Cambodia? Anyone been?

[marcosgt]

The wife's always fancied going to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and I thought I'd be kind and consider it as an option this year.

I can't see that being a whole week/10 days holiday, so what else is there to see?

I've always been a bit lairy about Asia as a holiday destination as I imagine it's a) very humid and b) errrr, I don't know, a bit naff? Everyone who goes to Thailand drones on about how amazing it is, but make it sound a bit like a more exotic Toremelinos...

So, putting aside prejudice b), how unbearably hot and humid will it be and are there things to do? When would be the most 'comfortable' time to go?

I found a trip that, over 11 days, included a couple of days at Angkor Wat, a couple in Phnom Penh and a couple in a beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand (my thoughts flew to possible diving opportunities, which the wife's spider senses picked up without me even mentioning that possibility ).

Any experiences, good or bad? Any recommendations of people to book through?

M

[W99KSY]

marcosgt said:

The wife's always fancied going to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and I thought I'd be kind and consider it as an option this year.

I can't see that being a whole week/10 days holiday, so what else is there to see?

I've always been a bit lairy about Asia as a holiday destination as I imagine it's a) very humid and b) errrr, I don't know, a bit naff? Everyone who goes to Thailand drones on about how amazing it is, but make it sound a bit like a more exotic Toremelinos...

So, putting aside prejudice b), how unbearably hot and humid will it be and are there things to do? When would be the most 'comfortable' time to go?

I found a trip that, over 11 days, included a couple of days at Angkor Wat, a couple in Phnom Penh and a couple in a beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand (my thoughts flew to possible diving opportunities, which the wife's spider senses picked up without me even mentioning that possibility ).

Any experiences, good or bad? Any recommendations of people to book through?

M

Well the bad news is its pretty damn hot and humid but I can see you've already figured this out - can't remember it being so unbearable that I couldn't do anything though.

Angkor Wat should provide enough entertainment for a few days and was great to see - you could also fit in a trip to Tonle Sap (large inland lake with floating villages etc) and think we did that ex Siem Reap. Phnom Penh was interesting although quite sobering visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing fields. For the beach we went to Sihanoukville which was nice although I don't think the diving was that good due to dynamite fishing in the past...

All in all a great country and different to Thailand and Vietnam - really enjoyed travelling there. One thing I would say is that you're going to see a lot of Children begging and might be a bit of a culture shock if you're used to Thailand ...

[marcosgt]

W99KSY said:

Well the bad news is its pretty damn hot and humid but I can see you've already figured this out - can't remember it being so unbearable that I couldn't do anything though.

Angkor Wat should provide enough entertainment for a few days and was great to see - you could also fit in a trip to Tonle Sap (large inland lake with floating villages etc) and think we did that ex Siem Reap. Phnom Penh was interesting although quite sobering visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing fields. For the beach we went to Sihanoukville which was nice although I don't think the diving was that good due to dynamite fishing in the past...

All in all a great country and different to Thailand and Vietnam - really enjoyed travelling there. One thing I would say is that you're going to see a lot of Children begging and might be a bit of a culture shock if you're used to Thailand ...

Thanks, Sihanoukville was the beach resort, I think.

I've not been to Thailand, or anywhere in this area, but begging kids are a daily occurrence in my household, so I'm resistant to it!

M

[tj2002]

Spent nearly a month in Cambodia during my 3 month trip to SE Asia a year ago. Angkor Wat is incredible and most would recommend a 3 day pass to see all the temples. Shianoukville is a busy little beach town with plenty of places to eat and drink, it is a pretty young crowd there and can be a little seedy but thats kinda standard for the region. Pnomh Penh is a typical big city and is steeped in history. It's well worth a day trip to the killing fields and genocide museum, you can get a tuk tuk for the day for about $20.I loved Cambodia but it is a culture shock, it's a bit like a modern day wild wild west.

[Blown2CV]

don't be out off by people going on about it... SE Asia really is amazing. Thailand is turning into a teenager 'must-do' though now... face paints and full moon party are easily avoided however.

[Token Jock]

My wife and I went just over 12mths ago to work for 2 weeks at a Wild bear sanctuary about 90mins from Phnom Penh.
We had a weekend in PP and it ws great fun, loved the friendly nature of the people. Visited the usual tourist sites and it certainly whetted my appetite to return at some point.

Colleague at work was there for 2 weeks about 2mths ago and toured around, said he had a fabulous time.

[mudster]

W99KSY said:

One thing I would say is that you're going to see a lot of Children begging and might be a bit of a culture shock if you're used to Thailand ...

