#50 things you need to know before traveling to Cambodia
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“#50 things you need to know before traveling to Cambodia”
After being amazed, frustrated, emotional e even resigned with Cambodia we decided to compile a list of everything you need to know about traveling in Cambodia to help you understand Cambodia better.
Cambodia and the Locals
#1 Cambodia is located in the Indochina peninsula in South East Asia. It’s bordered by Thailand in the west, Laos in the north, and Vietnam in the east.
#2 Cambodia is a very poor country! Even when compared to its neighbors… It’s arguably the poorest country in the region, even poorer than Laos, Myanmar, and East-Timor.
#3 Tourism and the tourists are a major source of income for the Cambodians.
#4 Unlike the Lao, Cambodians try their best (and sometimes their worst) to earn money with tourists. They take initiative and try to provide services or sell stuff to the Tourists, although they aren’t too pushy.
#5 Like Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia was a French colony. Despite this, we didn’t find anyone speaking French.
#6 However, Cambodians speak a much better English than Thais and Laos, therefore it was easy to communicate in Cambodia. The official language of Cambodia is Khmer.
#7 Cambodia had one of the worst dictatorships ever, the Khmer Rouge. In 4 years (1975-179) the Khmer Rouge killed 2 Million people, 1/4 of the population!
#8 The Khmer Rouge was not only barbaric but also idiotic. They decided to empty the cities, sending everyone to the fields and planting rice. Every single industry was forbidden and everyone with any kind of higher education killed…
#9 The population is growing very quickly. It grew almost 3 times, from 6.7 M in 1980 to 16 M in 2016. This makes it also a very young population.
#10 Don’t forget that Cambodians are mainly Buddhists! They are usually very patient with tourists but please respect their culture, religion, and habits.
#11 Cambodia is dirty and has a major garbage disposal problem! There’s trash everywhere in Cambodia, it’s something very difficult to overlook! Even after living in Angola, and kind of being used to seeing garbage everywhere Cambodia impressed us.
#12 This is not only an “organizational thing”, but it’s also a mentality/cultural thing. Cambodians really need to learn to take care of the environment. Tourists won’t return if the attractions are all dirty buy most importantly it’s a matter of public health!
Travel destinations and tourists in Cambodia
#13 Angkor Wat is the main tourist attraction in Cambodia and deservedly so. It’s one of the 7 new world wonders and truly one of the greatest achievements of the ancient world!
#14 The Angkor complex is formed by dozens of temples and other archaeological sites spread over 400 km2. Don’t visit only the Angkor Wat, go to Angkor Thom, Bayon temple, and many others! This should take you at least 2 days activity, though the best would be spending 3 days in Angkor.
#15 Though we loved Angkor, we really disliked Siem Reap. Keep your expectations as low as possible about the town. It’s the messy, dirty, overcrowded and touristy in the worst kind of way. It’s also very very hot, which make the whole experience worse.
#16 We didn’t care much about Phnom Penh. It looked very dirty and uninteresting. It was also incredibly hot which made the experience worse.
#17 The Royal Palace is pleasant but really isn’t worth spending much time. It isn’t unique or particularly impressive compared with the ones in Thailand or Laos.
#18 The most impressive experience in Phnom Penh was clearly the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It’s a very immersive experience in a reality so cruel that is difficult to understand how it was possible and “allowed”. Alike Dachau Memorial it’s a full cultural and history lesson about human nature. This is a place that we won’t ever forget!
If you want to have a tour you can go to Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields with Urban Adventure.
#19 Koh ta Kiev became our personal paradise. With warm, clear water and powder sand, it’s the place where our minds wander when we are daydreaming. It’s the perfect no frills place to relax and get away from the world. We were supposed to stay for one day and stayed 3 days…
Click here to see our full experience in Koh ta Kiev!*
*Click at own risk! We don’t assume any responsibility if you get an uncontrollable urge to sell everything and run away to Koh ta Kiev.
#20 Koh Rong is the opposite! It’s Cambodia’s party island, where the backpackers and hippies go to a party, drink, and dance. Unfortunately, it’s also very dirty and disgusting in the main village. However, you can still find great beaches in Koh Rong, namely long beach, which is easily one of the most stunning beaches we have ever been to!
#21 Sihanoukville is a coastal town in Cambodia with a very sketchy reputation related to drugs and sex tourism, though we didn’t notice anything different from other tourist destinations of South East Asia. What really impressed us was the looks of the beach in the morning… I wouldn’t get in that water even if got paid!
#22 Kampot is also very popular among tourists. It’s a small town with a charmling french colonial architeture. This a destination for slow travelers, where you can enjoy nature and a few historical buildings.
Kampot is also known for being one of the best places to eat in Cambodia and the origin of the Kampot Pepper. Have a look at the best things to do in Kampot!
Traveling in Cambodia is always an adventure and can be pretty tiring. If you don’t feel comfortable planning on your own we suggest you have a look at these great organized tours!
Khmer food and What to eat Cambodia?
#23 Khmer food is similar to Lao and Thai. Probably closer to Lao because it isn’t as spicy as Thai.
Click here to see everything you need to know about Thai cuisine
#24 If you have the opportunity try Kampot pepper. The production decreased during the wars and afterward but it’s starting to recover again. It was once very famous in French cuisine and regarded as the best pepper in the world!
#25 Our favorite Khmer dish is the Amok! It can be chicken, beef or fish. Either way, it’s great. Amok is thick soup cooked with fish, meat, vegetables, eggs, and coconut milk. It’s usually eaten with white rice.
