Bars/Nightlife in Cambodia

Well I'll be busy having a look around doing touristy bits during the day, however at night I'd like to hit some good nightlife spots whether its just bars or even a disco.

Any recommendations both in PP and Siem Reap?

PP

The night life area in Siem Reap was fairly small when I was there. A small street of bars behind the Old Market includes the Ankor What? bar.
PP appears to be much the same as when I was there, Sharkeys is famous and a good place to start the night.

Looks like I might be updating this myself.

As a resident of PP, the pickins are pretty slim. The bar streets are 104 and 136 and then once you get there it gets really slim pickins.

Any suggestions from the slim pickens???

I heard Cheerleaders is good in PP

Actually be back in the fall. We quite enjoyed our trip to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Mind you pretty much templed out after last day in Siem Reap, but very happy I went there.

Phnom Penh - nightlife was pretty good. Since we stayed at the FCC - def hit their bar a few times and become a big fan of Angkor Beer. However like most places popular bars change too quick, but to name a few in Phnom Penh off the top of my head..

Rose Bar
Heart of Darkness
Martini(s)
FCC
Sharkies

Ya cant go to Phnom Penh without witnessing walkabout at 6 am

Okay, I'll bite--What the heck is 'walkabout'???

Walkabout is an Australian own bar, it is what you call very "Bogan" very "Chav" or very "Ghetto" depending on where you're from. The clienteles are either fat, smelly, ugly and obnoxious westerners wanting "love me long time" moments or sleazy pedo looking men. Maybe I am being prejudice but I don't gives a sh*t, there are many worthwhile places to go to that opens till 6am in Phnom Penh than this dump.

Anyway I wouldn't be going out all night when you're in Cambodia, especially on that road, that is if you value your life and valuables.

doesnt hide the fact that the girls off their faces etcetera and the local expats (not all of whom are overweight) wired to bits makes for an entertaining drink and game of pool with well interesting company, kind of the saturday night leftovers, and you cant go to phnom penh without going out all night down that street, but i wouldnt be taking my laptop with me for sure!, and heart of darkness is just down the street with sharkeys bar pretty close too, so deffo street 51 ,crazy fun freelance girls and 24hr drinking at the legendary walkabout intermixed with the heart.
Would be interested to know what the other "worthwhile" places open in phnom penh at 6am are, especially from s/one who seems to scared to go out at night, pointless being there if you dont experience phnom penh really "wheelie"

RacNamman, on 18 May 2010 - 01:33 AM, said:

I guess I am not a fun person to hang around with as I have a professional job to go to, responsibilities coupled with the fact that I enjoy being around my wife and son. So being a family man must be an unrewarding lifestyle compared to what your experiences are. Each to their own, if this is your scene then that is great. As for me, I'd stopped going out till 6am a long time ago when I figured that there is more to life than being p###ed all the time.

I guess when I travel, whether in PP or any where else in the world, it's about an overall experience of A/ culture B/ food and C/ the people. If you want to see girls getting drunk and throw themselves at you for $10 USD a popped then feel free.

Also as a long term resident of Cambodia I know the inherent dangers of these areas and what the "bangs" (pronounced as bong, it's a reference term for big man) are capable of doing. Then again who am I to give a little helpful advice on what's decent or not in this little community of Phnom Penh. Most people who live and work here will always warn their friends or colleagues of your suggested place.

I think Brit is correct with his list of places, and since then there are a few other places (so I've been told) to go to. The Khmer Bangs and Generals with special "foreign friends" go across the river to Praleap, to these enormous Karaoke bars call Washington or Chai Hong. I am sure you will find there better and fresher meat for yourselves to look and gawk at plus you will always get that Titanic songs in Khmer, English and Chinese.

Their are sports bars that open all night, such as the Gym Bar (near the royal Palace) and there are nice bars and club lounges at the Naga or Phnom Penh hotel. Then again don't take my word for it as I don't go to these places unless I take my family out to dinner. Secondly being in a wheelchair is quite restrictive in entering some of these places, though my driver and aide are happy to carry me up the stairs, however I rather not as it is a/ quite undignified b/ I care for their safety and well beings.

