Sihanoukville Information

The Sun Princess docks at the container and general wharf and passengers disembark via the ship's gangways. The port is about 4.5 kilometres and 8 minutes from the centre of Sihanoukville

The Dock at Sihanoukville

Terminal Information

There is no terminal at Sihanoukville,

View Larger Map

Immigration Formalities and Dockside Operations

Visas are required and are arranged by Princess Lines. Your cruise card is the only documentation you need to take ashore

Information provided by Princess Cruises for Sihanoukville

DOCKING

Sun Princess ship docks in the port of Sihanoukville located at "A" above.

SHORE EXCURSION DEPARTURES

Passengers will meet at a specific location for each shore excursion departure. Please refer to your tour ticket and the Princess Patter for the correct place and time.

TAXIS

Taxis are not available, but there will be a local shuttle service into the town. The cost is 7 AUD per person one way.

SHOPPING

There will local vendors selling souvenirs and handicrafts on the pier. Phsa Leu {local Market} is located 3 miles from the pier.

You can find good buys in:

• Handicrafts

• Symbols and designs made in silver and gold

• Silks

• Clothes

OPENING AND CLOSING TIMES

Banks: There are bank representatives located at the pier and at hotel front desks. The nearest major bank is Cambodia Asia Bank, located on Ekareach Street in the Khan Mirtapheap hotel.

Shops

Generally most shopping establishments and vendors operate daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

LOCAL CUISINE

Food Specialties

Typical food:

• Seafood

• Bobor {rice porridge}

• Samla machou banle {fish soup}

• Khao phoune {rice noodles in coconur milk}

Drink Specialties

• Angkor Beer

• Coconut milk

TIPPING

Suggested tipping is 15 to 20 percent for good service.

SOME USEFUL WORDS

Hello johm riab sua

Goodbye .lia suhn hao-y

Yes baar {used by men}

Yes jaa {used by women}

No te

Please sohm

Thank you aw kohn

CLIMATE

The hottest days of the hot season average about 95 degrees, and the sun can feel pretty intense. The cool season may push the mercury as low as the mid 60s during the day and at night. The monsoons between June and October are fairly regular: clear, dry mornings with 1-3 hour rains in the afternoon. The best beach weather begins with the end of the rains in November. The dry, warm, breezy weather that follows lasts through January. Night temperatures can get down to a chilly 52 degrees but the days hover around 80 to 85 degrees. At the end of January, Sihanoukville begins to warm and continues to get hotter through July.

PRINCESS CRUISES AGENTS

In case of emergency while you are ashore, please contact:

Hainam Shipping Agency Karnsab Branch

No 34 Vithei Krong St Sangkat 3 Khan Mittapheap Sihanoukville, Cambodia Telephone: 855 23 723519- Cambodian Agency

Places of Interest

This is your guide to Sihanoukville, specially prepared by Princess Cruises. This guide is intended to assist you if you are on a shore excursion, touring independently or doing both.

Please note the information provided is general in nature and is subject to change.

Cambodia's ancient civilization seems to enjoy hiding itself amid some of the world's most enchanting wilderness.

Fabulous temples and cities like Angkor Wat were swallowed by the jungle, and unknown to the outside world for centuries. And the way there today begins at a small harbor which the locals claim is immune from typhoons, flooding, and earthquakes!

The former seaside town of Kompong Som did not become the port of Sihanoukville until 1955. When French Indochina broke up in 1954, Cambodia could no longer send its commerce down the Mekong, since the.mouth of that river was now entirely inside Vietnam. Prince Norodom Sihanouk opened a new commercial port here, named after himself, with the help of French engineers. He also hoped to capitalize on the sunny weather (an average of 31 0 sunny days per year) since it usually rains only at night!

Sihanoukville remains a pretty but small town today, where Buddhist temples are the main attractions. The Wat Leu (upper temple) overlooks - the port and town from a hill 430 feet high. Scenes from the life of Buddha are painted on the interior walls. In the rear are portraits of the founders, Prince Junot and Lok am. The Wat Kron (lower temple) is closer to the sea, and also has interior paintings. There is a small chapel dedicated to Ya-Mao, a local deity. This temple cares for many orphans, handicapped, and elderly people. The third temple of the trio, the Wat O'Treys, is about 4 miles south-east of the town.

The Independence Monument (1985) near the lower temple commemorates the end of the murderous regime of Pol Pot, who killed millions of his own people.

Much of the city had to be rebuilt since that time, giving it a very modern look. St. Michael's Church, near the upper temple, was built in 1960 in the style of a ship's hull. It was closed in 1975 for use as a prison, then a storage warehouse, but was reopened in 1993. The monument of the Golden Lions in a traffic circle (1996) expresses the optimism that Cambodia's future can build on the glorious memory of the past.

