As a visitor, it’s sometimes easy to miss the nuances of public life in a country. You’re less likely to pick up a newspaper or have a chat on current affairs at the supermarket. But you’d need to be really cultivating an ‘ignorance is bliss’ approach not to have noticed that Phnom Penh is in … read the full post

Close to Independence Monument, Equinox is slap bang in the middle of the evening entertainment strip on Street 278, usually known as Golden Street. Away from the tour groups on riverside or the appealing mother-wouldn’t-approve sleaziness of Street 51, the more refined Golden Street is home to several bars, and the multi-level Equinox is one of … read the full post

I’m definitely not the violent type, but one of my favourite things to do on a quiet Phnom Penh weekend is going to a kick-boxing match. It’s free, it’s noisy and it’s a totally  Cambodian experience. Most people’s first encounter with Khmer boxing is walking past a cafe full of shouting, grunting men and thinking it’s all about … read the full post

Occupying a corner plot, the white four-storey Happy 11 Backpacker guesthouse does a good job of living up to its name. Formerly a lakeside institution, the owners and staff have been helping travellers to Phnom Penh relax for many years. The new location in a mainly residential area is a five-minute walk to the river … read the full post

I really want to start this review with a pun about wanting to put down my roots at the Plantation. I won’t though, as I’m sure it’s been used a hundred times already — I’m not sure how you could stay here and not want to put your roots down. The Plantation is lovely, and, … read the full post

A short stroll from Independence Monument, Villa Khmer is situated on a leafy side street off Norodom Boulevard. The red and black décor adds a chic touch which emphasises that this isn’t just another cheap eatery. There’s a choice of seating in the airy bamboo courtyard, including a cabana with a low table for relaxed … read the full post

As the mercury shows no signs of dropping for at least another month, there’s no better way to cool down than spending some time poolside in Phnom Penh. If you’re lucky, you’ve checked into one of the Phnom Penh guesthouses that has a pool. If you’re slumming it, or didn’t realise how essential a pool was until … read the full post

Phnom Penh is doing a good job of getting noticed recently, sometimes via shameless self-promotion. So it was no surprise that on an overcast Saturday afternoon in April, more than 1,000 young people gathered at Wat Botom park to try and enter the Guinness Book of World Records by dancing the Madison. The Madison, in … read the full post

This week a contemporary art exhibition, Five Years of Meta House: Continuing Conversations, opened at Meta House in Phnom Penh featuring work from their permanent collection. While I have previously only mentioned Meta House as a place to see a movie, they’ve also been exhibiting art from Khmer and foreign artists for the past five … read the full post

There’s no way to pretend that hot season isn’t off to a roaring start in Phnom Penh, with temperatures already far higher than I am ready to cope with. Luckily, though, there’s no dearth of places to spend an air-con afternoon. My new favourite is City Mall, that Western-style shopping mecca next to Olympic Stadium. … read the full post