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Cambodia 
Bangkok –> Chachoengsao –> Aranyaprathet (Thailand) –> Poipet (Cambodia) –> Battambang –> Siem Reap (& Angkor Wat) –> Skon –> Kompong Cham –> Phnom Penh –> Sihanoukville –> Kampot (& Bokor Hill) –> Sihanoukville –> Koh Kong (Cambodia) –> Hat Lek (Thailand) –> Trat –> Pattaya
Bert Hovius, June 1999
These are some notes on a trip through Cambodia (from Thailand into Cambodia overland and back into Thailand along the coast) in May 1999. These notes are meant for other travellers to give an update on the current situation since most (if not all) available guidebooks seem to be outdated. Emphasis is on transport, places to sleep and to eat, hardly any information on what to do or to see can be found here.
The trip was made together with my brother, so we were two. Sometimes prices for transportation is quoted pp (per person), sometimes the price is for the whole vehicle. Another remark: Usually I try to find comfortable accommodation for a reasonable price while for my brother price is a bigger issue. That's why you will find prices quoted for rooms with all comfort (aircon and usually tv and hot water and sometimes a fridge) as well as for rooms with own bathroom and fan only.
My brother was in Cambodia 3 years before this trip, so he could compare. For me it was the first trip to Cambodia, have been in several other Southeast Asian countries several times over the past 20 years. Looks like over the past years Cambodia hasn't become more expensive for travellers, on the contrary. It is an inexpensive country to stay. Transportation is relatively expensive. One other remark: On several occasions we noticed that the price for foreigners is different (higher of course) from the price the locals have to pay.
When we talk about restaurants we talk about local (at least Asian) food, except for breakfast, where we usually try and find something like coffee, toast and egg.
During our visit (May 1999) about Riel 3800 = Baht 38 = US$1. Prices are quoted sometimes in Riel, sometimes in Baht, often in US$.
Wherever you see this sign 
, it is a link to a page with pictures of that place. This trip I
did bring a video camera, not a picture camera. So the pictures are screen captures (great thing this Snappy!), the quality of a simple Sony Video8 Handycam.
May 4, Bangkok, Thailand
We arrived in Bangkok on Saturday May 1, and (as expected) the Cambodian embassy was closed on Monday because of this Labour day the Saturday before. Tuesday it was open as usual (9:00-12:00 and 13:30-17:00). At 10:00 we filled in the form, handed over our Dutch passport, one passport-photo and US$20 each and could pick up the passports with one month visa the same day after 16:00. The embassy is close to Regent House (Hotel) on Ratchadamri Rd on the corner at the Lumphini park, the visa entrance being round that corner in a small alley.
Update 2001: Visa are now also issued at the 2 overland border crossings with Cambodia.
May 5, Bangkok –> Chachoengsao –> Aranyaprathet (Thailand)
Our intention was to take the 9:53 train to Chachoengsao, but floods prevented us to reach Makkasan train station (see the links on this page for time-tables). Yes the rainy season had started early. Akkamat (or is it Ekamai or Eastern or Sukhumvit?) bus station was no problem, so we took the 10:00 aircon bus. It arrived in Chachoengsao close to midday (traffic jams are a problem in Bangkok, rainy season or not).
In Chachoengsao a Baht 40 tuktuk took us to the temple Wat Sothon. There are a lot of restaurants on the waterfront behind the market close to the temple. Don't know if these food stalls are always open for lunch, this day was special (Coronation day), there was a lot to do in the temple under construction, kind of a fundraising action. A songthaew (Baht 5 pp) brought us to the train station, in time to catch the 14:40
train to Aranyaprathet (Baht 39 pp) arriving 18:30. In Aran good food and music in the open air restaurant on the corner opposite the train station. The Baht 550 aircon rooms at the Inter Hotel were not really value for money, but the Baht 80 American breakfast definitely was.