According to the local understanding, Angkor Wat is the "capital city which is also a temple." Between the 9th and 12th centuries, it grew into a huge administrative and religious complex for the mighty Khmer Empire. Centered within modern Cambodia, the Khmers also ruled important parts of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. At its peak, over a million people lived in the capital district. By way of comparison, Paris and London, the mightiest cities of Europe, had no more than 30,000 about the same time. But that Khmer power had been a long time in the building.

About the time that the Roman Empire was reaching its greatest extent, merchants put together a vast trading network between the Mediterranean and China, which included India and most of the lands in between. Indian and Chinese traders crisscrossed South-East Asia, spreading their cultures along with their products. In the early centuries, Indian cultural inspiration was especially strong in Cambodia, particularly literature, law, science, and the religious principles of Hinduism and Buddhism. Like so many other great cultures, Cambodia's grew out of a throng of these Indianized princely states, endlessly warring among themselves for many centuries.

A strong Khmer prince, Jayavarman II, began to subdue the competing states about the year 790. Like the pharaohs of Egypt thousands of years earlier, he and kings like him recognized that projects to control and manage the water supply could enhance his power, and enrich his people. During the monsoon rains, Cambodia's great lake, the Tonle Sap, grows to four times its normal size, but then the surplus water drains away without much delay. Any king who could construct canals, dams and irrigation channels could also use that water to multiply the rice production and enable a larger population to live very richly.

Jayavarman not only brought together most of the rival Khmer states, but revolutionize: the people's way of working. His program was so successful that he was generally accepted as sovereign ruler of a unified "Kambuja" by his subjects. By the time he died about 850, he was acclaimed to be "god-king of the world." It was also fortunate that he was followed by a series of great kings, who continued his economic system, and built many other great cities and temples in the same region. Each successive king seemed to be under the compulsion to add another dazzling program of construction to what had gone before.

Two favorite architectural forms emerged, and were often repeated in the temple cities. Lofty "temple-mountain" structures represented the mythical Mount Meru, at the center.of the universe Alongside, or surrounding these towers would often be a reflecting "baray" or sacred lake, representing the world's oceans. A baray could also serve as an immense water reservoir with the practical benefit of supporting the irrigation system. The apex of this wonderful period came in the early 12th century, when King Suryavarman II founded Angkor Wat, the most perfect example of the familiar art forms.

It is ironic that at the moment of that great cultural triumph, internal warfare about 1165 began a long period of decline. Then a brief but glorious period of recovery followed, when Jayavarman VII came to power in 1181, and launched 40 years of frantic construction. He built the impressive city of Angkor Thom, 10 square miles in size. He followed with the imposing Bayon Temple with its distinctive giant faces on 54 towers. Other palaces, terraces, and temples were added. This final splurge of construction may have bankrupted the treasury, and some critics point out that the artistic quality did not have the very fine superiority of what had come before.

And yet, Jayavarman still completed his conquest of the Champa kingdom in southern Vietnam, and made the austere Mahayana variety of Buddhism the state religion after 400 years of Hindu domination. By the time he died in 1220, he had pushed Khmer power and cultural excellence to its highest pinnacle.

Decline and disintegration followed, aggravated by a prolonged invasion by Thai neighbors from the west. A brief Hindu revival was followed by the establishment of the more devotional Theravada Buddhism, which remains Cambodia's principal religion today. Angkor Wat was dangerously close to the Thai heartland, and suffered from repeated attacks. The Khmer King Ponhea Yat fled Angkor for safety in 1422, and relocated the capital to Phnom Penh. After a 7-month long siege in 1431, the transfer became permanent, and the jungle began to reclaim the magnificent temple-cities of the golden age. It was not until 1860 that the French naturalist Henri Mouhot "discovered" Angkor Wat again. When he asked the neighboring people who had built such marvels, they replied that only "giants or angels" could have done it. One can understand that perception.

Phnom Penh remained "provisional" capital for over 400 years. It only became the permanent seat of government in 1866, after Cambodia became a French protectorate. French engineers helped to plan an attractive city with canals, broad boulevards, and dignified public buildings. The new Royal Palace shares the same compound with the Silver Pagoda. That name comes from the 5000 silver tiles on the floor. The pagoda has also become a repository for cultural treasures, such as the Emerald Buddha.

The National Museum, dedicated in 1920, is also a rich treasure house for thousands of beautiful artifacts. Sculptures from the golden age of Angkor are well represented as well as works of later periods.

Without the rich memories of this very ancient culture, rebuilding a shattered land might be too difficult. But Cambodia has a long memory, and its gentle people savor that legacy with respect and love.

Main Menus