Trip Report For Phnom Penh, Cambodia

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Ya Emily...that sounds right re Lone Star... Nothing I read suggested it was a pickup or freelancer place... just the opposite as you mentioned, since it's a family run and staffed place. The online complaints from women that I read were all centered around some feeling uncomfortable being around some groups of well-lubricated guys talking loudly about their latest conquests...

By the way, when you wrote:

Some of the best food in town is now at a red light joint where a locally known chef migrated to after years at another hangout.

Were you talking about the Green Vespa place you mentioned next...or did you not mention the actual name of the place you were talking about?

Edited April 7, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[phuketrichard]

there are plenty of western run bars/rests, Try the "garage" on street 130 some day

also the pickled parrot on street 104 ( yea its full of hostess bars but.... great food 24 hours./day

I lived across the Tonle sap on the river in a studio apt right overlooking river big room, kitchen.hot water, wifi, secure parking i always take my Thia car with me when i am in Cambodia and its no problem except in passing other cars) maid service, and cable for $400/month/

One thing is that Cambodia is NOT set up like Thailand anywhere in the country, You will not find many condos/apts, small semi furnished houses like we have in Phuket so the living choice is limited

You'll also see more Hummers than i have ever seen in Asia an this is with a price tag of over $150,000. PP seems to the Lexus capital of Asia as well

TO dam many NGO's with to much money on their hands.

[emilyb]

John, sorry, I was referring to another place called Shanghai, over by Heart of Darkness. It's 100% women in tight dresses wandering around rubbing men's thighs and giggling, but the chef is famous from his years at California 2 and the food's worth it (you can get takeaway). Wish he'd stayed at Cali 2. I just order whatever he recommends or has on special. It's like eating in Cafe Madrid if it were full of uniformed bargirls, though, so if that's beyond the comfort zone then avoid it. Sharky's is semi-famous as a more blue collar variety of that concept - good comfort food, tons of hookers everywhere.

Green Vespa's an old school British pub, definitely nothing going on there - other than a really dedicated owner with some great food. Bit of a landmark, I reckon. Sorry for the poor phrasing.

As for accomodations, it's a lot better than it used to be. You can live across the river as he mentions at fully serviced joints starting at $350 a month (check out VTrust Property), though with the new riverwalk going in on the opposite bank they've closed all the taxi boat service and you have to drive down to the Japanese Bridge and then back, which takes a few minutes. There are much, MUCH cheaper places across the river as it's considerably less developed, but there are some very nice mansions and condos springing up (even CBRE has a condo over there). For accomodations, check out Khmer440, expat-advisory and a couple of other forum sites.

One thing worth noting for anyone who hasn't been is that Phnom Penh is a very small town and you very quickly realize just how small, because everyone knows everyone's business

EDIT: The fancy cars these days belong, by and large, to the welathy Khmer. I've never seen an obvious Westerner get into any of the 4-5 Hummers that are always parked on sisowath. There's plenty of NGO and diplomatic corps money sloshing around, no doubt, but the extravagant displays of wealth of the giant Lexus sticker and Hummer variety are from 90% wealthy Khmers and 10% obnoxious expats. The NGO and foreign service crowd are obnoxious in their own way and covet their Priuses and Range Rovers, but they don't tend to live like rap stars the way the other set do. That's a big change from 5-10 years ago when there weren't many wealthy Khmer and most all the cars in the country belonged to obnoxious NGO workers. What I can't figure out is who drives all the mid range sedans. If you want to meet the wealthy local party crowd, head over to St. Tropez on Friday or Saturday. It's like Khmer Miami Vice.

Edited April 7, 2012 by emilyb

[Card]

Nice info - I fully agree about the Cambodian's command of English and their attitude to service compared to Thais. It puts the Thais to shame really, esp. in BKK. Same with the Laos. I think it's because the Thais don't need to try hard enough. Your report is very practical - any comments on local/western food and accommodation and tourist sites quality/price?

