Overnight stay in Phnom Penh.. a peek into the city life

Just like Sihanoukville, we only used Phnom Penh as a transit point (this time, to Ho Chi Minh City). Still, we saw some interesting sights on our very short overnight stay.

We arrived in Phnom Penh train station at lunch time and armed with trusty google maps, we crossed our fingers while walking to a hostel we found online, hoped they had spaces for us and grabbed some delicious street food on the way. They had beds for us thankfully and after check-in, we were given a city map and some suggestions to go for the day.

Phnom Penh train station.
To read more about the train ride from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, click here!

Our modern welcome to the capital

Some tasty street food on our walk!

We stayed at the riverside area, where we could simply walk to places we wanted to go to.

We started exploring the area around our hostel on our search for lunch. We passed by Wat Ounalom and the riverside boulevard where flags from many countries fly proud. After lunch (I’m not sure if this is applicable for all Burger King outlets in Phnom Penh, but the one we went to had free wifi and being sim card free in Cambodia, we spent a prolonged period of time there for research purposes), we walked to the Central Market and took a walk around as the stalls started to close for the day.

River boulevard

Phnom Penh Central Market

It was closing time when we reached and shopkeepers were starting to close their stores

My stomach was starting to feel uneasy at this point and I made frequent visits to toilets in hotels and cafes we passed by. All toilets were clean (thank God!) and free. Sorya Mall was our last stop before we went back to the hostel to rest. At night, we walked to the famous Wat Phnom and viewed it from the outside. We also roamed around the Night Market where there were many food options, some sort of a Khmer singing contest and did some shopping. I forgot to pack jeans for the trip and got a Levi’s knock off for 13 USD (we were going to Hanoi later on in the trip where temperatures dropped to a low of 10 degrees celsius so this was a must).


We had a cooling walk along the breezy boulevard before we headed back to rest.

Wat Phnom, the landmark of the city

The boulevard, where locals and tourists alike enjoyed the cool night breeze

The next morning, we had a rushed breakfast of hot but very satisfying bowl of porridge from a roadside stall outside our hostel and we got picked up for our ride to Ho Chi Minh City.

VERY VERY NICE and we were charged the same as the locals eating with us!