Day out shopping in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is like a lot of other South East Asian cities: full of hot, smelly markets full of cheap, crapy items. The most (in)famous of the these is the Central Market (or Phsar Thmey in Khmer which translated back into English means ‘New Market’?????). It is an art deco 30s/40s building (again quoting guide book) that is stinking hot inside and just plain stinks on the outside. You can buy almost anything here as long as it is:

1. t-shirt
2. jeans
3. sneakers/runners
4. a photocopy of a copyrighted book
5. gold jewelry

I’ve been told there are other things in the market but every time I visit I wander around for a good hour in the heat and I seem to pass the same stall selling all of the above items. I quizzed some students on what their favorite place to shop was and without doubt Central Market is number one. They claim that this is the cheapest place to buy things and is stocked with almost everything you will want or need. I asked what do they typically buy there. They replied, ‘T-shirts, jeans, sneakers…’



The alternative to Central Market is the Sorya Market. It is a modern mall-like market with 5 floors. It lays claim to be the tallest building in Cambodia. When it opened about 5 years ago, it also claimed the record of the 1st case of vertigo in the country. Cambodian buildings are not meant to be any higher then the spire on the Royal Pagoda (a Buddhist church) at the King’s Palace, so you get few buildings here that are classified as sky-scrapers. Sorya has a lot of market-like stalls but has a flash electronics store that sells computers and plasma screens, expensive fashion stores and fast-food like chains (no McDonalds….have I mentioned that before). But if you ask anyone in Phnom Penh what they like most about Sorya it is 2 things:

1. the air-conditioning and;
2. the escalator

A/C is not rare here but the average local likes nothing better then on a hot day to wander around the building taking in the cool artificial breeze content in the fact that they aren’t paying for it. Many Cambodian courtships take place entirely in the confines of this place. The escalator is a little more special as it is the only one in the entire country. Security guards are placed at the start of each escalator to discourage people from riding too often. A student told me he went up and down the 5 levels on the ‘moving stairs’ for 3 hours when it first opened. Sorya also has a Western style supermarket where you can buy most things but is sadly lacking in Vegemite and Savory Shapes.