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[Q]Cambodia Tips

  • 23-07-2014 10:41am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,785 ✭✭✭


    Hey

    Travelling to Thailand and Cambodia with G Adventures in November. Landing in Bangkok for a day and then travel to Battambang, Siem Riep, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Phnom Penh, Kampot & Sihanoukville before flying back to Bangkok.

    Few question

    ** We are crossing overland into Cambodia at Poipet. Have not got visa and went online at http://evisa.mfaic.gov.kh/ and not sure if it’s better to get it before travelling or get it at Poipet?
    ** Is it better to bring Single USD and some $10 and $5 bills or better to get some Riel over there. Can you get it in Bangkok?

    Any tips advice welcome

    Cheers


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 768 ✭✭✭Uncle_moe


    I traveled by bus from Vietnam to Cambodia and had no problems at the border after paying an extortionate $20 to the border police guy. In fact, it was the bus operator who took the money and I assume split it with border patrol.
    As far as riels I'd prob just wait and get them there. Its a pretty useless currency and they'll accept dollars everywhere. I think I only ever got low amounts of riels in change from shops in Cambodia as I'm almost certain all the ATM's dispense dollars.
    Needless to say, be careful what you eat in Cambodia, food is dodgy at the best of times. After I was sick the Khmer doctor told me he even he wouldn't eat at most restaurants there.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,719 ✭✭✭Bacchus


    Enjoy Cambodia. Spotted your thread on the main page and brought back the memories. Best place in SE Asia IMO, with the friendliest of people, though I think it's a love it or hate kinda place.
    Uncle_moe wrote: »
    As far as riels I'd prob just wait and get them there. Its a pretty useless currency and they'll accept dollars everywhere. I think I only ever got low amounts of riels in change from shops in Cambodia as I'm almost certain all the ATM's dispense dollars.

    Yup, ATMs just dish out dollars and you only get riels in change. Can be a bit confusing. It's nuts really :)
    Uncle_moe wrote: »
    Needless to say, be careful what you eat in Cambodia, food is dodgy at the best of times. After I was sick the Khmer doctor told me he even he wouldn't eat at most restaurants there.

    I don't discount your experience but you can get dodgy food anywhere in the world. I thought the food in Cambodia was the best. Maybe not for street food alright but the restaurants served up great grub (not literally... well maybe). Naturally, more smaller places like Battambang, Kampong Cham & Kratie are not as plush with choice but I always enjoyed the food and never had a problem.

    Are ye on a set tour or free to travel around the place as you please? You're hitting a lot of corners of Cambodia and the routes between them are not exactly as direct as it may look at first glance on the map. Try give some good consideration to route.

    Didn't visit Kampot or Sihanoukville though, coastal towns aren't they? Beaches there I think?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,785 ✭✭✭Irish Gunner


    Its a group so G Adventures arrange the travel and then your free to do what you want when you get there. Also a travel guide with group

    Was told to bring some USD in small amounts. I did bring some to Vietnam but never used them used local currency but take its different in Cambodia

    Ate some crap in Asia before so I am sure will eat more just if I dont like the look I wont try

    Any other tips


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    When I crossed at Poipet, the tour bus people asked for all of our passports and $50 in order to organise the visas.

    We were told that it would take hours to do it ourselves, which would have conflicted with the onward journey to Siem Reap. I didn't trust those people a lot and I regretted not having organised a visa earlier.

    If 'the bus is broken' and you have to go by pickup truck, then there never was a bus in the first place.

    Looks like a great trip. Enjoy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 215 ✭✭Sheela


    Hi

    I did a G Adventures Tour going from Vietnam to Cambodia. At the border, our tour guide took our passports and $10 and it took about 40 minutes. A couple on the tour had pre-arranged their visas and they only paid marginally less than us, and still had to wait until everyone else on the tour was sorted.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,785 ✭✭✭Irish Gunner


    Sheela wrote: »
    Hi

    I did a G Adventures Tour going from Vietnam to Cambodia. At the border, our tour guide took our passports and $10 and it took about 40 minutes. A couple on the tour had pre-arranged their visas and they only paid marginally less than us, and still had to wait until everyone else on the tour was sorted.

