Is It Worth It To Travel To Phnom Penh, Cambodia? | Top Attractions, Khmer Food + Tourist Safety
[Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to the capital city of Cambodia guys we are here in Phnom Penh phanom Penh this is the largest city here in Cambodia got a population of about two and a half million people we just got here all the way from Saigon and have just kind of been wandering the city seeing what there is to see and do and dad what would you say have been your first impression so far of course the people are always friendly and the scenery is terrific and very modern too like yeah more than I thought they'd be yeah and a really nice walkway along the river which is very beautiful for a long ways yeah I think it's safe to say that uh probably a lot of parts of Cambodia have really changed especially in the last couple of decades but it's really evident here in Phnom Penh talking with a lot of locals that were saying you know just years ago there were no high rises there wasn't as many tourists coming here but now things have definitely changed so in today's video we are going to be showing you guys around some of the top attractions in the city that you can't miss when you come to Phnom Penh as well as going to some of the more local areas start things off we are going to go to the Royal Palace which is just behind me this is one of the top attractions of the city you can't miss it when you come here and it's only open for certain hours of the day so we are gonna head over there now [Music] thank you [Music] the Royal Palace is absolutely stunning my friends definitely need to pay a visit here it actually reminds me of the beautiful palace in Bangkok somewhat similar architecture but what's interesting about this Palace because there are a lot of different buildings it's a very large complex I guess a portion is used as the official residence of the king of Cambodia they do have a lot of important events and meetings that go on here but tourists are allowed to see you know certain portions of the area though the one thing I should mention is that you can't actually take photos and videos of the inside of the building so that's why I've only showed the outside so far foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Parliament and Ottawa doesn't exactly look like that does it no it does not a little bit more bland a little bit more boring but yeah guys definitely worth a visit to the Royal Palace just make sure you check the times because they kind of close down for like three hours over lunch it's kind of just like two hour intervals that they're really open but luckily we got that in and now we are in this beautiful Park uh just on the side of the Royal Palace and we are going to walk down to the independence Monument so Cambodia has had a very tumultuous history which I'll get into a little bit later on but when it officially gained independence and became the Republic that it is now was in 1953. they gained independence from the French colonialists and uh like I said there was obviously things that happened since then which I will touch on later but it's really interesting interesting to see you know how it has changed into the current city now how much more open it is to foreigners like both me and my dad said we've overall felt very welcome and overall quite safe I know some people have some reservations about visiting Cambodia but I think if you are going to the most popular sort of destinations not getting into any Shady stuff more than likely you're gonna be just fine foreign [Music] so we decided to pop into this cute Cafe to just cool off from the heat but you guys know me I still will get a hot coffee even though it is crazy hot outside one important thing I wanted to mention that I totally just didn't expect coming to Cambodia is that I didn't know that they use more or less two currencies here as you guys will see on the receipt here you have your grand total where it has 1065 and that is in US Dollars and then they have their local currency which is called the real and it's basically the equivalent 43 700 and from what I read I guess the reason that is is that after the war the U.N peacekeepers came in here bringing a lot of US Dollars and they kind of just kept on with it because it actually helps to stabilize their currency so in saying that one of the things that I've noticed so far is that here in Cambodia it is actually a bit more expensive than I would say in some other Southeast Asian countries that I've been to especially like compared to Vietnam like we just ordered uh one tea one coffee and then two kind of desserts and it came to 1065 I think in Vietnam at a similar sort of Cafe maybe it would be about like seven eight US dollars so not a big difference but just something to keep in mind that if you are traveling here with US Dollars it will be very easy to pay for things even ATMs give out US dollars so I guess that is a really good thing for uh their currency and just gives you options when you come here as a tourist in my face [Music] so we are officially in our favorite part of the city right right along the rivers yeah this is such a beautiful area and kind of the meeting point of everybody like especially at at night super windy right now everybody comes out here to visit with family and friends there's lots of really nice restaurants on the left hand side lots of street food lots of little shops so if you come to Phnom Penh this area is an absolute must it's really in the Heart of the City and we're gonna walk all the way down it to get to the Central Market [Music] thank you foreign [Music] so we have made it to the Central Market which is one of many markets here in Phnom Penh the other two that I would say that you absolutely have to visit here is the Russian Market which I guess is named that because there used to be a lot of Russian expats that kind of visited that area in the 1980s and then also the night market which is actually not that far from this area if you go there around 5 PM there's lots of really nice food stalls lots of entertainment going on so all the markets you could want here in Phnom Penh I just figured I'd show you guys this one because it's my