Cambodia - Need Some Advice

Truley

Myself and some friends have booked a flight to Phnom Penh with the intention of spending about a week in Cambodia then moving on to Vietnam (ho chi minh) for a few weeks. We were hoping to visit all the usual places, killing fields, Siem Reap/Angkor and maybe a trip to Sihanoukville and now I'm beginning to think booking the flight to Phnom Penh was a big mistake as no matter where we go we will have to make a long journey back through the city which would be costly in terms of time and money. We should have started our trip in Siem Reap instead. What should I do? I'm presuming cancelling the flight is out of the question. Is there a good way of seeing Cambodia without having to go back through Phnom Penh?

wallpaper12

You dont really have enough time in a week to see all 3 places, but if you did want to try see all three you could get the bus to sihanoukville from PP, then overnight bus from sihanoukville to SR. it does stop to pick up passengers in PP but thats it. Then you can get an overnight bus from SR to HCMC. So there is no need for another stop in PP.

hoopla87

wallpaper12 wrote: »

Then you can get an overnight bus from SR to HCMC. So there is no need for another stop in PP.

hi wallpaper12 - dont suppose you could recommend a bus company that does the overnight bus from SR -HCMC? been lookin online recently and and just seem to find conflicting info. any help is appreciated thanks!

Oranage2

There's one road in Cambodia, so you'll be going through PP no matter what.

Skip Sihanoukville, it's just a beach with a few bar/restaurants nothing special. Phnom Penh is tiny so you could get the killing fields and s-21 in a day or 2. Buzz over too SR go to ankor wat. Then back to Pnom penh then off to vietnam.

The bus companies are local run things, just buy a bus ticket at a shop.

wallpaper12

hoopla87 wrote: »

hi wallpaper12 - dont suppose you could recommend a bus company that does the overnight bus from SR -HCMC? been lookin online recently and and just seem to find conflicting info. any help is appreciated thanks!

I actually went HCMC - PP - Sihanoukville - SR so didnt overnight it from HCMC to SR. Think there are only two bus companies running the route, one cambodian and one vietnamese probably. From my experiences of overnight buses id go with the vietnamese company, as the vietnamese certainly know their overnight buses! Have a chat with people in SR and see what they recomend is your best bet

Truley

Thank you so much for the advice. I'm think we're going to skip the beaches and just split the trip between PP and Siam Reap/Temples. I've spent ages looking in to overnight buses and it's very hard to get accurate info. Cambodia is not a great place to travel at night and apparently a lot of the bus companies can be shysters. If I can meet a person there that has had a good experience then I will definitely take it but if not I'll just have to spend a day travelling, all part of the adventure!

wallpaper12

overnight buses in Cambodia are fine i took one and slept comfortably the whole way. Only 12 dollars for an 10 hour trip too. Sure there is going to be no difference between the companies who run the day buses and those the run the night buses. No need to worry about it, just go with the flow and it will all be fine....

Truley

Hey if you could recommend a company to me that would be great. If I could avoid wasting a day travelling on a bus in any way I will take it!

wallpaper12

I could literally not name one bus company for you, thats not really how things work in Cambodia, you just book something through your guesthouse or whatever. you wont be able to book anything until you get there anyway!