#26 Although by international standards food is extremely cheap, we found it to be slightly more expensive than in Thailand or Malaysia. Maybe on par with Laos.
#27 While in Cambodia we found these incredibly tasty, crispy and delicious tarantulas! Well, not really, 🙂 we couldn’t eat them… It’s too freaky for us! But you can try them if you must.
#28 Restaurant menus are huge… We are talking about 100+ available dishes huge! In one restaurant we even found poutine on the menu!
If you are planning a trip to Cambodia, have a look at these great 2-week itineraries to Cambodia.
How much does it cost to travel in Cambodia?
#29 What’s the official currency of Cambodia? Well, the official currency of Cambodia is the Riel, although, to a tourist, the USD is the de facto currency of Cambodia. It’s the currency used in most transactions, leaving the Riel to the job of being used as small change/breaking the USD. Remember that USD coins aren’t used.
#30 Even the ATMs will dispense USD if you are using a foreign card.
#31 While the actual amount depends on the bank, every ATM cash withdrawal has a fee of about 5 USD. Anyway, try to with withdraw money as few times as possible.
#32 Remember that cash is king. Very few stores/restaurants/guesthouses accept your credit card, and those who do will charge you up to 5% to pay directly.
#33 Overall, we spent 977 Euros in Cambodia for 11 days, averaging 33 Euros per person per day. This is way too much when compared with other countries in the region.
#34 However, this includes the visa (30 USD) and the 3-day tickets to Angkor Wat (62 USD). Therefore without these and with a longer stay, it would be much more in line with Laos, yet still considerably more expensive than Malaysia or Thailand.
#35 Accommodation and food are particularly inexpensive. Transportation is a bit more expensive, but still cheap when compared with western countries.
Traveling in Cambodia
#36 We knew that the SE Asian countries had crazy traffic and were very dangerous, but Cambodian really took it to a whole new level! We will never take another minivan in Cambodia and so shouldn’t you!
#37 In Cambodia, you won’t be able to escape the Tuk-Tuks. We managed to do it in Thailand and Laos, but not in Cambodia. You might as well embrace it and try to enjoy it. Some of them as nice, some aren’t…
#38 From Sihanoukville, it’s very easy to get to and from the islands. There are several boats to the mainland and you can easily connect the boats to buses and mini-vans.
#39 Apart from a weekend, touristic train from Sihanoukville to Phnom Phen, there are no trains in Cambodia…
#40 Traveling in Cambodia is almost as slow as in Laos. 🙂 The country isn’t very big but it takes a full day or at least half a day to travel between towns.
#41 Like Thailand and Laos, buses and even mini-vans will drop you off in the weirdest places (usually a few km outside tourist center). This happens because the bus and van drivers arrange this with taxi and tuk-tuk drivers.
So, be careful, because it can be dangerous and/or expensive. Although, to be honest, it never really happen anything dangerous to us.
Other useful travel trips about Cambodia
#42 In Cambodia the power socket are of type A (mostly used in North America, China, and Japan), C (the euro socket), and G (the British socket). The voltage is 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz.
If you need an adaptor we suggest you buy this one.
#43 There is WI-FI everywhere. Almost every coffee shop, restaurant, and guesthouse offer it, however, it’s quite bad and unreliable.
#44 Almost every place expects you to take off your shoes when come, not only the temples but even hostels and sometimes restaurants.
#45 Get used to Asian bathrooms… In Cambodia, it won’t be easy to find a western one! This means that the shower and the toilet are together, so everything gets wet after a bath.
#46 Always bring toilet paper with you, most bathrooms won’t have it and sometimes even in hostels, you will need your toilet paper…
#47 How’s the climate in Cambodia? Basically, it’ s dominated by monsoons, with two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to 22 °C (71.6 °F) and is generally accompanied by high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F) around April.
#48 Is it safe to travel to Cambodia? Cambodia is a fairly safe country to backpack, as long as you don’t do stupid things. We never had any problems traveling in Cambodia, and we walked around freely and used plenty of public transports.
Although, Remember to Buy Travel Insurance Before Your Trip! Always! Even if you don’t expect to need it, having insurance will give you extra peace of mind! And you never know when you need it!
#49 Do you need Vaccinations to travel to Cambodia? There are no mandatory vaccines to enter Cambodia (except if you are arriving from countries with a risk of Yellow Fever). On the other hand, it’s highly recommended to vaccinations as per following:
- All Travellers: Routine Vaccinations / Injections: MMR, DTaP
- Most Travellers: Typhoid, Hepatitis A
- Some Travellers: Hepatitis B, Rabies, Cholera, and Japanese Encephalitis
You should also note that there is a High Risk of Malaria across Cambodia, so you should probably take Malaria tablets with you and reduce mosquito bites the best you can.
#50 Lastly and probably one of the most important things: get used to the idea of seeing children asking you for money/trying to sell you something. As difficult as it is, resists the urge of giving them money. You are doing more harm than good. Parents and/or organized criminals groups use the children to beg and get your money!
These children are probably the cutest thing you’ll ever see and that’s why they are used to “work with tourists”. However, to do this they are not going to school and getting a possibility of having a better future. Giving money or even buying things from the children is contributing to this nasty cycle.
Now we hope that you understand Cambodia better, moreover we hope to inspire you to travel to Cambodia. We want you to both enjoy every great thing Cambodia has to offer and deal with the bad and frustrating things that have.
Our Recommended Travel Guide Books For Cambodia
The Rough Guide to Cambodia (Rough Guides)
Further Read on Cambodia Travel
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