The art deco Central Market, known locally as psah thami ('new market'), is an ideal first port of call. Built in 1937 with 30-metre-high vaulted ceilings, one of the largest domes in Asia and stained-glass windows, it's a temple to Cambodian commerce. It is also the ideal place to buy those crucial 'I've been to Cambodia' clothes: the red-chequered Khmer Rouge scarf, the Lara Croft khaki shorts, the Indiana Jones hat and the obligatory 'Danger - Landmine' T-shirt. Fashionistas should visit the second-hand section in the market's west wing, which is where all the clothes the western world gives to charity end up. It stocks everything from Iron Maiden T-shirts to Los Angeles Olympics sweatpants, and is both a museum of bad taste and a vintage clothing enthusiast's dream. Remember: haggle and keep smiling the whole time. Open daily from 7am to 5pm (corner of streets 67 and 136).

3 Foreign Correspondents' Club

With its perfect location and first-class restaurant, the FCC has become a local institution. Diplomats, correspondents and backpackers rub elbows and swap tales along the sweeping,

4 National Museum

This peaceful museum is a wonderful introduction to Khmer art and a great respite from the afternoon heat. Many of the treasures of Angkor are displayed here, including a statue of Yama, god of the underworld. With a further 10,000 Angkor sculptures (stored in the basement) being cleaned and restored, works not seen for decades are being added to the display every week. Built to French design by Cambodian craftsmanship in 1920, its four galleries are set around a tranquil pond-filled courtyard. Don't overlook the gift shop, which sells beautiful hand-carved copies of Angkor's Bayon Buddha heads for US$20 a pop. Also worth exploring is Street 178, running beside the museum. It's dotted with art-and-craft shops selling paintings, woodcarvings and silverware. Visitors are also welcome at the School of Fine Arts behind the museum to see the work being done by Cambodia's future artists. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8am- 11am, 2.30pm-5pm. Entrance: US$2 (Samdech Sothearos Boulevard and Street 178).

5 S-21/Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

History does not come more raw or visceral than Pol Pot's Security Prison 21. A school building in a quiet city neighbourhood, S-21 became the main interrogation centre of the Khmer Rouge. It has been left almost as it was found by liberating Vietnamese forces in 1979 - a disturbing complex of bloodstained interrogation rooms, holding cells and torture devices. The Khmer Rouge, like the Nazis, were fastidious in brutality. In an adjoining building, hundreds of carefully posed portraits of their victims (some of them children) - before interrogation and before execution - make a harrowing exhibit. An estimated 20,000 prisoners were taken to S-21. Only 14 survived. Open daily, 7.30am- 11.30am, 2pm-5pm. Admission: US$2 (corner of streets 113 and 350).

6 Raffles Hotel Le Royal

7 Heart of Darkness

Phnom Penh after dark is lots of fun, and probably the best place to start is the legendary Heart of Darkness, named after the Joseph Conrad novel. On any given night, among the usual mix of tourists and NGO workers, you'll find many a wannabe Colonel Kurtz propping up its dimly lit bar or playing pool in the back. Drinks are inexpensive, and don't forget to buy the T-shirt (open 7pm till late. House No26, Street 51). If you plan to party on into the night, get a member of the Heart's staff to recommend a reputable moped taxi from the crowd outside. It'll cost just US$8 to keep the same driver all night. So, wherever you stumble out from at dawn, there'll be a friendly face to take you home. It's Phnom Penh's own chauffeur service.

8 Shooting Range

Firing guns in a war-torn country is politically incorrect, insensitive and great fun. Phnom Penh is probably the only place in Asia where - if you have the money and a couple of days to set things up - you can fire a rocket launcher at a live cow (although most people prefer to aim at the traditional paper targets). Thanks to Cambodia's appalling gun control laws, you can also cap off M60 anti-tank guns, M16s, Russian Kalashnikovs and grenades. But beware! Getting in touch with your inner Rambo is not cheap. An M16's 20-bullet clip costs about US$20. A single M60 bullet is US$4. Both are extremely more-ish. In the time it takes to say, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning', the trigger-happy can blow their holiday wad. Most ranges are run unofficially by the army, in the vicinity of the airport. Locations vary, but moped taxi drivers are sure to know.

9 Seeing Hands Massage

When those spine-jarring potholes and dusty streets get too much, seek help from the hands of a blind masseur. A basic US$4 massage is amazing, yet it's hard to pinpoint why. Maybe it's the profound quietness of the centre's ramshackle old colonial building. Maybe it's the gentle skill and exquisite focus of the highly trained masseurs. Or maybe it's because they know about pain and healing. At a time when health spas increasingly resemble fatuous Hollywood sets, there is something almost shocking in the simple sincerity of this place. All masseurs speak Khmer and English, massages cost US$4 per hour, and all profits go to the masseurs. Reservations recommended (The National Centre for Disabled Persons, corner of Norodom and Pochentong boulevards, tel: [855] 16 856 188).

10 Kruu Khmer

Every holiday needs at least one random journey. A great way of getting off Phnom Penh's beaten path without leaving the city is to track down a Kruu Khmer, or fortune-teller. Ask a friendly Khmer to recommend a good one and - once they're convinced you're serious - a whole new city will open up. Every neighbourhood has its own Kruu Khmer functioning as a mix of doctor, therapist and voodoo priest, and their clinics are busy and highly atmospheric places. It's a kind of folk theatre. And whatever happens, you're guaranteed to come away with a great story and a couple of interesting photos. Don't forget to cross the Kruu's palm with silver. About US$5 should do it.