The New York Times: A Weekend in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
If you happen to be in Phnom Penh on the first Friday of the month, follow the surreal swirl of drunken expatriates to Elsewhere, where tables are arranged around a small swimming pool. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The respectable side of Phnom Penh's night life consists of drinking, drinking, and then drinking some more. While tourists flock to the Foreign Correspondents' Club, actual journalists tend to drown themselves in the strong margaritas at Cantina, a grungy Mexican joint on the river. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
At Romdeng, another nonprofit restaurant in Phonm Penh, students serve traditional Cambodian cuisine, including crispy-fried tarantulas seasoned with lime and pepper sauce. Take note: Khmer cuisine is not for the squeamish. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times 
Find your way to the nonprofit restaurant Friends, where your lunch is served to you by former street children. Despite the nation's galloping economy, about a third of Cambodians still live on less than a dollar a day. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Phnom Penh is a city of water. Some of its main streets were once canals, and there's no better way to honor Phnom Penh's riparian soul than with a sundowner at Maxine's. Situated in an old wooden house that is slouching into the river, Maxine's has a ramshackle authenticity that, at least for now, seems immune to the city's rapid modernization. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times 
Young monks walk past the Independence Monument, which was built in 1958 following the country's independence from France five years earlier. It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, in the style seen at the Khmer temple at Angkor Wat and other Khmer historical sites. The monument was designed by Vann Molyvann, perhaps Cambodia's most celebrated modern architect. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The front entrance of Raffles Hotel Le Royal was first established in 1929 and remains one of the more luxurious hotels in Phnom Penh. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The main post office in Phnom Penh, built in 1895, has become a meeting point for tourists interested in learning more about the city's architecture. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
You might also swing by the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where at least 14,000 men, women, and children were tortured. Here, visitors look over a record of all the mass burial sites found thus far. Tread softly: locals say the place is still haunted. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Five Khmer Rouge leaders are now awaiting trial at a United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh. But this dark chapter is still so politically sensitive that it's barely discussed in Cambodian schools. All the more reason to visit the Choeung Ek killing fields. Here, the Memorial Charnel at the Genocidal Center. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Members of an ec0-tourism group browse for souvenirs at the Russian Market. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
A street vendor outside of the Russian Market grills banana leaves filled with sticky rice and bananas. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Before lugging your shopping bags back to the hotel, pick up a krama -- a traditional checkered scarf used for everything from holding babies to bathing. You'll find a great assortment at Psar Tuol Tom Pong, a k a Russian Market. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
There's another revolution going on in Phnom Penh. Once home to the ultra-Communist Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian capital now boasts its own KFC and other capitalist trappings. One way to disentangle the city's layers is to settle into a cyclo, a kind of bicycle-powered rickshaw, for a three-hour tour of the city's architecture. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
If you happen to be in Phnom Penh on the first Friday of the month, follow the surreal swirl of drunken expatriates to Elsewhere, where tables are arranged around a small swimming pool. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The respectable side of Phnom Penh's night life consists of drinking, drinking, and then drinking some more. While tourists flock to the Foreign Correspondents' Club, actual journalists tend to drown themselves in the strong margaritas at Cantina, a grungy Mexican joint on the river. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
At Romdeng, another nonprofit restaurant in Phonm Penh, students serve traditional Cambodian cuisine, including crispy-fried tarantulas seasoned with lime and pepper sauce. Take note: Khmer cuisine is not for the squeamish. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times 
Find your way to the nonprofit restaurant Friends, where your lunch is served to you by former street children. Despite the nation's galloping economy, about a third of Cambodians still live on less than a dollar a day. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Phnom Penh is a city of water. Some of its main streets were once canals, and there's no better way to honor Phnom Penh's riparian soul than with a sundowner at Maxine's. Situated in an old wooden house that is slouching into the river, Maxine's has a ramshackle authenticity that, at least for now, seems immune to the city's rapid modernization. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times 
Young monks walk past the Independence Monument, which was built in 1958 following the country's independence from France five years earlier. It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, in the style seen at the Khmer temple at Angkor Wat and other Khmer historical sites. The monument was designed by Vann Molyvann, perhaps Cambodia's most celebrated modern architect. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The front entrance of Raffles Hotel Le Royal was first established in 1929 and remains one of the more luxurious hotels in Phnom Penh. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
The main post office in Phnom Penh, built in 1895, has become a meeting point for tourists interested in learning more about the city's architecture. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
You might also swing by the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where at least 14,000 men, women, and children were tortured. Here, visitors look over a record of all the mass burial sites found thus far. Tread softly: locals say the place is still haunted. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Five Khmer Rouge leaders are now awaiting trial at a United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh. But this dark chapter is still so politically sensitive that it's barely discussed in Cambodian schools. All the more reason to visit the Choeung Ek killing fields. Here, the Memorial Charnel at the Genocidal Center. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Members of an ec0-tourism group browse for souvenirs at the Russian Market. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
A street vendor outside of the Russian Market grills banana leaves filled with sticky rice and bananas. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
Before lugging your shopping bags back to the hotel, pick up a krama -- a traditional checkered scarf used for everything from holding babies to bathing. You'll find a great assortment at Psar Tuol Tom Pong, a k a Russian Market. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
There's another revolution going on in Phnom Penh. Once home to the ultra-Communist Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian capital now boasts its own KFC and other capitalist trappings. One way to disentangle the city's layers is to settle into a cyclo, a kind of bicycle-powered rickshaw, for a three-hour tour of the city's architecture. Photo: Basil Childers for The New York Times
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