Cambodia: Practical Information

Preparing a trip to a distant land, about which we know very little of the history and culture, and where everything seems foreign, is no small task. Here are my tips and practical information for traveling to Cambodia.

A visa is required to enter Cambodia (as well as a passport valid for at least 6 months after the return date). You can purchase it at the border or apply for your e-visa online (application and payment online, receipt of the visa via email).

Valid for 30 days, its price varies depending on whether the visa is issued on-site, at an embassy, or online ($20 + $5 processing fee for online applications).

Since 2012, there has been an agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, allowing for a single visa to travel (for 30 days) in both countries.

The history of this country is very rich, with a glorious past from the time of Angkor and a still painful history with the Khmer Rouge. Of course, it's possible to discover the culture and history of the country once you are there (guided tours, museums, etc.), but researching beforehand allows you to cultivate a sense of curiosity towards a country, a culture, and a people, making it easier to connect with the local culture upon arrival.

It's not necessary to have local currency before your arrival, nor even US dollars: it's easy to withdraw dollars upon arrival (there are ATMs at the airport and throughout major cities), and once you receive your change, you'll be overwhelmed with small riel bills.

Budget accommodations cost less than $10 per night, mid-range accommodations are between $15-20, and if you want to step into a luxury hotel, you'll find rooms at all prices (I saw a hotel in Siem Reap with rates starting at over $800 a night!).

It's not necessary to book your accommodation, except perhaps in Siem Reap during the tourist season, where you might have to search a bit before finding one (but you can always find something).

You can eat street food for $1-2 (or even less), and at local restaurants for $2-4.

In tourist areas, even a small bottle of water will cost at least $1, whereas you would have paid between 1,500 and 2,000 riel for a large bottle of water.

Both accommodation and food can be negotiated, more difficultly during the high season, and less easily than during our travels in South America.

Cambodians live day by day, without a tomorrow: why should they care about knowing that their room will be rented for several days? What interests them is the price they will get today. The exception to this rule are tuk-tuk drivers, who won't let their passengers leave until they ensure they will see them again the next day.

The rooms offered are generally of 2 categories: with or without air conditioning (usually the price is doubled for air conditioning), and sometimes the air-conditioned category includes the option for hot water (which is not always actually hot!).

We were surprised to find that the mattresses in Cambodia, regardless of the hotel standard, are very hard: this is quite different from our soft Western beds!

Often, the bathroom is equipped with a toilet with a water spray and toilet paper, as well as a sink and shower. The shower is rarely separate from the rest, with water flowing directly on the floor of the room. Often, the shower head is fixed near the toilet... or even above it. Common sense and logic do not apply!

And if you think your sink is leaking, don't worry: that's normal. Often, the sink looks similar to those at home, but it is not connected to plumbing: everything eventually flows onto the floor (like the shower).

Traveling by bus is the most common option for covering long distances, with minibus/minivan or private taxi variations.

It's also possible to take a domestic flight between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Whatever minivan you choose, they are used to making stops to eat at odd hours: at 9 AM, at 10 AM ... without knowing if it's a quick restroom stop or a break for lunch.

Another note: Cambodians are always eating on the roads! At every stop, they buy an inconceivable number of snacks, often rice in bamboo and hard-boiled eggs, which they eat continuously throughout the journey. And right at the start, small plastic bags are given to parents with children: this is a vomit bag. Every journey, we experienced this scene. No wonder, these children are stuffed throughout the trip!

If you're alone (or with one other person and not too much luggage), prefer the moto-dop, which will usually cost you about half the price of a tuk-tuk ride.

The roads, although relatively new, are not always in good condition (to say the least!) and are often dirt roads, frequented by everything that rolls on land, kicking up clouds of dust that cover everything: beware of your eyes.

In some remote accommodations, electricity is only available in the evening. WiFi is often provided in accommodations, but sometimes only in the lobby.

No special precautions: use common sense, avoiding all raw items like salads.

One small note regarding local water bottles: although the water is completely safe, it is very different, both in taste and consistency, from the water we drink in Europe. This water is lacking in nutritional elements (minerals...) and therefore doesn't provide anything beneficial to the body. In the long term, it's best to be careful to avoid deficiencies, for example by adding dietary supplements to your diet.

The traveler's rule is to avoid ice like the plague. However, not necessarily! In Cambodia, industrial ice is easily recognizable: it has a hole in the center. The water used to make it is safe.

As for other ice, most commonly it comes from local water, cut artisanally with a saw: the base ice is pure, but the methods used (material and environment) leave much to be desired: avoid it at the beginning of your trip and use it sparingly afterward, depending on how much you trust your stomach!)

Nevertheless, at tourist sites (museums, hotels, restaurants ...), the toilets are clean and accompanied by toilet paper to meet Western habits.

In small villages and with local residents, it's more rustic, the toilet resembling a pit latrine (still without paper) and accompanied by a large bucket of water with a small basin, for scooping water and rinsing.

As with all travel destinations, a good traveler's asset is to always have toilet paper in your bag!

Most pharmacies are more like stores than anything else, offering beautiful aisles directly accessible to customers, filled with creams and typically Western products. To find a good pharmacy, with competent staff who can answer your questions and provide advice for minor ailments on the road, there's a good way to differentiate pharmacies from others: pharmacists understand French, a language learned during their training.

As in all countries when traveling, use the name of the molecule rather than the commercial name of the drug.

Each major city has (at least) a small clinic; we were able to test this in Sen Monorom with François. The service is generally quite good, and apparently, we only paid for the medication, not for treatments, blood tests, or anything else.

The concentration of mosquitoes depends on the region and, more importantly, on the season, with the same rule as everywhere else: few mosquitoes in big cities, many in wet regions.

Thus, during the dry season in Phnom Penh, it was almost unnecessary to protect against mosquitoes as there were so few. However, elsewhere, whether in Siem Reap, Kompong Thom, Kratie, or Sen Monorom: as soon as night falls, the mosquitoes reveal themselves to be voracious ... and dangerous. For it is at dusk that the tiger mosquito, a disease vector, appears.

Plan to cover up in the evening, not due to temperature but because of the mosquitoes, and bring repellent. For more tips regarding mosquitoes, I refer you to the special three-part mosquito dossier: mosquitoes - general information, prevention (repellents), and remedies (what to do and not do in case of a bite).

Some vaccinations are recommended (none are mandatory for Cambodia, but they might be for traveling in other Asian countries): make sure to check what vaccinations are necessary based on the regions visited and your mode of travel. Plan to do this well in advance.

Thus, the vaccinations to consider include:

We traveled to Cambodia in February/March. The temperatures kept rising, going from 31° to 36° by the end of our stay. The heat is humid and the sun is heavy: it's tough to get accustomed to this climate (and the following months are even more stifling!).

Before going to Cambodia, it's important to know that you will arrive in a country that is very culturally different from our Western nations. For those who haven't traveled much and/or have never been to Asia, the cultural shock can be significant.

One should also know that you are about to discover a country with a rich history as poor as its population, a country full of contrasts ... A country about which I still have much to learn.

For more information about major cities, regions, and points of interest in Cambodia, check out the second Cambodian assessment article.

And you, what questions do you have before leaving? What good advice would you give before traveling to Cambodia?