Phnom Penh

Kingdom Breweries, 1748 National Road 5, Phnom Penh; http://www.kingdombreweries.com . Tours are $6.50, which includes two beers. Munich Beer Restaurant, 68 Sothearous Blvd., Phnom Penh. Man Han Lou, 456 Monivong Blvd., Phnom Penh; 011-855-23-721-966. 54 Langeach Sros, 15A,178 St., Phnom Penh; 011-855-17-455-454. Beer garden in the courtyard of a former residential villa. Main dishes from about $3. Sovanna Restaurant, 2C 21 St., Phnom Penh; 011-855-11-840-055.

NEW DELHI -- Thousands of people lined the streets of Cambodia's capital Friday for the funeral of King Norodom Sihanouk, a controversial monarch who helped build the young nation after French rule before cozying up to the homicidal Khmer Rouge regime. Sihanouk's embalmed body, which has been lying in state in Phnom Penh awaiting an auspicious date since his October death at age 89, was carried to the sounds of a 101-gun salute from the royal palace to an ornate funeral pyre in a city park specially constructed for the occasion.

The cars and motorcycles once banned by the Khmer Rouge as bourgeois have returned to Phnom Penh, charging madly down potholed streets. Gone is the serenity of tree-lined boulevards that made such a welcome contrast to the raucous congestion of other Asian capitals. Now, cars with horns blaring swerve past motorcycles packed with people, horse-drawn carts loaded with goods, bicyclists balancing wooden planks and pedicabs full of squealing pigs.

As Barack Obama prepares for the first visit by a United States president to Cambodia this month, the country is reportedly preparing for him too -- by hiding street children from sight in Phnom Penh. “If the leaders from across … the world see beggars and children on the street, they might speak negatively to the government,” municipal spokesman Long Dimanche told the Phnom Penh Post , explaining their plans to “collect” children who beg or sell fruit and put them in a nearby center.

On a muggy evening last week, a crowd of thousands gathered around a temporary outdoor stage in this city's Cambodian Vietnamese Friendship Park. As with most nights, the manicured grounds had a carnival atmosphere, with mobile vendors selling sweets wrapped in banana leaves, and rows of middle-age women stepping their way through aerobics routines during the respite from the blazing sun. But this night was different, because the Los Angeles band Dengue Fever, which takes its inspiration from Cambodian rock music of the 1960s, was scheduled to perform a free show.

Prince Norodom Sihanouk, nominal head of Cambodia's three-party resistance coalition, condemned Thailand today for allegedly working to support the Vietnamese-backed Hun Sen government in Phnom Penh.

As the compact Cambodian literary giant sips an espresso at a cafe in Long Beach, he merrily expounds on subjects ranging from roller-blading and child rearing to political assassinations and sinister plots. But don't be fooled by the soft eyes and the lovable smile. Here in New Phnom Penh, home to the largest number of Cambodians in the free world, he is variously venerated and despised.

By the 9 p.m curfew, Phnom Penh's streets are deserted except for the few exempt foreigners who are heading home from dinner at the city's riverside restaurants. In the shadows, Cambodian soldiers man checkpoints. Cambodians are already laying out their sleeping mats in their shops and homes. The restaurant workers will sleep overnight at their jobs.

New initiatives for a political settlement of the Cambodian conflict have reached the highest pitch in years, raising expectations that peace may finally come to Indochina, but so far each feeler has run into resistance in some quarter. In Phnom Penh, Beijing, Hanoi and the current U.N. General Assembly, new or warmed-over peace proposals have been rolled out almost daily for the last few months, couched in terms of conciliation and concession.

The United Nations on Thursday officially declared the opposition royalist party the winner of Cambodia's national elections, but the Phnom Penh regime said it still could not accept the results.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Moy Da hasn't seen his sister in nearly 40 years. Like countless Cambodian families, they were separated during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The brutal communist regime made it official policy to dismantle the nuclear family, which it considered a capitalist relic, and divided much of the population into slave labor camps. In 1975, Moy Da, then 5 years old, and his parents, who died three years later, lost track of 15-year-old Pheap when the Khmer Rouge emptied Phnom Penh and marched residents to the countryside.

