01/09/2015
Ok, so you been to Phuket - Thailand, so where to now. Another great value for money holiday destination is its neighbor, Cambodia. Millions of tourists visit the world heritage site of the 11th century Angkor Wat temples at Siem Reap, annually. Or you can chill-out and relax at the beach and stay in a hotel or bungalows on the beautiful islands nearby from as low as 15$ per room a night depending on the season and quaff Angkor draught beer from only 1 USD a mug. Been there, done it, got the t-shirt. Get advice from an experienced, seasoned traveler to make your holiday more enjoyable. If you need any travel information about Thailand, I can also provide you with that.
Fly into Phnom Penh the capital city of Cambodia or Bangkok Thailand, spend a few days there and then fly, just over an hour, on SE Asia’s low cost airline Air Asia or Bangkok Airways to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh. Or you could go by bus or mini-van.
I have travelled to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam a number of times and here is a bit of information to help make your trip easier and more enjoyable. I believe as a seasoned traveler, having travelled to more than 40 countries world- wide in my life-time, if you research your trip properly, the less likely you will have problems and you will save money the more informed you are. Quite often you won’t even get some of this information from travel agencies or websites but those who have experienced the journey first-hand. I have been staying in Cambodia and Thailand for the past 4 years and have been travelling in SE Asia for the past 8 years. All prices mentioned here are guideline prices in US dollars, as pricing continuously changes.
Phnom Penh
There isn’t much to see in Phnom Penh but if you are flying in there, you may as well spend 2 or 3 days there. Taxi will cost you 10$ from the airport to the city. A very useful tuk tuk app like Uber is available in phnom Penh. It is recommended to stay in a hotel somewhere down near the water front. You can do a sunset boat cruise on the 3 rivers that converge here, the mighty Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac (cheaper cruises are about 5$ pp). You can go on a one day city tour or hire a tuk-tuk for about 25 USD for the day. There are nominal entrance fees for the various tourist sites. The Royal Palace (6.50$ entrance + 4$ for a guide) is a worthwhile visit and the National Museum is close by. You can also visit the Central and Russian market if you want to do a bit of shopping. Wat Phnom is fairly close to the Central market. Then there is the infamous Khmer Rouge S-21 torture camp, Tuol Sleng. 10 kms out of town is the Choesun Ek Killing Fields where it is estimated some 20, 000 people, most of which who had been at S-21, were brutally murdered. If you can stomach a visit to these places, it will give you a greater awareness of one of the world’s worst genocides where about 2 million people were slaughtered. The added tragedy is that this took place from 1975 – 1978 and the leadership of the Khmer Rouge are only standing trial now some 30 plus years later.
Siem Reap – Angkor Wat temples
This is Cambodia’s biggest tourist attraction. You can fly from Bangkok or Phnom Penh or go on a 5 and a half hour bus trip from the capital for about 10 USD. The roads in Cambodia are generally not in a good condition with lots of potholes. Siem Reap is a quaint little town. There isn’t much to see in Siem Reap, other than to rent a cycle or tuk-tuk to ride around town, visit the small market and the popular pub street at night.
If you are not into temples then I would recommend that you at least visit the famous Angkor Wat temple and Ta Prohm (trees have over-grown some of the temple structures and Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed in one of the temples here.) There is a 20USD entrance fee into the national park. You can spend a day and even two days visiting temples and you will definitely need a tour guide for this which will cost you about 25USD and you will have to rent a car or mini-van depending on the number of travelers. You can also rent a tuk-tuk as a cheaper option. You can also head down to Chong Kneas floating village close by and jump on a small boat and head down river onto the Tonle Sap lake. This will cost you about 20 USD for the boat ride. There are solo (more expensive) and group trips. They will stop off at various schools on the river that the floating village children attend. It is expected to give a small donation by purchasing some snacks to hand out to the kids when you get to these schools.
Sihanoukville
Named after the late King Sihanouk is the only deep water seaport in Cambodia. Sihanoukville has changed dramatically in the past 3 years with a strong Chinese influence and many new casinos. There are a number of beaches here like Victory, Hawaii, Independence, Sokha, Otres, Serendipity and the popular Ochheuteal which in January 2018 was cleared of the many little bars right on the beach for hotel development. The sea has quite a bit of debris, plastic bags and fish nets in the water.