[emilyb]

The English part is true. On the other hand, if you ever find yourself getting really cynical about decision-making skills in Thailand or about saving/losing face, spend several months in Cambodia. On the plus side, people really are genuinely friendly (though you can feel the cynicism starting to creep in as it does anywhere) and I've never had a single problem with honesty or theft, in fact much like Thailand I've been chased down with dropped money and ATM cards. On the minus side, it is a country that's truly lifting itself up by the bootstraps and this is the first generation or two that've gotten anything approaching a real education, so the results of that do tend to wear on you a bit. Talk to any business owner there and you'll hear the stories. They're similar to what you hear here, but magnified quite a bit. There's no middle class there, so while the work ethic's stronger than it is here in labor-starved, go-live-at-home-with-mom-and-dad-and-let-the-Burmese-and-Khmer-do-the-jobs Thailand, the education and skill level leaves something to be desired in comparison. And the family zaniness is like the most stereotypical Isaan nuttiness of kids at work and quitting to go stay with mom, but it's omnipresent and much more magnified because of how much poorer and less developed the society is. Take the ferry across from Naga and people are riding around on horse-drawn carriages. It's considerably poorer and less-developed than Thailand is by any metric and while living in Phnom Penh's expat society shields you from that quite a bit, the longer you're there and the more you interact with folks the more it becomes apparent.

Edited April 7, 2012 by emilyb

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I lived in Cambodia in 2006 an than 2008-09 and will be moving back this August, It is 10 x easier to set up a business and u do a need a work permit and jump thru all the hassles one needs to do here in Thailand and the opportunities are endless.

I have many friends that have left Phuket over the years and moved to Shianoukville and that's where i am headed. The beaches are not nearly as nice as say Hua Hin, Phuket or Samui but the islands are beautiful.

Most important for me is the people, they are more friendle than the Thais ( especially those u find in the tourist areas) and there level of english is much better

Richard, do you know... re the agent-assisted one-year visa extension method that you and Emily described above, is that something that also can be handled/arranged locally in outlying places like Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, or would someone doing that need to go into Phnom Penh once a year in order to handle those renewals?

Also, above, we were talking about medical facilities in PP and elsewhere there... And that reminded me, apart from the caliber/quality of medical care itself, there's also the issue of what's the market there for obtaining medical insurance for foreigners?

Here in Thailand, there are lots of local health insurance providers (some better and some not) and farangs wanting health insurance have a range of choices for local coverage...apart from the usually more expensive expat western-provider insurance carriers. It would be good to know what kind of availabilities Cambodia has in that regard.

Edited April 7, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Nice info - I fully agree about the Cambodian's command of English and their attitude to service compared to Thais. It puts the Thais to shame really, esp. in BKK. Same with the Laos. I think it's because the Thais don't need to try hard enough. Your report is very practical - any comments on local/western food and accommodation and tourist sites quality/price?

I'd sure like to gain some understanding of how Cambodia, starting from how far it had fallen years ago with the Khmer Rouge and civil war, now has managed to gain such a seemingly good/large population of young people, at least in PP, who have become quite conversant in English. It does indeed seem to put Thailand to shame. Whatever recipe the Cambodians used to achieve that, the Thais and their dubious education system (and not just in regards to English) ought to seriously consider importing it.

Re the question about western food, Emily and my posts above have touched on various individual places and the general trends. In Phnom Penh, there's certainly a wealth of choices at prices ranging from affordable to pricey, whatever suits your budget. I think a foreigner could easily manage to eat quite well there without breaking the bank by any means. But there are gaps...as I said above, I saw nary a McDonald's or a Starbucks in PP... Doesn't bother me any, but might be important to some people.

About accommodation, did you mean hotel/tourist type places...or apartment/condo type places for a resident?

[phuketrichard]

as far as the one year visa; I currently hold a Thai retirement extension good for a year and also the one year Cambodia 1 year visa. Just about any travel agents along the river front will do it for ya, Takes a day or two at the most. But i and many Farangs use Lucky lucky motorcycle for all our needs on Monivong rd.

