Part 1: First time in Cambodia
Hello to all, this is the first Blog I've ever written and I'm hoping that you will find it helpful. Here I want to share my experiences which I've gained during my journey through Southeast Asia with those who are interested and give them some advice for their own journey, so that no one does the same stupid mistakes I did. Especially backpackers who travel on a small budget.
First things first. When you decide to start a journey you need to know where you want to go. So make a plan of the destinations you want to visit and the time you are going to visit them. The "when" is probably often neglected but I assure you it is something quite important to consider as depending on the season it could be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry... or even worse, you might miss some great event. I think you get the point. So check for the best season to visit a certain place while planning the route you want to take. I always wanted to visit the famous temples of Angkor Wat. So this was #1 on my checklist of places I wanted to visit. Originally, I wanted to start my journey in April, however, thats the hottest month of the year in Cambodia with temperatures above 40 °C, so I decided to go a little earlier in mid-March. That's the end of the rainy season. So the forests still look beautifully green.
And the journey begins...
Knowing where I wanted to go, I had to plan the route in order to get there. I started my journey in Frankfurt, Germany. Luckily every Friday there is a direct flight from Frankfurt Airport to Siem Reap Cambodia with Condor Airlines and I was lucky enough to find that out before buying a transit ticket to Bangkok or Hong Kong. The prices are quite good, I paid 390€ for a one way ticket (economy class) which I bought 2 weeks before departure. The ticket prices vary from week to week. If you book early enough you can get them even cheaper. So, if you use a search engine to find a flight, don't forget to check every single day of the week as some flights could only be available once a week or maybe even more infrequent. And I recommend to buy your tickets always on the official website of the airlines you are going to fly with. Search engines like Expedia are great but only to use as a search engine. It's often cheaper to book directly.
In mid-March it was still snowing in Germany, so I was wearing a sweater, good for me as I had forgotten how cold it can be inside a plane.Lucky me again I had a window seat and a free seat next to me, so I could spread my legs...
Visa, Accomodation and other things
After 11 hours of non-stop flight, I finally arrived at Siem Reap Airport. On the plane you get a card to fill out in order to enter Cambodia, don't worry much about that. You can get the visa to enter Cambodia on arrival at the airport. The visa costs 20€ and is valid for 30 days. When you enter Cambodia you need to give the card you filled out to the customs officer, he will give you one part of it back, which you need to give to a customs officer once you leave the country, so don't loose it.
Since I traveled as a backpacker on a short budget, I had to find a low budget place to stay. Siem Reap is a very touristic place, therefore, there are lots of accomodations available. You can definitely find something looking around on-site. But I can recommend you to book something beforehand as many hostels offer a free pick up service. And that's what I did. I searched for good hostel using Tripadvisor and than booked a bed from the original Website of the hostel. So another thing I recommend is that you always book directly and not through some booking sites. This way you can avoid any surcharges and you can be sure that your booking was a success (in most cases at least :P).
When I got out of the airport my Tuk-Tuk driver was already waiting for me, since I had booked a hostel beforehand and asked them to be picked up. A really nice service and you save up to 4US$ or even more, I'll come to that later.
I don't want to advertise anything here (Sorry for the AdSense :P), therefore, I will not give you the name of the place I stayed at. But so much I want to share with you... the place was really great. I stayed in a 4 peoples mixed dorm, it had air-conditioning plus ceiling fan. Toilet and bath was separate and part of the 4 peoples dorm, so not shared with other rooms. The hostel had a free to use video room with free videos, a free to use pool table and on top a swimming pool. For those interested also a yoga-studio. And the staff is really nice. And all that cost me only 6 US$ per day breakfast excluded. Also you can get there an all you can eat breakfast for just 2$. Won't get it cheaper anywhere else.
Visiting the temples
I arrived at 6 am in the morning local time, so my room wasn't ready for me yet. So I decided to visit the temples, as I couldn't wait for it. I actually wanted to take a bicycle, however being new in town and still a bit tired of the long flight I decided to take a Tuk-Tuk and to do one of the tours. Well, actually my Tuk-Tuk driver convinced me to and I just could't say 'no'. The tour I took is called the small circuit and it cost me 15US$. My first 'big' mistake to do. Instead of charging to the temples on my own without planning. I should have looked for other people to share a Tuk-Tuk with. Of course,the positive side of travelling alone is that you are independent of others. Yet, 15US$ is a lot of money which could be saved.
The 'Small Circuit Tour' includes the 3 most famous temples of Cambodia, these are of course Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. I'll write more about them in a different section.
I recommend: Take a bycicle, it costs only 1US$ per day. Or 2US$ and you get a map plus a bottle of water extra. The temples are close to town so you can, effortlessly reach them by bycicle (assuming you have normal physical fitness). I'll come later to the subject of traffic in Cambodia.
