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Tuol Sleng Museum - Originally
built as a secondary school named Tuol Svay Prey
High School in 1960, during the reign of Preah
Batnorodom Sihanouk. The Khmer Rouge converted
this into a torture and interrogation centre to
extract 'confessions' of anti-government sentiment.
Many victims were women and children incarcerated
along with the 'suspected' father. Documents recovered
indicate that over 17,000 persons had been imprisoned
there between1975 and 1978, only seven of whom
are known to have survived. The others, once the
'confession' had been extracted under torture,
were transported to Choeung Ek for execution.
Records show that the highest figure was on 27
May 1978, when 582 persons were sent to their
death. The museum was established in 1979 after
the Vietnamese invasion, and the Khmer Rouge's
meticulous photographic records of their victims
are exhibited as tragic testimony to those who
suffered and died in their hands
Choeung Ek Execution Area - 15km southwest
of the city centre is one of the many sites of
Khmer Rouge mass executions. The exhumed skulls
of some 8,000 souls, arranged by sex and age,
are displayed behind glass panels in the Memorial
Stupa, which was erected in 1988. Although some
were killed and buried at Toul Sleng, most victims
were driven out to Choeung Ek at night by truck.
Some were made to dig their own graves before
being clubbed to death with any heavy instrument
available. In addition to those exhumed, another
43 pits have been left undisturbed and the final
shocking total can only be guessed. The pleasant
orchard setting does little to dispel the horror
engendered by this grim sight, as Choeung Ek is
just one of thousands of recorded mass grave sites
throughout the country, and is by no means, the
largest. On May 9th each year a memorial service
is conducted at the stupa, in memory of the estimated
1.7 million people who died during the genocide.
Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda - Built
in 1866, the site contains various buildings of
interest, including the Khmer-style Throne Hall,
now used for special ceremonial occasions. South
of the Throne Hall are the Royal Treasury and
the Villa of Napoleon III, built in Egypt in 1866,
for the opening of the Suez Canal, and was later
presented to the Cambodian king as a gift. The
famous Silver Pagoda, originally constructed of
wood in 1866, was expanded in 1962 by King Sihanouk
who had the floor inlaid with 5,329 solid silver
tiles, hence its name. The most revered image
is the Emerald Buddha, made of Baccarat crystal
and dating back to the 17th century. Behind it,
another Buddha statue was cast in 1906, utilizing
90 kg of gold, and decorated with 9,584 diamonds.
Cabinets along the perimeter contain gifts presented
to royalty and dignitaries. Along the inside of
the recently restored 600-metre external wall
is a colorful mural depicting scenes from the
Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana.
National Museum of Arts - North of the
palace grounds, the building was designed in Khmer-style,
in 1920, by a French architect, and contains important
artifacts and sculptures from the Angkor era and
earlier
Wat Ounalom - Built in 1443 to enshrine
a sacred hair of the Buddha, and located north
of the National Museum of Arts, this temple is
considered the seat of Cambodian Buddhism. When
the Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh in 1975,
they vandalized the building and murdered the
Abbot along with many of the 500 monks who lived
there.
Wat Phnom - On a hill to the north of the
city, and restored or reconstructed in 1434, 1806,
1894 and 1926, Wat Phnom is regularly used for
prayer, small offerings, and meditation
Oudong - Approximately 40km from Phnom
Penh, and located on a hill overlooking vast plains,
this site is famous for the burial chedis of the
Khmer kings.
Phnom Tamao Zoo - This recently opened
zoo and wildlife rescue centre, 40km outside the
city, was set up to preserve and rescue rare and
endangered local wildlife including tiger, lion,
deer, bear, peacock, heron, crocodile and turtle.
Eighty hectares of the total area have been established
as a national zoo and up to 1,200 hectares have
been reserved for its future extension and development.
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Cambodia 