Price varies form 280-290/year

AS far as sr an shv, am sure there are agents that will do it for ya, but expect it to cost another $20 or so ( about the cost of a r/t bus ticket)

Fast food outlets have yet to take off cause i am sure the concession is owned by one guy/family although u will find a pizza hut and swansons ice cream

As far as English goes; Go to any bar/restaurant an chat with a server or hostess an they will speak some English and will 75% of the time be attending some sort of English class and also they will tell ya there dream is to learn to speak good English so they can get a good job.

Go in any bar on Thailand the bar girls could care less about learning English.

all the want is to;

2. land a rich farang

2. save enough to own a beauty parlor/hair cut salon

Most end up on the streets after their looks are gone or back home with mom an dad and the few kids that have acquired along the way

[smokie36]

Regarding purchasing the visa on arrival using Baht. You can but they charge 1000 Baht for this so double the cost than if you use US$.

Well, 1,000 baht works out to about $32 vs. paying $25 for the EVisa online in advance vs. paying $20 in U.S. currency for visa upon arrival.

Still the difference between $20 and $32 is more than the cost of a taxi sedan ride from the airport into the central city area.

Quite right John. When I did it that way the US$ was a lot stronger!

Edited April 7, 2012 by smokie36

[DP25]

Burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, mains, vegetable sides and so on are all better, on average, in Phnom Penh by a long shot (and relatively cheap). That said, Mexican food also sucks in Phnom Penh and is the rare area where even Bangkok has a better selection.

I agree that burgers, pizza, and non western food in general is a much better value in Phnom Pehn than in Bangkok. You can get good stuff in Bangkok but it is pricy.

But when I was there in, albeit in 2005, I thought the Mexican was pretty decent. There was a place called Sharky's that had huge California style burritos with sour cream and guac for $5-6, something that didn't even exist in Bangkok back then, and while it does now it is $10 or more. There was also a budget fast food Mexican place near Independence Monument, a kind of restaurant that doesn't even exist in Bangkok. $1-3 for everything on the menu. And I was the only white person there when I went, it was filled with Khmers eating $2 grilled burritos, something I've never seen in Thailand. Only bad Mexican was a place I had advertising Baja Style fish tacos, I guess they ran out of corn tortillas or something cause they gave me some kind of egg roll instead. Still I'd take the situation in Phnom Penh, at least back when I was there, over what we have now in Bangkok, the prices are just absurd for Mexican and there are no budget places here anymore.

[how241]

Great report. Lots of good info. Thanks !!!

[DP25]

I'd sure like to gain some understanding of how Cambodia, starting from how far it had fallen years ago with the Khmer Rouge and civil war, now has managed to gain such a seemingly good/large population of young people, at least in PP, who have become quite conversant in English. It does indeed seem to put Thailand to shame. Whatever recipe the Cambodians used to achieve that, the Thais and their dubious education system (and not just in regards to English) ought to seriously consider importing it.

The recipe Cambodia used to get such good English skills, is grinding poverty and despair as a result of civil war and genocide. Learning English is a way out, so they work hard to learn it.

When I was in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, I was amazed that even the motorcy guys could speak decent English. After talking with them, many of them could speak Thai too. One I had for 3 days had worked in construction in Thailand, he learned Thai on the job and attended English classes as well, and bought a motorcycle on returning home and started offering tours of Angkor Wat. He spoke better English than some Thais that have degrees from America do

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

Thanks for a lot of great info above, Emily... It matched and reinforced some of the impressions I had from my quick visit. While my wife was shopping, I actually was focused on looking around at everything I could see and find to assess the potential liveability of PP for a farang such as myself.