This was one of my main memories (along with landmine victims). Young kids trying to sell books, postcards and the like.

It's a very poor country and relies significantly on tourism. People were generally very friendly (although great at selling you stuff!). A little like Thailand in it's culture, but tourism is much more in it's initial development.

We had our own taxi driver around Angkor for a couple of days, which meant we could look around somewhere then get back in to an air conditioned car. He knew lots of the places to see along with their history. Cost was about £12/day plus a tip as the guy was great.

[havoc]

Humidity / heat - depends when you go - we did Thailand/Cambodia over New Year 2004/5 and didn't find it really a problem - the Med gets notably hotter, and in their dry season humidity is no worse than a Brit summer.

How long? As above, 3 days for the temples will be plenty - Becs had had enough after 2 days when we went, and I think I saw all I wanted to in 2.5 days of effective sightseeing. That didn't include Tonle Sap, which if we went back we'd do...so 3-4 nights in Siem Reap.

Tips?
- Hire a guide and a car if your budget permits - we did it 8 years ago and the cost was $20/day for the car&driver and $20/day for the accredited guide (both organised by the owner of the guest-house we stayed in. Figure costs have probably doubled by now, if they still do that sort of thing.
- If you don't NEED to stay in a luxury Western-style hotel (where all the profits leave the country), try and find a recommended 2* guest house or similar. Our accomodation was budget (mossie nets around the bed and fans rather than aircon), but not uncomfortable, and it was 1/3 of the cost of the big hotels. Pavillon Indochine - run by a very pleasant French expat journo who went to cover the Troubles, married a Khmer girl and stayed.
- You'll need anti-malarials for Cambodia. Recommend Malarone - 2x the price of doxycycline but with a much lower side-effect rate. We took doxy out there and both felt nauseous every morning...took Malarone on the next exotic holiday and didn't have any problems.
- It's dusty in the dry season there. Esp. on the roads...
- Be careful what/where you eat. Not so much the roadside places selling the (very nice) chicken-soup-in-a-coconut (forget what it's called, but it's not dissimilar to Thai Green Curry), but prawns/eggs from the restaurants - I had very bad food poisoning, think from a mixed fried rice which had a whole fried egg on the top.


What to pair it with?
- Phnom Penh probably won't be a relaxing break, but will be interesting.
- Bangkok is pretty full on but we love the place. Royal Palace is beautiful, the river is great and the whole experience has to be taken in...although beware TukTuk drivers telling you that what you want to see is closed for the morning/for lunch/for the afternoon, and they know someone with a boat/shop/etc.
- Thai beach (or Cambodian beach...they're supposed to have a couple of small resorts now). Depending on time of year either E. or W. coast may be drier, so keep an open mind. West coast (Andaman Sea, Phuket, Krabi province etc.) has all the picture-postcard limestone rocks and blue seas. East coast more nightlife and more surf. Peninsula seems to have lots of golf resorts.

We did 4nts Bangkok, 3nts Siem Reap, 6nts Koh Samui. And that was about right for each.



You don't sound overly keen, but keep an open mind - we found the Thai and the Khmer to be very friendly hospitable people. Yes there were those trying to take the tourist for a ride (esp. in BKK), but in the main they're nicer/friendlier people than the Europeans you encounter in-resort. Violent crime is also pretty low out there. And the cultures are so different it really opens your mind.

[northwest monkey]

One thing to be careful of (although I'm sure you've already thought of it) is the time between diving & flying. No good being at a dive site on a tuesday afternoon if you've got a flight wednesday mornings. My experience of a lot of 3rd world countries is overall fantastic, but I wouldn't want to spend much time in a local hospital in the arse end of beyond....

The "2 days at a place then fly on to a new place" holidays are good for seeing a lot of area quickly but not that good for scratching below the surface if that makes sense? My brother-in-law does a lot of these 3 weeks away seeing lots of far-flung places but he seems to spend a lot of time in sthole airports & on minibuses.

We went to South Goa a few years ago & were there for 3 weeks. We hired a driver with a car & pretty much went out every other day. We saw loads, but didn't travel too far which suited me perfectly. Some people at the hotel were off all over the place & I couldn't see why - you are always allowed to go back! You wouldn't go on holiday to Newquay in Cornwall then decide to go on a day trip to Inverness but people do seem to go a bit daft when abroad!

Would love to see more of that part of the world though. Never really considered Cambodia, but Vietnam is on my list.

[R6dug]

I am off to Cambodia for 10 days at the end of the month.