    Cheers thanks for that

    Will look at either options of getting visa for Cambodia prior or wait not much of a difference from what you say. Did you go to any of the places from my first post any tips you have? Also had a look at the Tropical Medical Board website and not going near a Malaria area but they are such a rip off so don’t want to go for a visit unless required did you need any injections?

    Any advice / tips welcome

    Thanks


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 215 ✭✭Sheela


    Hi

    This was only the first stop on a round the world trip so I got injections in my local doctors in Co Galway, which cost me I think €180, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. The other people on the tour who only did Vietnam and Cambodia who I asked about injections had gotten them.

    What I would recommend medically is to make sure you have hydration salts, as you will definitely need them!

    Our tour did Phnom Penh and Siem Riep.

    In Phnom Penh, we visted the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison, which was a sobering experience, to say the least. If you are planning on visiting these, I would organise something upbeat for the afternoon. If you are going, go in the morning to combat the heat especially at the Killing Fields Memorial.

    We did a cyclo tour, which may be organised for you. If its not, and you get a free afternoon, I would recommend it. It was I think $10, and I thought it was great and you got to see loads of the city and my driver had basic English and would point out landmarks to me and explain what they are. The Royal Temple is worth a visit, but not something that I would say is a must see sight.

    Siem Riep is more like Thailand, in that its more focussed on nightlife. Some of us on our free afternoon went quadbiking. I didn't think I'd enjoy this as much as I did. We went through paddy fields and small villages that you wouldn't normally have gotten to see, so it was really a good way of seeing the real Cambodia.

    If you have laundry, wait until here to get it done as its cheaper than Phnom Penh ($5 for I think 5kg, whereas in PP it was $10).

    I'm assuming you're going to go to Angkor Watt - they'll bring you at 5am to see the sunrise. Don't dawdle going in, as it will be quite packed. Get yourself as close to the lake as possible so that you can get a picture of the reflection of the temple in the lake. This was the worse place for children begging - its hard, but don't even make eye contact with them as you'll be plagued otherwise.

    The shops here are a rip-off, so make sure you bring water. It gets very hot with the sun reflecting off the stone buildings, especially in the overgrown part, in which you can't buy water. I had a 2 litre bottle but if I had 4 litres I would have drank them as I was passing out with the heat.

    If I think of anything else, I'll post it. If you have any questions, just let me know.

    (Also, I'm assuming by your user name you're an Arsenal fan. I remember commenting to myself that there were a surprisingly high amount of Arsenal fans in Cambodia, which was a blesssing after all the Liverpool and Man Utd fans in Vietnam!)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,785 ✭✭✭Irish Gunner


    Cheers thanks for the details Sheela a lot to ponder on what to do and if you think of anything else yeah post it

    Cyclo tour and Quad bikes sound interesting will look into that

    Is it all USD over there?

    Cheers

    (Yes an Arsenal fan so will have maybe one Arsenal t shirt packed in rucksack)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 215 ✭✭Sheela


    Hiya

    Yeah, its all dollars. Try and get small demoniations from your bank as they really don't like getting more than $10. When I was ordering my dollars, I asked for $1's and $5's .... When paying in dollars, they'll give you your change in Cambodian money. There are ATMs but they aren't as common as here.

    Also with regards to injections, when I was getting mine the nurse looking up all the places I was going to on the CDC website, cdc.gov and they recommend what you'll need for each area.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 53 ✭✭Heatmachine1


    Was there a good many years ago and my advice would be to stock up on antibiotics,diorilites and immodium.
    its a nice country,but I got a stomach infection from the wedtern food in siem reip.
    left me near death for 8 days,had to exit early to go and get treatment in Saigon.
    never had it as bad,just have them with you as the food is not the best compared to Thai or Lao grub.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 227 ✭✭Ed_Stephens


    Hey

    Travelling to Thailand and Cambodia with G Adventures in November. Landing in Bangkok for a day and then travel to Battambang, Siem Riep, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Phnom Penh, Kampot & Sihanoukville before flying back to Bangkok.