It's funny you mentioned about the expiry dates... I was shopping to bring back some spirits or liqueurs, as the prices in PP are much better than BKK. And I believe it was at the new Bayon Market, I found they had a great selection overall, and in particular, a stock of probably five different flavors of Baileys in liter bottles. But when I checked the boxes, someone had carefully taped over the place where the expiration date was printed. And on those flavors that didn't have the dates taped over, the visible date was due to expire in a couple of months. So I ended up passing on those, and selecting something else. I pointed out the taped-over dates to a store clerk, and she just nodded and walked away.

Question about the visa method you mentioned, which confirms the account I had mentioned above. If someone goes that route and pays $280 or so a year to a "fixer," what exact kind of stamp or visa ends up getting placed into one's passport??? Do you end up with something official that legitimately entitles you to legally be there for the full year? In looking at the MFA website, I didn't see anything that appeared to correspond to that one year stay notion.

Re smoking, my wife and I are both serious non-smokers, and bothered to be in smoking environments. But I was surprised when we spent some time in NagaWorld, that for a casino, it wasn't nearly as smokey as what we have encountered in places like Macau and elsewhere. And when we were dining out or having drinks elsewhere in the evening, at least at the places we visited, smoking or a smokey environment didn't seem to be a problem at all.

During our stay, we didn't eat any Khmer food at all, although we saw it on offer, of course. I was surprised to find a quite good American bar and restaurant there on 240 Street called Freebird where we had a great dinner and drinks provided by a great serving staff. Sure wish BKK had someplace even remotely close to that, which it doesn't.

Had an afternoon refresher of drinks and ice cream at the Blue Pumpkin on Sisowath Quay that was pleasant, comfortable air con and free wifi. Had so-so food at Munich Beer on Sothereos Blvd, but the local brewed beer there was quite good. Some of the American-run places there appeared to serve some Mexican (or Tex-Mex) items on their menus, but I didn't spot any solely Mexican eatery around town. And as I mentioned above, the Korean meal we had at Jeju at NagaWorld, while expensive for PP standards, was surprisingly good and authentic, and the service was first-rate.

As you noted above:

Burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, mains, vegetable sides and so on are all better, on average, in Phnom Penh by a long shot (and relatively cheap).

This farang could get along quite well on a staple diet consisting of those kinds of things. Give me some decent ingredients from the store, and I'll cook my own Mexican meals at home... (Ooops...forget to check if the farang-oriented markets there stocked any flour tortillas.... Dang...)

About the atmosphere of the city, I'm glad you mentioned it. I don't recall seeing a single local transit bus during our stay there in PP.. Tour and regional buses yes, but not local transit... And unlike BKK, the tuk tuks there are far less noisy and obnoxious, in addition to driving much more sanely. My Thai wife won't take a tuk tuk in BKK, but she was perfectly comfortable using them in PP throughout our stay. The PP version of tuk tuks do seem to provide a very convenient and perfectly affordable way of getting around the city even if one isn't using or having a car.

Lastly, it's also interesting you confirmed my impression about the weather in PP. From my reading ahead of our trip, I was prepared to be sweaty and miserable. But in reality, far from it. I tend to FEEL much hotter in BKK where just a walk from home to the BTS will leave my shirt damp from sweat because of the humidity. Whereas in PP, even when we were out in the mid afternoon sun, yes it felt hot, but I wasn't sweating and when we went into the shade even in non-air conditioned places like the Central or Russian markets, it was perfectly comfortable.

Again, thanks for all the great info.

I got a 30 day business visa when I drove across the border from Trat and after 25 days had it changed to a one year visa of the same. It is unlimited entry/exit Cambodia. Paid $295.00 US.I went to ANA Travel in Snooky and had it back in 5 days from PP.

No proof of funds or any other baloney like here.Just renew it each year and stay as long as you wish...Cambodia WANTS people to visit and stay. Unlike Thailand where they want you to spend a couple thousand after a couple weeks and get out. I love Cambodia. Easy visas and things are a bit cheaper overall. Sihanoukville can be the perfect mecca if you know your way around...But half the fun is getting out and about to find the places that suit you best...Happy travels...I forgot to mention that both visas, 30 day and the one year, take up full pages in your passport...Kind of a pain but wholly worth it.