May 6, Aranyaprathet –> Poipet (Cambodia) –> Battambang
A Baht 40 tuktuk brought us to the border. After checking out of Thailand and into Cambodia (efficient, no hassle) it is a walk down the street to the 'taxi'-stand (or should it be called bus-station) somewhat to the left. We didn't want to go straight to Siem Reap, but to Battambang. The available pickup trucks charge Baht 100 for a place in front (in the cabin), don't know how much a place in the back is. Since 6 passenger should fit in front and a lot outside in the back, a whole pickup can be hired for Baht 900. But we shared a 'real' taxi, an aircon Toyota, with 2 local passengers and paid Baht 500 for the two of us. The first part of the road, from Poipet to Sisiphon, is in very bad condition, the second part, from Sisiphon to Battambang is good for large parts. We left Poipet somewhat before 11:00, arrived in Battambang well before 14:00. Didn't notice any bribe-collecting on this road, the first occasion we've seen this was when leaving Siem Reap.
May 7, Battambang (Cambodia)
Battambang is a friendly town. We stayed at the Chaya Hotel, aircon room $8, fan $6. Looks like having a porn-channel on tv is a must for hotels in Battambang. The food and the beer is ok and cheap at the Thai Ly Restaurant. Phkay Preuk Restaurant is good, which is confirmed by a steady coming and going of UN-vehicles.
Our first excursion in Battambang was to the Phnom Sampeou. We took a $3 moto each to get there and come back. Boys at the bottom of the stairs are ready to show you around for a small fee. This includes climbing the stairs to the hilltop temple, a
short crawl through a cave (rent-a-candle), some weapons on the hill (see picture) and a 'killing-field' cave. Later that day we took a $2 moto each to see the Wat Ek ruins.
We had to check out a Cambodian dancing/night-club, as usual open from 20:00 till 24:00. Prices here as well as in general? $1.50 for a can, $2.20 for a big bottle of beer. Table charge is $0.20 pp and a girl coming to sit at your table (and sometimes helping to drink your beer and sometimes talking some words in English) will cost you $2.
May 8, Battambang –> Siem Reap
We wanted to leave the next day and found out there were no flights to Siem Reap on Saturday (there are on most other days for $30 + 10%). But there are daily speedboats. This turned out to be small boats with a Yamaha outboard motor where around 10 passengers could find a place to sit. They leave at 7:00 and (unlike other countries around) in Cambodia leaving at 7:00 means leaving at 7:00 and not somewhat or much later. Because of this miscalculation we had to leave without having had breakfast, but the boat-operators were friendly enough to throw in some bread and drinking water. The price was $15, it looks like locals pay Riel 38000, the equivalent of $10. After a beautiful trip on the river and partly the lake we arrived close to Siem Reap at around 11:00. Be prepared to pay another Riel 3000 pp for a small boat a little bit upriver. Finally a $2 taxi brought us to Siem Reap proper.
May 9 – 12, Siem Reap (& Angkor Wat)
We stayed 5 nights in the Chao Say guesthouse and after some bargaining had to pay $12 per night for an aircon, $7 for a fan room.
It doesn't make sense to try and explain here what to see and to do around Siem Reap. Enough guidebooks on Angkor Wat, Bayon (see picture), Banteay Srei, the best place to see the sunset etc. We think the best transport is a moto, pay $6 or $7 per day, the driver usually speaks some English and or French and they know what tourists want to see anyhow.
The restaurant of our guesthouse turned out to be a disappointment, the Bayon restaurant, a golden oldie, really good
(fish in coconut!). At the Chhouk Rath restaurant the food is good, the service and ambience not. Also the Greenhouse serves good food. The restaurant Arun is good, but the food (not the beer though) has become more expensive. Samapheap restaurant is very good but a more upmarket place (but what is paying half or one dollar more per course?). Restaurant Singapor is another disappointment. The best breakfast and espresso we found at the Continental Cafe.
One remark: We took the $40 3 day pass to visit the ruins, and thought we could do the Roulos group (as not being part of the Angkor Wat temples) on day 4. But at the biggest of the 3 Roulos temples they now also check the validity of your pass, even though this temple is not mentioned on the back of the ticket.
May 13, Siem Reap –> Skon –> Kompong Cham
Travelling from Siem Reap towards Phnom Penh there is a choice of flying ($55), boat ($25), minibus ($12) or pickup truck. We didn't want to fly or take a boat because we were planning to go to Kompong Cham first. The minibus wasn't going 'because of the rain', maybe it was just because of low season.