    Few question

    ** We are crossing overland into Cambodia at Poipet. Have not got visa and went online at and not sure if it’s better to get it before travelling or get it at Poipet?
    ** Is it better to bring Single USD and some $10 and $5 bills or better to get some Riel over there. Can you get it in Bangkok?

    Any tips advice welcome

    Cheers

    Not a fan of tour groups as I think they just try and squeeze too much into trips instead of spending a decent amount of time there. Anyway onto your questions:

    You are fine with an E-Visa crossing at Poi Pet, don't give any more money to anyone, you've already paid for an E-Visa, just make sure you photo is clear, against a white background and you're not wearing a hat or glasses. Check if your travel company has already organised a visa. Print off two copies of your evisa, one for entry and one for exit.

    WRT to money, Cambodia operates a dual currency with US Dollars being the main currency, the Cambodian Riel is essentially worthless outside of Cambodia, exchange rates are about 4000 to the Dollar so if you buy something for 50 cents you get 2000 Riel in change. Just bring Euro as you get a better rate in Cambodia or Thailand. If you're only in Bangkok for a day don't bother wasting time changing money although foreign exchange booths are plentiful.

    Cambodia is much more 3rd world than Thailand, it's much dirtier and the poverty is much more in your face. Also street lighting isn't good so at night don't risk walking unlit streets and just get a very cheap tuk-tuk taxi back to your hotel.

    Pub street is over rated in Siem Reap but is half the price of Phnom Penh. Do try and squeeze in the Central market in PP, same stuff on a smaller scale in the Siem Reap night market. Get plenty of foot massages at around $4 an hour, be careful crossing the road as Asians can drive a little crazy.

    Is there anything specific you're looking to do, sounds like they're squashing a lot into one trip.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭Graham_B18C


    I see regularly people posting "Only bring $1 or $5 notes with you". Whenever I took money out of an ATM in Cambodia (I never had trouble finding one) they dispensed $100 notes and I never had much hassle breaking them. Go into one of the popular shops (7/11 or whatever it is) or pay for tours and the like with them and you can pay with a large note no problem. Obviously paying for something that costs $1 at a market stall wouldn't be the same.

    Everything is USD over there and most things are priced in 25c increments. $1 is (give or take) 4000 KHR, any change you get will be in USD but the lowest USD they use is $1 so they use KHR for the small change. One thing to take note of is that they really don't like old creased notes. A couple of times shops and hotels refused to take a battered note from me. Keep your notes in a wallet or the likes to save yourself the hassle.

    You don't need to sort anything out for the Cambodian Visa. It costs $25 and when I went the person on the bus collected this money and passports, you walk through, collect your passport (and possibly get a photo taken but I can't remember) and you're away. The bus people weren't ripping us off, that's how much it costs. Took us about a half hour coming from Vietnam but can't imagine it's too different coming from Thailand. We went the other direction through Poipet and after reading all the horror stories we found it fine. The bus company we chose was shyte, but the border crossing was grand (we were one of the first in line though).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 981 ✭✭✭mighty magpie


    The visa at the boarder is $20. Bring a passport photo. It took us about 5 minutes for two visas when traveling from Saigon to PP. No need to pay anyone extra to do it for you.

    We stayed 2 nights in PP, tuk tuk to killing fields $20 return.

    Sihanoukville 3 nights, average beach town, otres beach out of town was the nicest.

    Took a trip to koh Chang and stayed one night, lovely views and beaches but will soon be ruined.

    In siem reap at the moment. Lovely town and the temples are fantastic. About $15 per day for a tuk tuk trip around the temples. Temple ticket is $20 for 1 day, $40 for 3 day.

    No issues with changing $100 notes in any of these towns. Draft beer can be found for 50c, most places however $1.

    We've been paying around $15 per night for double AC rooms.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 227 ✭✭Ed_Stephens


    As you're in Siem Reap do check out the Warehouse bar at the old market at the corner of Street 9. Class place that does nice food too. Miss those 4 dollar foot massages after a day at the temples.


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