Regarding "In Paris, Let Them Eat Macarons," by Karen Leland [Nov. 20]: Leland reported on three of the top patisseries serving delicious macarons. But why, oh, why did she leave out Ladurée (16-18 Rue Royale) and other locations in the city? Just the crowds lining up to buy these delicacies would tell you that something special is going on inside the shop, but the proof is when this work of culinary art dissolves in your mouth, and your taste buds shout out with glee! Michael Hall Los Angeles   Cambodian dining Regarding "Taking the Palate for a Thrill Ride," by Heidi Fuller-Love [Nov.

Kingdom Breweries, 1748 National Road 5, Phnom Penh; http://www.kingdombreweries.com . Tours are $6.50, which includes two beers. Munich Beer Restaurant, 68 Sothearous Blvd., Phnom Penh. Man Han Lou, 456 Monivong Blvd., Phnom Penh; 011-855-23-721-966. 54 Langeach Sros, 15A,178 St., Phnom Penh; 011-855-17-455-454. Beer garden in the courtyard of a former residential villa. Main dishes from about $3. Sovanna Restaurant, 2C 21 St., Phnom Penh; 011-855-11-840-055.

Cambodia might not rank among the world's brewery or beer garden capitals, but change is coming. From its setting on the banks of the Tonle Sap river, Kingdom Breweries, Phnom Penh's newest boutique producer, opened in October 2010, is gearing up to give local brands Anchor and Angkor a run for their riel , using only the best German and Czech hops, premium German malt and top-quality water to produce the brand's flagship pilsner. "Fancy one?" Chief Executive Peter Brongers asked me, offering a bottle of the brewery's first batch from his office mini-fridge.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA From LAX, Asiana, Korean, Thai, China Airlines, EVA and China Southern offer connecting service (change of plane) to Phnom Penh. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $950, excluding taxes and fees. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 855 (country code for Cambodia) and the local number. WHAT TO DO Le Tigre de Papier cooking school, Pub Street, Siem Reap; 011-855-122-6581, http://www.letigredepapier.com/en/cooking.php . Three-hour cooking classes are $12 and include preparation of an appetizer, main course and dessert plus a visit to the local market.

In Long Beach's Cambodia Town, restaurants are measured not only by the heat of their ground pork curries or the tartness of their sour catfish soups but also by the brilliance of their chandeliers and the strength of their karaoke-capable sound systems. For years, La Lune was such a place, a restaurant where birthday parties were celebrated, anniversaries were commemorated and mayoral campaigns were launched. But in April, a fire wiped out La Lune. Losing the restaurant tore open a void in the Khmer community, one that the Saing family worked quickly to fill.

A string of battlefield victories has emboldened the Cambodian government in recent weeks and strengthened its leverage in forthcoming talks with opposition forces, according to Cambodian officials and Eastern European diplomats here. The capture last week by Cambodian forces of the town of Thmar Pouk, about 12 miles from the Thai border, was the latest government success in its drive against three guerrilla groups based in Thailand.

This city never was one of those places I had dreamed of visiting. Images of killing fields and poverty always lingered, and the fabled temples of Angkor, the country's main draw, were 190 miles away. But my American friend Victoria was living there, and I was going to Angkor anyway, so I took the plunge. I'm glad I did. What I found in Cambodia's capital was a study in contrasts. Shoppers browse for lush silks near former houses of torture. Elegant hotels abut squalor.

Vann Nath, whose talent as an artist helped him survive Cambodia's most notorious prison during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror in the 1970s and whose later paintings bore witness to the prison's many horrors, has died. He was 66. Vann Nath, who suffered chronic kidney disease that required regular dialysis treatment in recent years and who was hospitalized with a hemorrhaging ulcer in 2010, died Monday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after falling into a coma in late August, his daughter, Vann Chan Semin, told the Associated Press on Monday.

From LAX, Korean, Asiana, Thai, China Southern, China Airlines, Malaysia and EVA Airways offer connecting service (change of plane) to Phnom Penh. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $1,376, excluding taxes and fees. Asiana, Korean Airways and China Southern offer connecting service to Siem Riep. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $900, excluding taxes and fees. Visitors from the U.S. need visas to enter Cambodia, available at the Siem Reap and Phnom Penh International airports; Cambodian embassies; most border crossings from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam; and by email through the website evisa.mfaic.gov.kh ($25 for 30 days)