Edited April 7, 2012 by TeddyFlyfisherDavis

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

Excellent report Tall Guy...I wish I could take notes as good as you...I spend a lot of time in Cambo and I actually learned a few things...Thanks...Cheers.

Edited April 7, 2012 by TeddyFlyfisherDavis

[smokie36]

I just wanted to mention the excellent quality of bread, pastries and coffee in Phnom Penh. A breath of fresh air after Thailand!

[DP25]

I agree that burgers, pizza, and non western food in general is a much better value in Phnom Pehn than in Bangkok. You can get good stuff in Bangkok but it is pricy.

I meant non Asian there, not Western. Asian food in Thailand is better. Non Asian is better in Cambodia. Khmer people are happy to eat bread and other western style food that Thais rarely eat, and when they do they change it so its hardly recognizable anymore.

[DoctorG]

I am currently in PP for a month and concur with everything previously said. I am impressed with the wide streets and general cleanliness.

The locals tell me that power is very expensive here though, but I am not in a position to verify.

I think I will not visit Thailand as often after this.

[Soboringtochooseaname]

So you didn;t feel how jealous and pushy are there people ?

I've been there twice and never feel like to go again, as wel as Vietnam, even Africa countries are better than these places...

[OLDAUSSIE]

Great report, I lived there for five years and this report is pretty close to spot on except the bit about the Pickled Parrot and The Garage, both of these places sell crap food. phuketrichard is friends with both owners that is why he always gives them a plug on other forums.

[OLDAUSSIE]

I am currently in PP for a month and concur with everything previously said. I am impressed with the wide streets and general cleanliness.

The locals tell me that power is very expensive here though, but I am not in a position to verify.

I think I will not visit Thailand as often after this.

Yes Electricity is expensive compared to Thailand....and many blackouts in Sihanoukville.

[OLDAUSSIE]

I just wanted to mention the excellent quality of bread, pastries and coffee in Phnom Penh. A breath of fresh air after Thailand!

I totally agree on that one.

[phuketrichard]

Great report, I lived there for five years and this report is pretty close to spot on except the bit about the Pickled Parrot and The Garage, both of these places sell crap food. phuketrichard is friends with both owners that is why he always gives them a plug on other forums.

Curious how you know who I am friends with as I am not friends with either In fact have only met Jim once

The breakfast at the Parrot is very good, ( they make a good curry) and better than what u would get other places. I usually don't eat Barang food that much and prefer local food and Thai food.

Reason I mention the Parrot is i stay there if in town for short stays and think for the price of the room, ($18) and location, ( 1/2 block off riverside) its a great deal

Edited April 7, 2012 by phuketrichard

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The recipe Cambodia used to get such good English skills, is grinding poverty and despair as a result of civil war and genocide. Learning English is a way out, so they work hard to learn it.

When I was in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, I was amazed that even the motorcy guys could speak decent English. After talking with them, many of them could speak Thai too. One I had for 3 days had worked in construction in Thailand, he learned Thai on the job and attended English classes as well, and bought a motorcycle on returning home and started offering tours of Angkor Wat. He spoke better English than some Thais that have degrees from America do

Yes, that was my experience in PP as well. Most of the serving and hotel staff I encountered spoke quite good English. And even the tuk tuk guys I encountered, especially those doing hotel business, seemed to have at least a rudimentary command of English. Between that and carrying around U.S. greenbacks, it "almost" made me think I was in a different country.

When I talked about the Cambodian recipe for English, I meant more the educational process/system that's producing young people who can speak English so relatively well, especially considering the history and development level of their country.

Thailand has plenty of language and tutoring schools and programs, and loads of native English speakers and supposed "teachers" roaming around. Yet Thai students seem to be able to go thru their English lessons in school and even the language school stuff and still emerge with little English command or fluency.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Excellent report Tall Guy...I wish I could take notes as good as you...I spend a lot of time in Cambo and I actually learned a few things...Thanks...Cheers.

