Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, are the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market.
Cafes, urbane restaurants and boutiques cluster around Street 240, while the buzzing Russian Market in the south sells goods from clothing to jewelry. The atmospheric French Quarter, to the north, is filled with faded, picturesque buildings like the yellow-hued Cambodia Post Office. The pagoda of Buddhist temple Wat Phnom rises above the city on a hilltop. The haunting Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, housed in a school turned prison, and Killing Fields memorials outside of town serve as sobering reminders of the country’s history under the Khmer Rouge regime.
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