Help please

My wife and I will be in PP 23rd to 26th November we have just learned that this is when the famous water festival will take place.

We are staying at the Fcc so we hope that this will provide us with a good view point in which to observe some of the races (can anybody confirm if this will be a good spot)

We are aware that PP will be very crowded but will we still be able to visit the Royal Place, National Museum , S21 and the Killing Fields.

Any help and advice will be most welcome

The FCC would be a great place to watch the races and festivities but I would not want to stay any where near the river. There is just too many people plus all of the road blocks. Its a nightmare. Basically for the 3 days of the races there is thousands upon thousands of people crammed into 1 street along the river and staying there all day until late. many pickpockets take advantage of this and the foreigner is the easiest target. You must also remember that, like Khmer new year, most places close as all the staff go on holiday.

A lot of the expat community leave Phnom Penh altogether as the crowds are simply overwhelming.

Ask them if you've got a room with a view of the river, maybe even a balcony. Their roof top bar would also be a good vantage point but get there early.

Can't get much better than the FCC for wacthing the races, defo from the bar and roof top bar, from your room depends which room you have.

The Royal Palace and National Museum are only open in the morning during teh festival.

Whoops forgot, for more info take a look at Cambodia Water Festival.

Enjoy...

Well, yeah, the FCC is perfect for spotting the races and the crowd. Mind you, after one or two days you probably have seen enough and would want to go elsewhere. I found the Water Festival quite interesting the first time, but I've experienced it five times now and feel that's about enough.

Thanks for all the quick replies, it looks like we are either going to love or hate our time in PP not sure which. We are really looking forward to seeing this festival as it will be good to see Cambodia at play. Glad to see that the FCC is a good place in which to observe the races we are booked into the Ta Phrom room which has a balcony so hopefully will be able to watch the races and people from there . The current plan is to visit the palaces and temples in the morning (as advised on here ) and watch races in the afternoon , but this has rasied some further questions which we hope people can advise on .

As the temples and places are only open in the morning does anyone know what sort of time they will open ??

Will it be difficult to get out to see S21 and the killing fields and are they only open in the morning ??

Will the markets be open as normal ??

thanking everybody in advance

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<hr>Will it be difficult to get out to see S21 and the killing fields and are they only open in the morning ??<hr></blockquote>

It shouldnt be a problem once you get clear of the crowds in the central part of town, as far as I know they should be open all day.