Thanks for the earlier post about your experience with getting the one-year Cambo visa extension, and please do chime on other things that might be of use or interest to folks here on the topic.

Re the Cambodian visa extension process, everyone's posted experience here who's actually done those really suggests it's a perfectly do-able thing, albeit nominally somewhat more expensive than Thailand's comparable retirement extension.

But when you add in not having to mess with 90 day reports like in Thailand or even having to go in person yourself to Cambodian Immigration (everything reported here has involved people going 100% thru agents), it certainly strikes me as a perfectly reasonable deal.

Just on the measure of visa stuff alone, I'd perfectly well be content to hand someone $300 a year to get a one-year Cambodian visa, not have to set foot in Immigration, and not have to mess with doing or sending 90 day reports ever again, or buying 1000 baht a pop re-entry permits. The additional cost for the Cambodian method, for me, is well worth avoiding the various inconveniences associated with the Thai process.

The only question for me would be: Thailand's process, for all its various inconveniences, is a pretty well-established one and there are longstanding written rules and procedures as for what it takes to qualify and such (although those are not always followed by this or that local office).

Whereas Cambodia's current process seems to be more informal, and I guess in the worst case scenario, someone of influence in the government could wake up someday and, for whatever reason, simply tell the Cambodian Immigration office to stop issuing those extensions. I'm not saying I think that's likely, but it strikes me that Cambodia seems to operate a bit more by the seat of its pants.

Edited April 7, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[dude007]

Being very familiar with Cambodia since 1991 (at that time there were only chartered flights from Bangkok to Phnom Penh) I admit that this report is the best ever I have read so far. This person has done extremely well and has behaved professionally in his first visit to Phnom Penh. His ideas and perceptions are absolutely matching mines, although I have more than 20 years experience of visiting this country at an average basis of 2 times per 3 months.

Thailand, as a tourist destination, is actually being overtaken by Cambodia. Maybe not in numbers yet but for sure in quality! Scams, cheating, corrupt police and maffia is the reason for this. The English of most of the Thais is becoming poorer and poorer. They do not feel the need anymore of speakig English to tourists because they are their tourists themseves... the only English every Thai knows is the f-word... You blame them for a traffic offense and you get the answer like : "This is my road, this is my country and if your don't like it here, go back to your country..."

I have never heard such language from any Cambodian at all! Cambodia is the real land of smile, not Thailand anymore!

I saddens me so much to have to state this and I see myself being approved and endorsed in my opinion by others who have much less experience but who dare to open their eyes and to talk frankly. I feel happy that such report is being posted on this forum and hope that it may open the eyes of so many high-nosed and selfish Thais! Tourists are judging objectively and unbiased... not with sentiment or with fake smiles... they don't last after all!

Thailand, please wake up before it is too late. You're no longer "number one", admit it... and don't forget: Laos is just behind the corner! Same style, same smile but different! Not talking yet about the emerging Burma!!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So you didn;t feel how jealous and pushy are there people ?

I've been there twice and never feel like to go again, as wel as Vietnam, even Africa countries are better than these places...

Actually, as several people including myself have mentioned, I, to my considerable surprise, found most of the Phnom Penh people I encountered to be quite pleasant, cheerful and easy-going. Considering what their country has been thru in the past few decades, it struck me as nothing short of amazing.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I just wanted to mention the excellent quality of bread, pastries and coffee in Phnom Penh. A breath of fresh air after Thailand!

I totally agree on that one.

I'd agree on that too...

But, while it may not be the case in a lot of the upcountry areas of Thailand, I should in fairness say that at least Bangkok in recent years has had quite a growth of various shops and stores that are vending perfectly respectable/good bakery items and breads ranging from Japanese to German to French and other styles. And even some of the larger bakeries in markets such as Tops and Central Markets are producing quite good fare.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Cambodia is the real land of smile, not Thailand anymore!