My Tuk-Tuk driver invited me to a place where the Cambodian locals eat. There is nothing fancy as in the tourist restaurants. The main dish in Cambodia, as in all of Asia, is rice. Doctors always warn you not to drink unbottled water in countries like Cambodia and not to eat anything that has been washed with it. Every drink is served with ice in it, so if you order a drink tell them to get it without ice. If you are in good health condition you should be able to stomach it. I did not get any promblems, but if you want to stay on the safe side, you better refuse it in a polite manner. The Cambodians won't take offence. The Cambodian cuisine needs some getting used to. It's very spicy, even the salads! Everyone should try it for themselves.
Small bottle, Big bottle - Everything One Dollar
You've maybe asked yourselves 'why is this guy talking about US Dollars?'. Well, the answer is quite simple, the Cambodians have their own currency, however, they don't like it themselves and see not much value in it. So, the currency actually used in Cambodia is US Dollar. Starting with 1US$. Cambodians don't take any coins, so leave your coins at home. Instead of Cents they use their own money. 4.000 KHR (Cambodian Riel) is regarded as 1US$ independent of the exchange rate. Also, pay attention that your money is in a 'good' state . I once had only 5 US$ left in my pocket and it had a tiny little rip. Just because of that, no one wanted to accept it, so I had to exchange the money at a bank.
Small bottle or big bottle it doesn't matter. If you are travelling around the temples, people will try to sell you stuff. The only thing you'll be interested in in this heat will be a cold drink. Always ask for a big bottle, as they will charge you one dollar for it no matter the size of the bottle. It's one of the phrases pretty much everyone of them has memorized: 'one dollar'.
But you can get things cheaper when you by something at places where also locals buy things. On the street sides there are many people selling food in their own vehicles, which is often charged, oh wonder, less than a dollar. I bought a dozen grilled bananas for just 1.000 Riel.
Supermarkets - The Saving Grace?
Of course you can get things cheaper in Cambodia. There are shops at almost every corner. But if you want to save some money, you better look for some bigger ones, as they often sell things at lower prices. They really sell everythig and I mean EVERYTHING you miss from your home country. However, the imported stuff is 2x to 3x more expensive as in your home country.
Water from the fridge is often twice as expensive as the one on the shelf. In less than half an hour your ice cold water will get lukewarm anyways, as it's really hot in Cambodia. The cheapest 1.5L bottles cost 40 USCents and it's good. You don't need to buy a brand water, as water is water. The same goes for your own country. Don't be influenced by advertising. In most western countries the tap water is more than good enough. So no need to produce unnecessary plastic waste. Of course you are going to want to drink some cold water, so I don't want to discourage you from buying it. Just keep in mind that it will warm up pretty fast. And if you plan on going to the temples it's better to buy the cold drinks directly on-site once you feel like getting one.
In conclusion, Cambodia isn't as low-priced as you might expect from a Southeast Asian country. Thank the US Dollar!
Small bottle or big bottle it doesn't matter. If you are travelling around the temples, people will try to sell you stuff. The only thing you'll be interested in in this heat will be a cold drink. Always ask for a big bottle, as they will charge you one dollar for it no matter the size of the bottle. It's one of the phrases pretty much everyone of them has memorized: 'one dollar'.
But you can get things cheaper when you by something at places where also locals buy things. On the street sides there are many people selling food in their own vehicles, which is often charged, oh wonder, less than a dollar. I bought a dozen grilled bananas for just 1.000 Riel.
Supermarkets - The Saving Grace?
Of course you can get things cheaper in Cambodia. There are shops at almost every corner. But if you want to save some money, you better look for some bigger ones, as they often sell things at lower prices. They really sell everythig and I mean EVERYTHING you miss from your home country. However, the imported stuff is 2x to 3x more expensive as in your home country.
Water from the fridge is often twice as expensive as the one on the shelf. In less than half an hour your ice cold water will get lukewarm anyways, as it's really hot in Cambodia. The cheapest 1.5L bottles cost 40 USCents and it's good. You don't need to buy a brand water, as water is water. The same goes for your own country. Don't be influenced by advertising. In most western countries the tap water is more than good enough. So no need to produce unnecessary plastic waste. Of course you are going to want to drink some cold water, so I don't want to discourage you from buying it. Just keep in mind that it will warm up pretty fast. And if you plan on going to the temples it's better to buy the cold drinks directly on-site once you feel like getting one.
In conclusion, Cambodia isn't as low-priced as you might expect from a Southeast Asian country. Thank the US Dollar!
Here is the link to Part 2
Cheers
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