personal favorite [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay this place was so hard to find but we found it this is supposed to be one of the best Cambodian restaurants in the city but I just looked on their Google Maps and they said they're supposed to close in 40 minutes so I did not know that I'm gonna hope that they take us in because it is supposed to careful don't fall because it is supposed to be really good food [Music] looks like this is a popular place and we made it just in time and yeah I can concur that there are definitely some interesting things on this menu uh grilled stuffed frog steamed stuffed pork with snails and lemongrass what you don't want snails my dad's not a very adventurous eater but it does look like they have you know some more regular kind of stuff but if you guys want it to be really adventurous with your food this is also a great place to go it was a hundred percent worth it to come here guys oh my gosh look at all this food so first thing is I got combo C I believe it was called where you get to try a bunch of different things we got obviously noodles and rice but we have some shrimp fresh rolls assuming they're going to be somewhat similar to the ones we had in Vietnam then this one is a papaya salad and it has some little little shrimp on top then we have a coconut pork skewer which I don't think I've ever had before lots of vegetables some seafood spring rolls and then this dish is very special where this is fish a monk and it is the national dish of Cambodia from the Kamai Empire It is believed to have originated so we for sure have to try that but all in all this looks absolutely amazing so we are going to dig in my dad is a big fan of spring rolls and fresh rolls so let's see what he thinks of the spring rolls or the seafood ones no that's good and the fresh rolls and what do you think looks good same like the Dodgers okay well I'm gonna try the fish a mom a little bit of rice so it's very soft I don't know what kind of fish it is but it's uh probably been marinating a really long time because it's quite soft so hmm very tender not spicy that's actually one thing that's interesting about cuisine in Cambodia is that compared to Thailand and Vietnam it's definitely not as spicy which I like but a very nice dish you can taste turmeric I think in a little bit of lemongrass as some of the spices very good [Music] [Music] we just arrived to wat PanAm this is one of the most famous temples in the city but I feel really bad for my dad because I was fairly certain that like the tuck tucks drive us all the way up but I guess that's not the case you do have to buy a ticket at the ticket booth and then climb more or less seven flights of stairs to get to the very top so we'll see how it goes but it's supposed to be a really beautiful Temple and you can't miss it when you come here [Music] you're really getting in your workout here in Southeast Asia aren't you dad you're gonna have legs of Steel by the end of this trip minus 40 weather's looking better okay I take it back guys it was definitely not seven flights of stairs I thought it was way worse there's only a little bit more to actually get to the top so see it's not that bad they're gonna make it not that bad maybe [Music] oh my God you guys I don't think I have ever seen a bird that looks like this what I'm kind of scared I'm kind of scared like that beat could a hundred percent take me out but kind of cool at the same time if anybody could tell me what kind of bird this is please leave it in the comments but this guy's like an official trash Panda he's just going for it so as I had mentioned earlier in the video I don't think you can really visit Phnom Penh and not learn about the very tragic history that took place here and really all over Cambodia I assume most of you watching have heard at least somewhat about the very radical group called The Kamai Rouge which had rain here in Cambodia from 1974 to 1979. basically they were an extreme communist groups that believed in an equal Society so they basically emptied uh the cities here and took people out to labor camps where a lot either died of overwork of exhaustion or starvation and because they were quite paranoid that you know people were out to get them and anybody who really identified as an intellectual they usually put them in prison or just outright killed them it is believed that in the four-year period when they were in power they killed over 2 million of their own people it is just sick there are no other words for it it is just such a horrible thing that happened and that I think is important to remember and to really be mindful of when you are visiting Cambodia so I would really urge you to take the time to visit the genocide Museum that is actually a former prison that is right here in downtown Phnom Penh and then about 15 kilometers outside of the city is an area called The Killing Fields that is the main area where they would take people um to be killed all of the remains of the people who died there are still there like you will see human bones so obviously be respectful when you go to that area I didn't really want to make you know a whole video filming just that area but I think it's important for me to tell you guys that if you come here that is absolutely something that you should take the time to learn about and pay your respects to thank you foreign foreign so that is it guys that brings us to the end of our epic day here in Phnom Penh I hope you enjoyed it Dad thank you so much for being my co-host oh yeah constantly inspiring Saskatchewan seniors to look beyond the window glass right to step outside their comfort zone that's right yeah hopefully uh some of you will consider visiting Cambodia it is an amazing country and technically we are at the start of our journey this is our first city and in just a couple of days we are going to Camp pot so I hope you guys will stay tuned let me know uh if any of you have been here before and if you have any suggestions in the comments down below and as always I'm sending you so much love I hope you're having a fantastic day and keep being your own kind of beautiful bye guys yeah bye guys foreign [Music]
2023-01-07 04:32