Booked a couple of days on Enduro bikes in Siem Reap

Booked everything from the UK. Now i cannot wait to go

I have been to Thailand quite a few times and also been to Vietnam. I traveled to Cambodia for 2 days last year before going into Thailand. I loved it that's why i am going back for longer. Found the place cleaner and cheaper than Thailand.

Edited by R6dug on Sunday 13th January 18:18

Edited by R6dug on Sunday 13th January 18:20

[VxDuncan]

Very interesting country, well worth the trip. Take in Ta Phrom (sp?) if you can while you're there (it's out of the main Angkor group). Would also consider Vietnam if you are in the area. Still one of my fondest trips, interesting from a historical point of view obviously.

Both can be hard going emotionally and physically, but rewarding. I did two weeks in Vietnam, then fast boat up the Mekong (Apocalypse Now style) into Cambodia for a week. Incredible journey, though it's pretty emotional. Couple of girls on the trip with me said they just needed to have a good cry after a couple of weeks there.

[z4chris99]

I went for a week in 2004, drove across from thailand via the hell hole that is PoiPet

beautiful scenery
massive poverty
nice hotels

piccys

[v15ben]

I've been to Siem Reap 3 times now and really enjoyed it.
I'd recommend the main temples of course, but also getting off the beaten track a little in places like Banteay Samre and Banteay Srei and also depending on the time of year, Kampong Phluk Floating Village, a really unique experience.
I'd also give a recommendation to probably the most genuine, nicest and friendliest tuk-tuk operator in Siem Reap who speaks perfect English and knows how to show you everything without paying much at all! Speak to Vantha here: https://www.facebook.com/SengTempletours?fref=ts

[Blown2CV]

there was a feature in GQ last month on a hotel called "song saa" in Kep, they said it was amazing

[ollie j]

v15ben said:

I've been to Siem Reap 3 times now and really enjoyed it.
I'd recommend the main temples of course, but also getting off the beaten track a little in places like Banteay Samre and Banteay Srei and also depending on the time of year, Kampong Phluk Floating Village, a really unique experience.
I'd also give a recommendation to probably the most genuine, nicest and friendliest tuk-tuk operator in Siem Reap who speaks perfect English and knows how to show you everything without paying much at all! Speak to Vantha here: https://www.facebook.com/SengTempletours?fref=ts

Ah yes but many people love their tuk tuk drivers I can assure you that "Richard" was THE BEST. Can't remember who we had second time round but he was excellent too.

And OP:

Just because it's a motoring forum, Phnom Penh is a fantastic city for spotting nice cars - and i'm not winding you up. Very poor country by western standards (poor but it's no Burundi).

Anyway, see how many Lambos, Ferraris etc you can spot

[v15ben]

ollie j said:

Ah yes but many people love their tuk tuk drivers I can assure you that "Richard" was THE BEST. Can't remember who we had second time round but he was excellent too.

Fair comment, although everyone else we had driving us was not a patch on this gent. I guess the key from this is to say, "Find a good tuk-tuk driver."

[rsv gone!]

ollie j said:

Just because it's a motoring forum, Phnom Penh is a fantastic city for spotting nice cars - and i'm not winding you up. Very poor country by western standards (poor but it's no Burundi).

Anyway, see how many Lambos, Ferraris etc you can spot

The only cars I saw there were Toyota Camrys, by the thousand, of all vintages. (And a smattering of NGO Lexii). That was 2006.

[ollie j]

I went September 2012 and September 2011 and saw plenty of luxury stuff. There are about 5 huge garages selling them all sorts of luxury cars such as brand new Lexus LS570, S classes, 7 series etc. nothing exciting there but 3 of these garages have Lambos, Bentleys, Ferraris and a couple of Rollers.

Sadly i can't find a pic of any of the garages but this thread shows a few luxury cars. Tip of the iceberg though as you'll know what i mean if you stumble upon a garage



Thread:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=110...

[V41LEY]

v15ben said:

Fair comment, although everyone else we had driving us was not a patch on this gent. I guess the key from this is to say, "Find a good tuk-tuk driver."

Traveling there at Easter. What did this guy you recommend charge out of interest ?

[v15ben]

For the main temples (both Angkor Wat and the inner route or the Grand Route), he charged $15 per day which included as much water as you need and he will be a full-on tour guide if you'd like or just a helpful driver if you'd rather explore alone.

His English is spot on too and he'll pick you up from anywhere, any time of day. He also offers free airport/bus station pick up to your hotel if you let him know in advance whether on the day you use him or even the day before/after using him.

For further away temples, he charges more due to the extra fuel needed to get there e.g. Banteay Srei or Beng Melea. Usually $25-30 for the day.

A couple of my friends recently used him on my recommendation and have since sent 2 of their friends to him as well.