Michael Batson

Phnom Penh is a city where the streets have numbers rather than names save for the main thoroughfares, though some have both. As someone once commented, “the thing about Phnom Penh street names is that they are fun for every purpose except the obvious – identifying where you are or where you are going.” Some street names have changed over time, which is not always represented on tourist maps, and only serves to add irritation to confusion. My taxi from the airport approached the city along Russian Boulevard. Formerly known as USSR, it is also Street 110, and a major east to west thoroughfare until it hits Monivong Boulevard (which doesn't seem to have a number but is between 91 and 93) running north to south. Once on the other side it trickles along until it meets the Tonle Sap, a tributary of the lower Mekong River. “How’s it hanging bro’?” asked the driver “See I can speak Kiwi,” he added with a huge grin. The standard fare for the trip from the airport is US$9, so drivers usually charge $10. He was taking me to Street 51, or Rue Pasteur after Louis, which reflects the city’s French colonial past, and presents another aspect to Phnom Penh’s street names. At Street 271 or Yothapol Khemarak Phoumin, Russian Boulevard becomes a flyover, a sign of the changing times in Cambodia’s capital, and yet another step in the city’s curious history of road orientation dynamics. Odd-numbered streets run north-south, the numbers increasing as you