So if staying home cooking or going out to restaurants to eat great food, drinking great wines and having a few quiet ones with friends or enjoying precious moments with my son and wife is a pointless existence then I rather take this path of dull, monotonous, plain-vanilla, unexciting, uneventful, humdrum, mind-numbing, vapid existence over what you suggest any day.

Yeah, spose so, but I lived in Phnom Penh and Cambodia for 3 years and 6/7 am at Walkabout on Saturday and Sunday morning is hilarious, maybe for all the wrong reasons, but it still is, and it really isnt that dangerous, plus Joker Jackpot on Friday nights is mobbed and a general who's who of Phnom Penh, it might not be your cup of tea fair enough, but its still a laugh, incidentally my girls tended to go home with me for free, but i normally met mine in the heart after they had finished work at their various haunts with the old fatties, so Brit is right with his list of places including heart with is a hundred metres from walkabout , yet walkabout is in a deadly area , load of bollocks mate

RacNamman, on 21 May 2010 - 11:54 PM, said:

Well I am glad that you can have these Khmer girls for free, must be such a challenge for anyone really since most of them wants to find a "special man". No difference than any other bar girls in Asia (just look at the Thai bar girls posts) so I wouldn't be bragging about it. Whether you agree or not about the areas around Rue Pastuere is dangerous is really up to you, I'd never said that it is a deadly area, but an area of higher risks than others. Your interpretation of what I said is quite eschewed. Like anywhere else in the world, there are highly risky areas and there are some that are relatively safe. It's all irrelevant at the end of the day if one decided to be a trolling bar seeking pratt or not, it all comes with some inherent risks.

I guess the past 20 muggings, 3 major hit and run by the drunken "Bangs" and a little extortion here and there (all to foreigners this year alone) is what you call safe. Of course these stats aren't being advertised as there's no money to be made by the local Godfathers if people like yourself don't want to go out to get tanked up. At the end of the day, we both travel in different circles and our perspectives will be different, but I think there is a duty for people who are posting these comments for others to see both sides of the fence so that people who visit these areas can be informed.

BTW, here's another 24hr bar called the Pickled Parrots, and a nice garden expat bar (though not opened 24 hrs) call Talking to Strangers.

This post has been edited by Wheelie: 22 May 2010 - 11:50 AM

Well I'm sure you'll agree that the extortion and corruption is far from limited to Rue 51 or Phnom Penh in any way whatsoever, as many of my former colleagues in Kompong Som will be able to testify, but I really don't feel that Rue Louis Pasteur is any more dangerous than any other area of Phnom Penh and having lived both in Phnom Penh and S'Ville for long periods of time I can assure that S'Ville has a far worse crime problem than Phnom Penh, which maybe one of the reasons i never felt threatened on street 51, and yes the pickled parrot is open twenty four hours and is a very nice (if a little pricy) pub , however i really dont like the street it is on as it is completely full of out and out Thai style girly bars, whereas Heart , Walkabout and Sharkeys have freelance/chancer/golddigger girls frequenting them, which I much prefer to spend my time with, in fact in my opinion they (freelancers) have far more about them than most of the other Khmers especially the majority of the students i taught. And you never know one day maybe I'll be as lucky as you and find myself a beautiful asian wife and have a family of my own, in the meantime i'll go party and have fun with the golddiggers

^dunno felt safer in Phnom Penh than Thailand if the truth be told. I quite easily wandered around in the wee morning hrs without issue. The tuk tuk lads were bit of a nuisance, but I suppose you will find smth to dislike about any place.

Nightlife was quite good IMHO and with lots of options. Personally I think if the little khmer rouge issue never reared its ugly head I think Phnom Penh would have been on par or even above Bangkok. I'd say its prob 20-30yrs behind, but with Thailand constantly shooting itself in the foot I expect things to get even better for Cambodia.

I loved it , and may well have to repatronise myself , however my own personal utter disgust towards the Tat Marina issue left me hopelessly unable to abide being there