Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
After talking about the tourism of Cambodia, we thought it was an interesting idea to have a look at Cambodia's biggest and most crowded place: Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia. It's located in the south east of the country, on the banks of the Mekong River and Tonlé Sparivier river. Phnom Penh used to be part of the French colonisation of Combodia. It's been the national capital ever since and has grown to become the country's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of politics, culture, security and diplomacy. The city is founded in 1434 and is remarkable for its beauitiful and historical architecture and attractions. Since Phnom Penh was used to be part of the French colonisation, you'll be able to find a lot of surviving French colonial building scattered along the grand boulevards.
One of the things i really adore about cities as old as this one, is the story behind it. Rome is also a city that has a "founder - story", with Romulus and Remus, the seven hills and seven kings. Phnom Penh is also a city with a story to tell, the story about a woman called Penh. Penh was a woman who lived near the River of Mekong. One day when she went fishing, she found a floating koki tree in the river. She decided to take it out of the water and found 4 little statues of a Buddha inside. These statues were to be seen as divine foundings. This is why Penh took them up on a mountain and build a temple for them, to honour them. This mountain was called Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Mountain of the Temple) and was the place were Cambodia current capital city was born.
In the late twinties of the 20th century, Phnom Penh was called "The Pearl of Asia". Thanks to building a rallway construction and the aiport of Pochentong, the city just kept on growing ever since.
Phnom Penh also offers a great amount of monuments you can visit. Going from tempels, to mosques, to museums and markets. You won't be bored if you're looking for a cultural adventure in a city such as this. Things I would really recommend visiting are the several beautiful tempels:
- Silver Pagoda.
- Wat Phnom.
- Wat Ounalom.
- Wat Lang Ka.
- Wat Koh.
The word "Wat" actually means "Temple" in English.
Charlotte.