The pickup is $6 pp inside. To have some space to breathe we hired all 4 places on the bench behind the driver, thus paying $24 for the two of us. It left at around 6:15, arriving in Skon as promised around 14:00. Two stops on the way, first at a marketplace, good for a kind of hotdog, second for lunch. The first half of the road was terrible, the second half was better. In my opinion a road can be called good, when a truck can more or less drive in a direct line instead of trying to go around holes. We got off in Skon to catch a minibus (Riel 3000 pp) that left immediately and half an hour to three quarters of an hour later we were in Kompong Cham. This stretch of road is better than good, for the first time this trip in Cambodia, we saw a road with lines!
May 14, Kompong Cham (Cambodia)
In
Kompong Cham we stayed at the Mekong Hotel (aircon $15, fan $7). The (aircon-) rooms in front have a view on the Mekong river, the pier and the bridge currently under construction, but the disadvantage is the noise of the boat-horns starting from 5:30 early morning. The (fan-) rooms at the back of the hotel don't have that feature. The restaurant with the sign 'Thai food' in the Rue Pasteur has good food that is different in taste than the usual Thai food.
Since the guidebooks we carried gave the impression that it was far away we paid to much ($8) for a taxi that brought us first to Wat Nokor (Bayon) and then to Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei, two hill temples not far from town just off the main road. We were back in town in two hours.
May 15, Kompong Cham –> Phnom Penh
The
next morning we took the speedboat to Phnom Penh. It was supposed to leave 9:30, but coming from Kratie it was 15 minutes late and arrived around midday in Phnom Penh (Riel 25,000 pp)
May 16 – 18, Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
Not much worth mentioning here about Phnom Penh, the guidebooks will tell you where to eat, where to sleep, what bars to visit. We stayed two nights at the Mittapheap Hotel (negotiated 2 aircon rooms for $25 together per night) and two nights at the Sun Shine Hotel ($25 in front overlooking the river, $15 for an aircon room inside (an inside room is cooler, but very dark when no electricity)). We changed hotel to have easier access to 'nightlife' in the other part of town, since roaming around in the dark in the side-streets is said to be dangerous. But things have improved. Situation now is that after dark (in the evening) Phnom Penh is not much more dangerous than other cities. It is recommended though not to be on the streets after let's say 22:00 when things get to quiet.
May 19, Phnom Penh –> Sihanoukville
Aircon buses to Sihanoukville leave from close to the market, ours was leaving at 8:30, arriving at 12:15. Video on board: 'Missing in action 2' and of course a karaoke-tape! Price is Riel 10,000 PP-SHV, Riel 8,000 SHV-PP. Also the midday bus is cheaper then the morning bus.
Update 2001: Price now 12000 both directions, all departures.
May 20, Sihanoukville (Cambodia)
When going to Sihanoukville try to lay your hand on a copy of the 1999 ('Volume 2 number 1') Sihanoukville Visitors Guide which includes a map, hotel-listings, restaurants, pubs, night-spots, things to do etc. Click here to see some info borrowed from the Sihanoukville Visitors Guide.
We stayed (in town, no beach weather anyway) at the Hotel New York and paid $10 for clean and spacious aircon rooms. List prices are $10 for a night, $13 for day and night. You guessed it: massage and karaoke in the building. This is no problem, the noise of the karaoke and other guests is not above the level of the aircon.
Good place to have breakfast is (also on Ekareach St) at the New Soriya. And we had a nice meal at the Thai/Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of Ekareach and Boray Kamakor.
May 21, Sihanoukville –> Kampot
At 8:10 the taxi left for Kampot after we agreed on paying Riel 30,000 for the whole backseat, thus paying for 3 or 4 passengers. A bit embarrassing to see 4 people (2 passengers, 1 child and the driver) sit in front while we were sitting as kings in the back. We arrived in Kampot just before midday, the middle part of the road is really, really bad (from leaving the Sihanoukville – Phnom Penh road to close to the entry of Bokor Hill national park). We checked in the Phnom Kamchay hotel, the best of the 3 at the intersection, paying $12 for the spacious double aircon rooms, single occupancy (the single rooms are small).
We did pass a overcrowded train going from Sihanoukville to Kampot, but as someone explained us, we shouldn't ask at what time the train did leave Sihanoukville, but what day.
