Phnom Penh

Travelers who wish to experience contemporary life in Cambodia should spend two or three nights in the mellow French-flavored capital of Phnom Penh (an hour by air southeast of Siem Reap). It is not a particularly extensive city, and most of the major sights such as the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda (above) and National Museum of Arts (housing one of the finest collections of statuary from the Angkorian period) can be conveniently visited within a single day. The only place to stay in Phnom Penh is the Hotel Le Royal, which opened in 1929 at the zenith of the French Colonial empire in Southeast Asia, only to fall into a decrepit state before being beautifully restored by Raffles Hotels. The hotel remains one of the most prominent and dignified buildings in the city, designed in an ingenious confluence of neoclassical, art deco and Khmer motifs.