The downside of some of these beaches is the risk of leaving any valuables on the beach while you go swimming but also that you are continuously hounded by young children selling bracelets, food sellers, masseurs etc and there are a number of folk who have lost their limbs from land mines, that will come begging even while you are eating your meal, which can become quite disturbing. You just have to be very patient and caring. After all many Cambodians only earn about a $ a day. You can’t have all this going for you, cheap hotels, food and drink and not have empathy for them. Rather don’t go there if you think you can’t handle this. It will just spoil your holiday. It’s also risky to leave your valuables on the beach when you go to swim as they may disappear. There is also bag snatching around the Golden Lion Circle by drive by scooter criminals so hang onto your valuables especially your passport but rather lock them up in your hotel safe. Cambodia to this day is still suffering the decimation of the Khmer Rouge more than 30 years ago and its economy is taking a very long time to recover but it’s happening and your visit is going to help speed them up on the road to recovery.
There are such good value boat trips to various islands nearby. Bamboo island is the closest and costs 15$ for the day and includes pick up at your hotel, breakfast and a fish BBQ on the beach plus some soft drinks and snorkeling in a number of places. Then there is the boat cruises to Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem islands for about 25$ including snorkeling and lunch. It’s about a 2 hour boat ride each way. There are also fast boat ferries that take 40 minutes for 20$ round trip to both islands. You can stay in bungalows on Koh Rong from 15$ a night. Another 1 day outing is to the National park where you will take a long boat ride up the river to the coast, swim at the beach, have some lunch and back again for 20 USD. You need shoes to walk in the water as the tide may be out and there are plenty of shells. There are a number of scuba diving companies in Snooky with dive trips off some very remote islands. Hire a scooter from 8$ a day or a bicycle and ride around Snooky or hire an off-ride bike for the more adventurous.
There is a large variety of hotels 4 and 5 star, mainly 3 star and back-packers to choose from. You pay per room not per person. Most of these are good value hotels. Depending on which town you are in and what season, you can pay from as little as 20 USD for a 3 star hotel room per night and 5 or 6 USD in a back-packers. There is a tour booklet for each of these major towns which is available free of charge in most hotels and is very informative about sightseeing, hotels, dining, maps etc. Basic meals average about 3-5$. Food is similar in some instances to Thai food but much less spicy or hot and less variety.
Now can you believe this, the major beer brand Angkor draught sells for 1$ a mug and during happy hour which can be anytime from 5pm to 7pm depending on the bar from 75 us cents. You can’t beat that for value as it is a great tasting beer. Spirits and wines are also very reasonably priced.
Note that the weather is generally very hot and humid all year round ranging on average a daily high of 34 degrees C and a low of 25 degrees C and there is plenty of rain during the monsoon months of May – October , so make sure you go well prepared with sunscreen and an umbrella or rain suit.
USD is widely accepted. The local currency Riel hovers around 4000 to the USD.
You can get a 30 day tourist visa on arrival for about 30 USD at the International airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. You will pay more at the border crossings. This visa can be extended for another 30 days once off. Or you can apply for an e-visa online for about 35USD which takes about 3 working days. This saves pages in your passport as you just staple the e-visa to a page in your passport. It does not get glued into your passport. The e-visa is only for tourist visas and only for the International airports in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and the Koh Kong/ Trat border crossing from Thailand. When printing your e-visa just check that the barcode prints properly as it sometimes for some reason does not print the barcode and the visa is not valid without it. You can copy from the PDF file to another file like a word file and print.
International driver’s licenses do not seem to be widely recognized in some parts of Cambodia, notably in Sihanoukville where if you hire a motor-scooter you will be stopped by the traffic police and fined if you don’t have a Cambodian drivers license. Tuk-tuks (known as remorks) and motor-cycle taxis (motos) are quite cheap and your best method of getting around. They drive on the right side of the road. Traffic rules and lights are not often obeyed and going into a 4-way intersection can be a bit of a nightmare as well as, first turning into on-coming traffic before trying to get into the correct lane. There is no insurance when you hire a motor-cycle. So if you have an accident you will pay for all the damages to the motor-cycle and whatever or whoever you hit. Normally they will hold onto your passport as a deposit when you hire a scooter. But don’t let all this put you off. Be adventurous but also be aware of the possible risks that come with that.
Welcome to Cambodia. I hope that this will make your trip more enjoyable and a memorable experience. Don’t travel on a budget package and expect a 4* experience. I have not tried to screen some of the harsher realities in Cambodia as it would be counter-productive for me to present a rosy picture only to disappoint you once you get there. These things will change as tourism continues to grow.
Disclaimer:
I, the author of this page, or any associate tour agency or representative cannot be held personally or jointly liable in any way for any misrepresentation of the facts, prices (which are guideline prices that continuously change), hotel bookings, tours or any injuries, accidents, 3rd party claims, medical expenses, theft or loss of luggage. You need to have sufficient travel insurance to cover your entire trip.
