Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is about the size of Paris, France. It has its share of gleaming skyscrapers, and from a distance, looks like any modern capital city. But up close and personal, there’s an exotic grittiness about it. We’ll spend the day today checking it out. First stop: Phnom Penh’s Central Market.
We’ve been to Phnom Penh once before. At the time, I had what I called the “Cambodian flu.” (I knew I shouldn’t have eaten those crickets!) We took a tuk tuk to a pharmacy that turned into a short tour of the city.
The first part of the tour was a bit worrisome. We knew there was a pharmacy nearby. But we were being taken way beyond that pharmacy. We’ve read about bad things that can happen to tourists out of their element…
Our driver took us to a modern pharmacy downtown. Very impressive. He may have wanted us to see what a top-notch pharmacy in his city looks like. Or maybe he wanted to extend the ride. Either way, the ride back to the boat was pure enjoyment.
What Most Visitors Want to See
Tour companies assume, (probably correctly), that visitors to Phnom Penh want to see the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda, Tuol Sleng prison, and the Killing Fields. Tuol Sleng is where the Khmer Rouge did their worst deeds. Today it’s Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The killing fields, on the outskirts of town, are where they buried the bodies sent from Tuol Sleng.
On our previous visit, we toured the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. They’re awesome. Cambodian architecture looks similar to Thai, but to me, it’s even more dramatic. The Silver Pagoda is a great example. Wow.
We toured the main tourist destinations last time, so this time around we’ll be able to see the city itself. In the morning, we’ll go to the Central Market. We’ll take a city tour in the afternoon, and we’ll finish the day at a rooftop bar.
Phnom Penh’s Central Market
It’s a short tuk tuk ride from the boat to the Central Market. Too short, actually. It’s so much fun riding around the city in a tuk tuk.
Phnom Penh’s Central Market, or “Phsar Thmey” if you’re looking at a Cambodian map, is enclosed in a large art deco building designed and built by the French in 1937. During Khmer rule, it was an empty, decaying shell, but at least it survived. It has since been restored to its former glory.
It’s a unique design. Four wings spread out from a central, domed structure enclosing 31/2 acres of privately owned and operated vendor stalls. How many stalls? 500? Nope. 1,000? Keep going… 2,000? The Central Market houses about 3,000 vendor stalls. The place is huge.
It’s organized like any department store. There are sections where you’ll find men’s or women’s clothes, housewares, sporting goods, jewelry, etc. But unlike department stores, where policies and prices flow down from the top, vendors here are free to do their own thing. It’s so much more enjoyable this way.
When we were there, I’d been wearing a pair of flip-flops for days. My toes were tired of the toe strap rubbing between them. I had my eye out for some sandals with no toe strap, and I found the perfect pair at the Central Market.
To Bargain, or Not to Bargain?
I always feel uncomfortable bargaining, even in places where bargaining is the rule. Part of me wants to pay full price to vendors who work so hard to make so little. But another part of me thinks that if you don’t bargain at least a little, the vendor will think you’re just another dumb tourist who doesn’t have a clue about anything.
I bargained a little with the lady who sold me my new sandals, but my heart wasn’t in it. Even so, I paid a ridiculously low price for them. My wallet was happy and soon, my feet would be happy, too.
To be continued…
Featured image: aerial view of Phnom Penh’s Central Market, (cropped). Attribution: Rik Schuiling / TropCrop-TCS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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