip being more for work rather than leisure, my mindset was framed differently. Hovering at 10,000 feet, one notices that Phnom Penh is very, very flat with the three rivers, Tonle Sap, Bassac and the mighty Mekong, forming a Y along the banks of the capital. The 3 rivers, especially Mekong, play a major role in shaping the city's current economic activities and definitely will play major roles in its future.
Prior to arrival, I had to consult on how to obtain a visa. Much to my pleasant surprise, one can apply for a tourist visa electronically. My e-visa came via email in 24 hours! Contrast to a decade ago when upon landing in Siem Reap, visa on arrival meant lining up infront of 5 dour- looking immigration officers one checking your visa form, then passed on to the next table for checking your photo, then on to the next until the last person stamps a page on your passport! Today, one arrives at designated e-visa counters, your file checked online by a shy but friendly immigration officer, finger-printed and off you go.
I was met at the airport by the driver for the boutique hotel I chose based on +Trip Advisor recommendation - the White Mansion, a 30-room hotel situated in a quiet neighborhood in downtown Phnom Penh. It's a well-managed hotel and the staff are always eager (sometimes too eager) to please. One key learning, Cambodians have the tendency to want to please and confirm things to be true but actually a lot can get lost in translation. ALWAYS triple check. I learned this the hard way. I've asked the hotel reception to confirm the address for my upcoming meeting. Inspite of apparently calling, I was sent to a different location. Fortunately, Cambodians are also flexible. So things worked out in the end.
There is a palpable excitement in the city. A sense of hope for good things to come. Construction for high rise condominiums and office buildings are evident. Their very first high-end mall and organized shopping center, AEON Mall just opened. As in any newly-emerging market, the contrast between the old and the new is still very much evident. People still shop daily in open air markets with total disregard for food safety. Motorbikes, bicycles, tuk tuks (the local mode of transport), delivery trucks, luxury cars, on-call taxis snaking around the capital. There's not a lot of pedestrian lanes so crossing the street can be hazardous to ones health!
Cambodians have developed a love for big, luxury cars. How? Beats me. There seems to be a widespread demand in a nation with a per capita income of a little over $1,000. The bigger the ride, the better.
Amidst the craziness of traffic, construction and the summer heat, the city offers its own unique attraction. Phnom Penh offers charming retail shops and cafés run mostly by European artists who've traveled to Cambodia, crossed the city's path, fell in love with it and never left. It's not too difficult to get ensnared in its charms.
The locals, majority of which had been victims of Khmer Rouge's atrocities, trust foreigners more than their own kind. I can't blame them - there's only 15 million Cambodians left with majority of their kins' remains piled among millions of others in the mass graves.
Foreign non-government organizations (NGOs) are helping establish order in the country. One of the things I like is that with the NGOs' influence, locals are being taught skills they can use to earn a living - recyclable designs, jewelry and furniture-making, sculpture, hospitality, etc. I wish all emerging markets would adopt the same practices.
Cambodia and it's capital for sure still has a lot of issues to deal with including the stateless boat people (mostly from Vietnam), lining up the banks of Mekong who remain poor, uneducated simply because the government refuses to recognize and integrate them into its society.
They too, got ensnared in Phnom Penh's charms and never left.