May 22, Kampot (& Bokor Hill)
Our earlier intention was to hire an off-the-road motorcycle in Sihanoukville an do the trip to Kampot and Bokor Hill national park by ourselves. But there we were told that a visit to Bokor hill was to dangerous because of the season (to cold and slippery to drive through the clouds on a bad road). Marco Polo guesthouse in Kampot had a 4WD available for the trip, asking a total of $40. Since they had 2 other passengers, we decided to do the trip despite the talk about bad roads and clouds. Starting at 7:00 (mornings usually are less clouded) this trip is definitely worthwhile. There's deserted houses, a deserted casino and church (see picture), a waterfall (after wading through a stream and a walk) and beautiful views despite the clouds. We returned around 14:30. We found the roads up the hill good enough (after recent works) for cars, minibuses or ordinary motorcycle. But beware that you're on your own when having engine trouble or a flat tire! This Saturday we encountered only 3 other vehicles on the mountain roads. Entrance fee to the park is $2 pp. We saw a new guesthouse up the hill, and were told you could sleep there for $5 pp, but don't know if there's always someone there or some reservation has to be done.
Marco Polo guesthouse and restaurant in Kampot has very good food (but also very expensive for Cambodian standards), Italian seafood is their speciality, also breakfast. Besides the 4WD there's also a boat available for excursions.
May 23, Kampot –> Sihanoukville –> Koh Kong (Cambodia)
Time to head back to Thailand. We hired a taxi from Kampot to Sihanoukville, the two of us buying also the last (forth) seat at the back (less embarrassing, still comfortable paying 3 x Riel 8000 = Riel 24,000) thus making the taxi leave at 7:00. It turned out to be a very fast driver, so we found ourselves at the pier in Sihanoukville well before 10:00 to buy the ticket for the 12:00 fast boat to Koh Kong. Having already seen that paying in dollars was a bad deal, we had changed enough to pay in Riel (price list Baht 500 or Riel 50,000 or $15). Time enough to have a brunch at the good restaurant 500 meters back towards Sihanoukville.
Update 2001: Price now Baht 600 or $15.
Beware: we were warned the boat trip would be a cold one, but this was really bad. If you don't have a jacket, big towel or something else to keep you warm, you'll be sick the next day. Why do they do this to their passengers?
At the second stop (just before Koh Kong town) all foreigners had to get off the boat to get their passport checked. Since we wanted to spend the night in Koh Kong we hopped back on the boat, others hired a small boat from here to get to the border. Koh Kong is without any doubt Sinn-city. We spend the night in Kolab Cheay Den Hotel (aircon Baht 250, smaller fan rooms Baht 150) and had a ok-meal in Kohkong Kitchen (walk, or moto, to the monument near the airport).
May 24, Koh Kong (Cambodia) –> Hat Lek (Thailand) –> Trat
To get from Koh Kong to the border there should be two possibilities, but both start with the same tiny boats at the same landing place. One way should be taking a boat that goes on the open sea and drops you off close to the Cambodian side of the border close to Hat Lek. But we could not find a boat that was willing to bring us there for Baht 50 pp. Did we have to wait for more passengers or pay more or was the sea to high? So we used the second possibility. That is a boat to the other side of the river for Baht 20 pp. At the pier than, there's taxis as well as motos that can bring you to (the Cambodian side of course of) the border for Baht 30 pp. Not wanting to wait for a taxi to fill up we took motos. The trip is something between 5 and 10 km of good road, along the casino/hotel and one checkpoint. After checking out of Cambodia it's a 100 meter walk to check in in Thailand and you're in Hat Lek.
We were lucky to find a minibus that left immediately for Trat (Baht 100 pp), it goes all the way to Bangkok.
May 25, Trat (Thailand) –> Pattaya
In Trat we stayed at the Hotel (Muang) Trat, rooms starting from Baht 220, aircon for Baht 560, definitely not value for money. Lots of buses go from Trat to Bangkok, but we wanted to go to Pattaya (and from there later straight to Bangkok Airport) and could find only one company going there, at 8:00 and 12:00 (the minibus actually leaving 12:30).
Useful or interesting links
A backpacking travel guide to Cambodia, interesting new site
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, a lot of links here that turned out to be very useful!
Overland, and here
Andy Brouwer's Cambodia tales, interesting story
Marcel Stoessel's homepage, journalist, traveller, and student
My email address is BERT at my domain BERTH.NL, all response is welcome.
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