I saddens me so much to have to state this and I see myself being approved and endorsed in my opinion by others who have much less experience but who dare to open their eyes and to talk frankly. I feel happy that such report is being posted on this forum and hope that it may open the eyes of so many high-nosed and selfish Thais! Tourists are judging objectively and unbiased... not with sentiment or with fake smiles... they don't last after all!

Thailand, please wake up before it is too late. You're no longer "number one", admit it... and don't forget: Laos is just behind the corner! Same style, same smile but different! Not talking yet about the emerging Burma!!!

Thanks for your comments... Funny that you'd offer that opinion, since I noted earlier that just on the basis of my ONE visit, it immediately struck me as well that while Thailand is well known as the Land of Smiles, the Cambodians seem to be far outdistancing their neighbors in that regard these days.

And there's an even finer difference at play. When I first came to Thailand about a decade ago, there was still a real sense of friendliness among a lot of regular Thais... but even then I had the feeling of bad opportunism creeping into those who dealt with tourists. There might be a smile, but it increasingly seemed a forced smile because that was part of the job, or because they knew they were going to be taking advantage of a farang in the worse circumstances.

The ensuing years certainly haven't improved that situation in Thailand, and probably most people would agree, the various divisions in Thai society -- economically, politically and otherwise -- seem to be creating an increasingly bad vibe. And from my limited vantage point, I don't see that getting better anytime soon, and more than likely, it's going to get worse before anything gets better here.

On the other hand, I didn't get any feeling while in Phnom Penh that people were pasting on smiles or forcing anything. That came as a total shock to me and was the last thing I was expecting to discover from my visit there. It's kind of hard to reconcile that experience with a country where some of the more prominent tourist destinations are former torture prisons and fields where untold numbers were massacred.

[zxray]

I was in PP 2 weeks ago, was able to buy Thai baht 33 per USD.At $15 USD per day our hotel did not have internet in room, but had 2 computes in the lobby no charge. The sim card and phone time for 6 days, cost me about 10 USD.

Ray

[mrfill]

I'm usually just a reader but felt compelled to post as this is the first description of PP I have found that is really accurate.

I was there in January and found the place delightful. Immigration was all done in less than 5 minutes, with no queueing at all with an eVisa. Visa on arrival would take longer as there was quite a queue of tourists saving the $5 difference.

Buy a SIM at the airport - there were 3 kiosks and I kust asked the cost of a call to UK and picked the cheapest (7c a minute) Sim was $10 and had enough credit to last 10 days and still have some left! Free WiFi was in many bars and restaurants and all hotels it seemed.

A tuk-tuk from the airport is $7 - taxi was $9 I think. The prices were fixed. Around PP, $1 dealt with most journeys, unless late at night, which is fair enough.

Pavements - Unlike BKK, pavements are generally level without gaping holes, wobbly flags or those cubes of concrete that bang your shin. They do tend to be quite dusty. There is a lot of dust in PP and a fair bit of rubbish littering the streets. Nowhere near as clean as BKK and it wasnt unusual to see someone having a pee up against a wall. Food hygene seemed ok, its just they dont have lots of people sweeping the streets.

Bread - like Vietnam, the influence of the French means lovely bread and croissants.

Smoking - virtually no restrictions anywhere and ridiculously cheap. Pack of 20 for 25c (Liberation brand - and they were ok!)

Food. Ate Khmer or Viet food mostly and found it delightful. Try an amok curry. General prices are a bit higher than Thailand but quality was quite high. A lot of 'Happy Herb Pizza' places, especially on the riverside.

The city - I found it more like Hanoi than BKK. Shabby French Colonial chic. Its certainly far prettier than BKK with some beautiful old French buidings. The riverfront promenade is a recreation of the South of France. As a rule I don't usually like capital cities but PP is much more relaxed and friendly than others. English is extensive and I certainly felt welcome there.

Concerns about medical facilities may be a downside for some. I never had cause to find out though!

Weather in January was 36c and low humidity.

PP far exceeded my expectations. It makes a lovely change from Bangkok. Go there.