Best Rooms for Rent in Phnom Penh

Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, was once known as the ‘Pearl of Asia’ and had the most beautiful French-built cities in Indochina. Today it attracts mainly short-term travelers who will find some coliving options, but sadly not always with a reliable Internet connection.
Nevertheless, the city attracts a multinational crowd due to its low living costs. Long After Dark and Sundown Social Club are two bars where most of Phnom Penh’s remote workers gather. When you’re not working, you can enjoy the many national holidays and festivals for a glimpse of local culture or wander across the city to spot buildings by Vann Molyvann, who was once the country’s chief architect. He designed Phnom Penh’s iconic Independence Monument as well as many other buildings around town. The city sits on four different rivers, and so one of the best pastimes is to rent a boat and travel merrily down one of them to explore outside the city. Local cuisine here is delicious, with its famous amok dish consisting of meat, fish, vegetables or tofu in a coconut and herb broth. Sometimes it’s served in a coconut shell or on a banana leaf.

Here are some fun facts about Phnom Penh:
- About 1.5 million people live in Phnom Penh.
- Jackie Kennedy visited the city in 1967.
- Angkor Wat – about 5 hours from Phnom Penh by bus or boat – is the largest religious building ever built.
- Cooked tarantulas are a popular snack.
- The New Year starts in April.
- Its main river, which is called Tonle Sap, changes direction twice each year during the monsoon and in the dry seasons.
- The name "Phnom Penh" means the "hill of the lady Penh"
- Pointing at things with your feet – e.g. when you put them up on your knees – is considered very rude in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh is a very affordable place to explore as a digital nomad, and as most Westerners only stay there short-term, there are many coliving opportunities and a good expat community already established here.