One of the better preserved French relics in Southeast Asia, the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh has a lot more to offer the visitor than a quick, depressing swing through Tuol Sleng and a run out to the Killing Fields.

The legend goes that in the late 14th century an old woman named Penh found a tree with a handful of Buddha images lodged in a nook. She retrieved the images and had a hill (phnom) built to house them, and so Penh's hill or Phnom Penh was born.

Established at the crossroads of the Bassac, Tonle and Mekong Rivers, Phnom Penh remained little more than a large village and didn't become the permanent capital until the late 19th century during the reign of King Norodom I. On April 17, 1864 Norodom agreed to make Cambodia a French protectorate in an attempt to keep the Vietnamese and Siamese at bay and it was in the years following this that the construction of Phnom Penh proper began. Interestingly, 111 years to the day after King Norodom I signed his first treaty with the French, the Khmer Rouge entered, took control and totally emptied Phnom Penh.

By the time Cambodia became a part of French Indochina in 1884, Phnom Penh had developed into a sizeable, largely French-designed city and by the 1920's it was known as the Pearl of Asia and was considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Southeast Asia.

Then the war came. Historically Cambodia had been a battleground between the Thais and the Vietnamese, but through the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cambodian fought Cambodian as a brutal civil war engulfed the country. By the time the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and evacuated the city, Phnom Penh became a ghost town, and it was but a shadow of its self when the Khmer Rouge were finally evicted by a Vietnamese invasion in 1978-79.

Once the Khmer Rouge were thrown out, people began to return to Phnom Penh and the city slowly returned to life. However, it wasn't until the 1990s with the UN sponsored elections (and a slew of aid) that the city really began to develop anew. The new century has seen considerable financial investment particularly on China's behalf and a swath of new construction projects have resulted in many of the Phnom Penh's French relics fall to the wrecking ball to be replaced by characterless glass and brass affairs. The result is a hodge-podge of stunning French colonial buildings and concrete egg-carton eyesores.

With the money come the people, and the once sleepy streets are developing into a chaotic mess of motorcycles, cars, minibuses, ox-carts and remorques battle for space. Urban migration continues apace and it's not unusual to see entire families camped out on the footpath. Poverty is endemic and one not well-addressed at all by the country's largely dysfunctional government.

Despite these lows, the city remains a fascinating destination. Phnom Penh and Cambodia's history is well documented in the National Museum, S-21 and the Killing Fields. There's the Royal Palace, temples, markets and boat tours to busy the sightseers and a bountiful supply of excellent cafes and restaurants for gourmands and bars for the night owls. You'll enjoy interacting with the Cambodian people and their omnipresent smiles -- and next thing you know, a week will have passed. Phnom Penh is a charming spot, don't make the mistake of allowing just a day or two here.

Morning at a museum or market, lunch at a cafe, afternoon on (or by) the river, dinner in restaurant, refreshing drinks at any one of the many city bars. Repeat process daily until you must leave.