Hotels in Cambodia

In Phnom Penh

Hope and Anchor

$40 for a double with balcony
$35 for a single with balcony

The first morning, it was great to wake up to sunrise over the river --- and spot the Wat Penh elephant on its way to work. But the room was noisy, slightly dirty, and run-down: holes in the sheets and towels, wardrobe collapsing, plumbing not great. Staff was friendly and helpful, but the atmosphere along Sisowath Quay got old and sleazy quickly.



Hotel Scandinavia

$35 plus 10% tax for a single, breakfast included - yummy breakfast sandwiches!

The Scandinavia was wonderful. Clean and artistic and in a quiet, fashionable neighborhood. Room was filled with lovely textiles and furniture. A lovely little pool, an outdoor bar to hang out at. AC reading room that I'm sure is lovely when the weather is hot. Staff was young and a bit unorganized, but very earnest and polite. I'd much rather stay in this neighborhood (near Indpendence Monument and popular with NGOs and ex-pats) than over by Sisowath Quay. Lots of great places to eat and drink and shop, and green and leafy. Phnom Penh is so small... don't think you are too far from the sights or the river.

Siem Reap

The Palm Village

$39 dollars for a AC double (breakfast included)
($30 for fan double)


Please will someone take me back to the Palm Village? Lovely bungalows around a garden, a short tuk-tuk ride outside of busy Siem Reap. Large bathroom with skylight, breakfast served on your porch or poolside or in the outdoor dining pavilion. Outdoor massage pavilion and a wonderful massage therapist named Ma. Sunset/sunrise viewing tower. It was great.

Just a few smudges in paradise: our first night there we were in the fan room, rather than the AC room. We were told there was no other difference, but that really wasn't true: the fan room is a rather basic wood structure attached to the massage pavilion. Not anywhere near as nice as the regular bungelows.

We booked our guide through the hotel and he was not very good. Our tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Kuhn, was a sweetheart, however. Though he didn't speak much English. But every day he took us around and every night, he would drop us off in town for dinner and pick us up at an agreed-upon time.

I got a virus on my memory card from their complimentary computer. Be careful.

But otherwise... stay at the Palm Village before Siem Reap expands even more and it is no longer quiet and away-from-it-all!

If Only It Wasn't So Hot

Last week's heat wave in Philly reminded me of the contradictory nature of my love for certain Asian places:

I hate hot weather. It makes me depressed.
Perhaps I wouldn't have fallen so in love with Cambodia if I hadn't arrived the day before the start of a cool wave. Apparently, all the Khmer were freezing. I thought it lovely in the morning and evening, excruciatingly hot mid-afternoon --- but not humid, and so not depressing.
But last week in Philly, as the sun beat down and the humidity rose and the stink of city grew stronger and everything felt filthy and sweaty and even after dark it didn't get cooler, I wondered if it is just that when it is this hot in India, I'm too distr acted by the novelty to get depressed.
Then I remember how down I was by my third week in Kerala in '96 and a lightbulb goes off. Was it the weather causing my traveller's ennui? And all this time, I thought it was because I had been blown off by that cute Canadian boy in Kovalam?

Meanwhile, the weather has shifted and it has been beautiful lately. This evening in Old City, I was struck again by how much I love the dirty streets and bumpy pavement and cobblestones and Christ Church and riding my bike back to South Philly along the narrow streets.

A cool morning along the river in Phnom Penh.