Orientation

Orientation

A minor hurdle to or' . -'ion in Phnom Penh is the frequency with which street names and numbers get changed. The current denominations, which date back to 1993, seem to have settled in, but there is still a chance that some of the numbered streets will change again.

The major boulevards of Phnom Penh run north-south, parallel to the banks of the Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers. Monivong Blvd cuts north-south through the centre of town, passing just west of the Psar Thmei (New Market). Its northern sector is the main shopping strip and is also home to some of the longest-running hotels and travel agents in town. Norodom Blvd also runs north-south from Wat Phnom, and is largely administrative; the northern end contains banks, while farther south are mainly government ministries. Samdech Sothearos Blvd runs north-south near the riverfront past the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Assembly building. Sisowath Quay hugs the river and is where many of the city's most lively restaurants and bars are 10cated. The major east-west boulevards are Pochentong Blvd in the north of town, Preah Sihanouk Blvd, which passes the Independence Monument and ends just south of the Sofitel Cambodiana Hotel, and Mao Tse Toung Blvd (also known as Issarak Blvd). Mao Tse Toung Blvd, a ring road of sorts, also runs north-south in the west of the city.

Intersecting the main boulevards is a network of hundreds of numbered smaller streets. As a rule of thumb, streets running east-west have even numbers that increase the farther south they are in town, while north-south running streets have odd numbers that increase the farther west you go.

Most buildings around town have signs with both their building number and the phlauv (street) number. Finding a building purely by its address, however, is not always easy, as numbers are rarely sequential. It's not unusual to find house No 23 next door to house No 13, followed by No II, and sometimes whole stretches of street have the same number - pity the postman. Try to get a cross-reference for an address: eg close to the intersection of Phlauv (Ph) 107 and Ph 182. The letters 'EO' after a street address stand for eagle zero, which means 'ground floor' in French.

Maps Local maps of Phnom Penh touted around the restaurants by children are generally of poor quality. The best city maps are the 3-D maps produced by Point Maps & Guides, which also produces a highly detailed annual listings guide to the city, useful for business travelers. The map is available in the Psar Thmei and at most book and stationery stores, while the guide is generally found only in bookshops. The Phnom Penh Post and Bayon Pearnik include maps with regularly updated listings, though entries are sponsored by advertisers and are far from comprehensive.

The Cambodia - Travel Map published by Perilous is available at bookshops and includes a large fold-out map of Phnom Penh at a scale of 1 : 17,000. It is a colorful map, but while most streets are accurately listed many of the items included are either out of date or incorrectly placed on the map.