Phnom Penh - Bag a bargain

Sorya Shopping Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Photo source: YourPhnomPenh

The buzz and mayhem of the city's covered markets are what makes Phnom Penh a mecca for shopaholics.

Phnom Penh has been for many years a shopper's paradise where bargains have to be fought over and, in the majority of cases, locally made means put together round the corner, but beware of imitations.

Psa Tmei, Phnom Penh - Photo source: Jotravelguide

The most dominant of the capital's market places is Psa Tmei, the Central Market. Prio to 1935 the area was swamp called Beng Decho, which was prone to flooding during the rainy season. The lake was drained and construction of what is now a market designed by Jean Desbois and engineered by Louis Chauchon began in 1935.

As a landmark in the Kingdom of Wonder it gradually became more and more scruffy over the years and the capital's city fathers welcomed and offer by the French Development Agency to return the site to its former, pristine glory. The work was pretty well finished in 2011 and the stallholders returned to continue flogging their fare - although the rental of their sites has gone up and their prices has risen accordingly.

Not that many people complain as they haggle over handi. After all, what would a trip to Cambodia be without a scarf or three in different colors and either lovingly made with pure silk or cotton? Souvenir T-shirts, too, are a must-buy from simple designs with the Khmer alphabet and flag to Tin-Tin and imagery of Angkor Wat. On the so-called craft stalls it's still possible to buy handcrafted pagodas, Buddhas and other souvenirs.

The central area is a wonder of design and engineer with a domed core and four wings radiating outwards. Under the cupola, watches, precious and semi-precious stones, gold and silver jewelry dominate accompanied by lines of stallholders selling clothing for Khmer tots, teens and twenty somethings to barangs looking for presents for themselves or loved ones. Its outside stalls have been transformed from rag-tag collection of haphazard areas specializing in everything from clothing to cooking utensils, electrical goods to fresh sea fish and crustaceans to a more ordered assemblage of product areas.

Rumors have been circulation for some time that the road around the market and several of the feeder streets to its core will in the future be pedestrianized. Earlier interviews suggested that many stallholders were going to move to the markets where the rent was less steep, though the market is still busy and recent enquiries have painted a very different and more encouraging picture.

A relatively recent addition to the capital's markets is a stone's throw from the Sorya Shopping Center and called, inevitably, the Golden Sorya Mall. Originally focused on shoes and clothing for the ever fashion-conscious Khmer youth, it has undergone a transformation over the last year or so, and the majority of the space is now given over to bars and restaurants, many of which are open until very late at night.

There have been few changes at the Russian Market since the movement of the many and scruffy outside stalls, except for the several merchants who have adorned their promise with fancy signage. Famous for its Aladdin's cave of bootleg software, CDs and DVDs, plus just about everything a budding yuppie would want to be seen with, it's steamy, clammy rabbit warren of colors and noise reminiscent of an Arabian souk. Its popularity, though, has enlivened the streets radiating off its four sides where bars, bistros and restaurants, ice-cream shops and snackeries have reached out to the mostly heat-exhausted shoppers.

Orussey is another reliable standby with a vast selection of dry bulk foods, fruit, vegetables, fish and cut flowers in addition to kramas, T-shirts, sneakers, underwear and household electronic goods. If you fancy getting sweaty while bagging yourself a bargain, then head straight for there.

Alternative markets include Psa Chas, which offers a wide range of fruit, and Olympic, a predominantly wholesale market which has among other items wholesale fabrics of all hues and designs by the mile. Boeung Keng Kang market, at the southern end of Street 57 where it intersects with Street 380, has a wide range of second hand clothes at cheap prices, with T-shirts available for just a dollar or less.

Aeon Mall is the latest entrant to the market and brings with it a whole new shopping experience in the form of an international-standard shopping mall.