Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh: Stirring to life

It was with some trepidation that I ventured to visit Sisowath Quay, after an absence of a few years. The main riverside boulevard of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh was in my memory little more than a dusty lane, a rubbish-strewn road with potholes so big that a bicycle-rickshaw could disappear into one of them without leaving a trace.

Now, Sisowath Quay is emerging as one of the world’s great promenades, with new cafes, boardwalks and landscaping making the whole boulevard one of those rare cityscapes that immediately invite you to linger and enjoy. It is difficult to imagine that it's the same city as the Phnom Penh of 1975, a metropolis of two million that on the sudden whim of the late despot Pol Pot was forcibly emptied, to become a ghost town that languished and rotted until the downfall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

It’s early morning on Sisowath Quay, and the sun is a pregnant ball of red light across the Tonle Sap River. Then the sun rises, and a golden glow suffuses the sky. Before long, groups of joggers and walkers appear as if from nowhere, and the boardwalk along the river soon buzzes with people trying to get their daily exercise fix before the heat becomes unbearable.

Later in the morning, the street cafes of Sisowath Quay come to life, as business people and tourists take breakfast with the latest recycled newspaper. I buy a paper from a war veteran who has lost both legs in a land mine accident. I read the paper, and then give it back to him to sell again.

Evening on Sisowath Quay

Slowly, I walk back towards downtown. Early afternoon is not a good time to be on Sisowath Quay. The ambiance is too somnolent, the sky too rain-threatening, the atmosphere so humid that you can just about grab handfuls of air and wring the moisture out. Everyone waits to sleep, but few get the chance to do so. I try to relax in a sidewalk cafe, but soon retreat to my hotel room for a welcome siesta.

Come evening, the riverside boardwalk once again becomes THE place to congregate. On the walk, a near-blind gentleman is led by a little girl. He moves ever-so-slowly but in a totally poised and dignified manner. Nearby, fortunetellers huddle surreptitiously with their clients, intimately revealing the meaning of the fall of the cards. On the little seance tables are vases holding sticks of burning incense, an offering to the gods or the authorities.

Late in the evening, anybody who is anybody (together with most who aren’t) congregates at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia, right on Sisowath Quay overlooking the River. The FCC is world-famous, both as a hangout for respected reporters and as a haven for hack journalists.

Nothing could be more accurate than a remark by Swiss travel writer and official election observer Marcel Stoessel, commenting on the elections of 1998: “A peaceful vote in a former war zone, one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, with a turnout of more than 90%, doesn’t make big news. A little bit more violence would have been nice, especially for the free-lancers who have to sell their stories.”

Treasures

After breakfast, it’s time to do a little exploring. I take a stroll along the Quay, towards the junction of the Tonle Sap and Bassac Rivers. The peninsula formed where the rivers meet is for now nothing but grazing land for cows and water buffalo. However things are changing fast. Phnom Penh’s Municipal ex-Governor Chea Sophara dreamed of turning this area into a “City of Tomorrow”, which will attract tourists from around the globe. Work on the giant redevelopment project began in 2001. Part of the project will include the extension of Sisowath Quay itself, all the way from the Japanese Bridge to Monivong Bridge, four km to the south.

Just a minute’s walk off Sisowath Quay is the National Museum, with its superb sculpture collection. Designed by a French archaeologist in 1920, the Museum is one of the few cultural monuments to survive the Khmer Rouge era. The spires and roof cornices of the Museum nearly seem to puncture the clouds, while the striking red ochre facade stands out starkly against the sky.

The Museum’s treasures include bronze sculptures from all over the country, particularly showcasing the riches of the civilisation that built the temples of Angkor. In pride of place at the Museum is the uniquely Khmer figure of Harihara, a god that is half Vishnu and half Siva.

Fronting the Tonle Sap River is the sumptuous classical-style Royal Palace. From the Royal Gatehouse on the River to Napoleon III villa to the gilded gazebos in the gardens, everything breathes panache and flair. But the spectacle never becomes ostentatious, never overdone.

Written by Graham Simmons