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Updates on PP nightlife please


kamui

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I am planning to spend at least on week in PP at the end of July.

 

Any news about the night life in PP?

Still no showing of any flesh in the bars, nor any Coyote style dancing?

What are to places to go this year?

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Haha...flesh in the bars? Ain't gonna happen anytime soon in Cambodia. If it ever does (there have been timid attempts from time to time), it will never last long. Cambodia is not Thailand, way more conservative socially...and that includes a good number of the bar girls themselves. Not to say there isn't fun to be had, though. Just gotta keep it in perspective.

 

Was just there a few weeks ago; nightlife is hopping as always. What it does have over Thailand--besides lower prices; $20 US ST/30-40 LT in most cases, and $5 bar fines--is quite liberal closing times; 3-4 am for many places (as long as they have customers) and several 24-hour places.

 

Don't know much about freelance scene, though that is where you'll find lots of Viets, the preference of many but not mine (most bars have at least 2-3 Viets as well). Happening "hostess bar" areas are still Street 136 and 104, both off the river w/in walking distance of each other. Can be hit or miss as far as whether a given place is hopping/good energy or dead and filled with listless girls, though.

 

Places I had a good time (lots of friendly girls, lively atmosphere, etc.) on my last trip are Candybar (open 24 hrs., St. 136), Flora Bar and 69 Bar (same street), Zanzibar (this is probably the most reliably fun place in Phnom Penh, and I'm not just biased because my ex-gf owns it!) and Bar 104, both on St. 104.

 

The other, older (kind of tired now IMO) area is St. 51 (south of Soriyaa Mall), which has the Walkabout (24-hr. freelancer joint, I don't care for it at all), Black Cat Bar (open 24 hours, lots of fun girls on the night shift), and Howie Bar (open til 3-4 am). Howie is NOT a hostess bar, more of a hard-drinking dive, but not at all a dangerous one. The owner and staff are super friendly and great fun.

 

Hope that helps. I know there's other stuff, like Martini's, Heart of Darkness and out-of-town brothels, but I have no interest and thus little knowledge of those, especially the latter.

 

Oh, one more place that deserves mention is Dream Bar, on a north-south street north of St. 130 (which runs parallel to 136, to the north)...it was really lively and fun on my January visit, though dead this time around. When it's good, it's great.

 

Some may take issue with my "$30-40 LT" quote, insisting that they can get girls to go for $20, and yeah, you can, but fuck, the infrastructure has gotten so much better in Phnom Penh, it's not the "rough town" it used to be, and in terms of cost of living for the girls, it's really not much cheaper than Thailand, so let's cut them some slack, huh? And remember that $30 is still HALF of what you pay for LT in Bangkok.

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Thanks Ratchada for the update.

 

I have just confirmed my plane ticket and I have decided to give BKK a pass and go straight to PP in July.

 

I know most bars you mentioned and I will have look again (Zanzibar was dead last summer...).

 

In regard to St. 51. It was nice 5-6 years ago, but I was never a fan of Walkabout and I didn't like Heart of Darkness neither last summer (rink).

 

 

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Was there in Feb - food poisoning kinda ruined my few days in PP, but it was a culture shock even before that. I think you will appreciate some of the things we take for granted in the LOS after your first day in town - that said, I found most people to be friendly and didnt feel 'surrounded' by Barang as I do in BKK. I only went with FLers, and paid them $30 for their services - as mentioned previously, I'm sure you can get it more cheaply but I wasnt willing to visit every bar looking for cheap trade. PP is better than Vientiane, but neither is excitement central during the day, and its bloody hot, even compared to its Asian neighbours. I believe April is the hottest month, so hopefully they are moving into cooler weather now. Look forward to your trip report.

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Was there in Feb - food poisoning kinda ruined my few days in PP, but it was a culture shock even before that. I think you will appreciate some of the things we take for granted in the LOS after your first day in town - that said, I found most people to be friendly and didnt feel 'surrounded' by Barang as I do in BKK. I only went with FLers, and paid them $30 for their services - as mentioned previously, I'm sure you can get it more cheaply but I wasnt willing to visit every bar looking for cheap trade. PP is better than Vientiane, but neither is excitement central during the day, and its bloody hot, even compared to its Asian neighbours. I believe April is the hottest month, so hopefully they are moving into cooler weather now. Look forward to your trip report.

 

May was blistering hot there, we're talking records, pushing 40. Same in Vientiane. The nice thing about both places, though (unlike BKK) is that even in hot season, things *really* cool off at night; by 1-2 am it's very pleasant. It should be a lot better heat-wise, especially with the rains, as this month progresses.

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Was just there a few weeks ago; nightlife is hopping as always. What it does have over Thailand--besides lower prices; $20 US ST/30-40 LT in most cases, and $5 bar fines--is quite liberal closing times; 3-4 am for many places (as long as they have customers) and several 24-hour places.

...

Some may take issue with my "$30-40 LT" quote, insisting that they can get girls to go for $20, and yeah, you can, but fuck, the infrastructure has gotten so much better in Phnom Penh, it's not the "rough town" it used to be, and in terms of cost of living for the girls, it's really not much cheaper than Thailand, so let's cut them some slack, huh? And remember that $30 is still HALF of what you pay for LT in Bangkok.

 

Actually last summer I alsways paid 20 USD LT and no girl complained, except one... Anyway I never discuss prices in advance, but LT usually included free dinner, drinks and visiting bars/discos. Maybe in the end it was more than 30-40 USD. :surprised:

 

 

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