Siem Reap & Phnom Penh advice re: Accomm & vibe

[intel4004]

Am currently in Chiang Mai and hoping to go to SR and PP next week by train and bus, plan was to spend a week in each.. (incidentally found this site to be very useful for bus and train info Seat61)

I will be hoping to book hotel accommodation in both cities. My question is do I need to book ahead using something like tripadvisor to get the best prices or can I just turn up and get a good price?

My budget is £10 / THB500 max per day accommodation wise. I would be hoping to get something fairly decent for this.

I hear SR can be hectic and PP has a more relaxed vibe about it. For me the key is to find somewhere that isn't frantic but I am able to soak up the atmosphere and PP seems to be that kind of place. Am I right?

Any advice would be gratefully accepted

[mike2011]

USD 7 = 240 baht should get you a single fan room with ensuite bath in both cities at good locations. No need to book ahead as the cannot pick you up as you will come to SR from Poipet (I assume). I do not need a aircon room during the rainy season.

If you go first to PP this would make a difference as the guesthouse would give a free pickup from the bus. this way no mototaxi guy charges them a commission.So both sides win.

PP has lots of places to stay. A full week might be a little long but then you could do a tour to Takeo province if temples are your thing.

[phuketrichard]

in sr i pay $13 for an air con room tv, cable, wifi

in PP $15

anything less u wont have air con and it is needed

u have it reversed pp is much more hectic than sr

Just turn up but have an idea what area you want to stay in

[mike2011]

I should have added that the 7 USD rooms have, of course, the same cable and wifi as the aircon rooms have. Price difference between fan and aircon is usually 5 USD. if you pay for fan you often simply dont get the aircon remote.

I m in PP now and no need to aircon. It cools down nicely thanks to rains. Some like it more cool, of course.

[intel4004]

USD 7 = 240 baht should get you a single fan room with ensuite bath in both cities at good locations. No need to book ahead as the cannot pick you up as you will come to SR from Poipet (I assume). I do not need a aircon room during the rainy season.

If you go first to PP this would make a difference as the guesthouse would give a free pickup from the bus. this way no mototaxi guy charges them a commission.So both sides win.

PP has lots of places to stay. A full week might be a little long but then you could do a tour to Takeo province if temples are your thing.

Actually now thinking of posssibly adding Cambodia beaches as a 3rd destination. Unfortunately we will be hitting SR first. Why do you say they cannot pick us up if we book rooms ahead?

[intel4004]

in sr i pay $13 for an air con room tv, cable, wifi

in PP $15

anything less u wont have air con and it is needed

u have it reversed pp is much more hectic than sr

Just turn up but have an idea what area you want to stay in

Yes looks like we may add the beaches as a third destination. Really tempted to book ahead to avoid strolling around aimlessly.

[Jip99]

in sr i pay $13 for an air con room tv, cable, wifi

in PP $15

anything less u wont have air con and it is needed

u have it reversed pp is much more hectic than sr

Just turn up but have an idea what area you want to stay in

Yes looks like we may add the beaches as a third destination. Really tempted to book ahead to avoid strolling around aimlessly.

Which beaches and where do you go to after Cambodia ?

[phuketrichard]

head to shv, go to the pier an grab a boat to the islands ( Koh Rong) !!

[mike2011]

No pickups in SR:

Sorry i was not very specific. If you surf the SR guesthouses' websites you will see that they offer pickups from the pier (for boats from Battambang) and also from the bus-station and the airport. BUT NOT from the SR-bus station. THis is because the trip from Poipet to SR is controlled by what might descrived as a mafia. Buses are delayed on purpose so that you arrive after dark in SR. There, you are dropped off outside the city (near the airport) in a compound that is gated. Only tuktuk drivers who pay to the company are allowed to take on passengers. They sometimes even close the gates and effectively detain tourists thereby forcing them to pay the inflated prices.

The tuktuk drivers also try to extort a full night's price from the guesthouse as a commission for dropping you off or try to take you to another guesthouse where they get better pay.

If you come by shared taxi fom Poipet it is pretty much the same game. Driver claims he cannot enter SR (not true) or tries to get you to 'his' guesthouse. As for taxis do not pay before he drops you off at exactly the spot you decided on and he had agreed to.

As for bus transport, try to leave the compound and walk back to the main street. motos will find you. Pay say 2 USD which is a good price.

This scam is much more elaborate than anything you might know from CM. CM bath bus driver fade in comparison to the PoitPet-SR route. This goes on for well over (?) 2 decades now. I can attest to 13 yrs.

Perhaps a worthwhile change of route. Go from Poipet to Battambang and take the boat to SR. Costs more time and money and the boat ride takes a whole day. But it is memorable and you see a lot of stuff you would otherwise never ever view.

[intel4004]

No pickups in SR:

Sorry i was not very specific. If you surf the SR guesthouses' websites you will see that they offer pickups from the pier (for boats from Battambang) and also from the bus-station and the airport. BUT NOT from the SR-bus station. THis is because the trip from Poipet to SR is controlled by what might descrived as a mafia. Buses are delayed on purpose so that you arrive after dark in SR. There, you are dropped off outside the city (near the airport) in a compound that is gated. Only tuktuk drivers who pay to the company are allowed to take on passengers. They sometimes even close the gates and effectively detain tourists thereby forcing them to pay the inflated prices.

The tuktuk drivers also try to extort a full night's price from the guesthouse as a commission for dropping you off or try to take you to another guesthouse where they get better pay.

If you come by shared taxi fom Poipet it is pretty much the same game. Driver claims he cannot enter SR (not true) or tries to get you to 'his' guesthouse. As for taxis do not pay before he drops you off at exactly the spot you decided on and he had agreed to.

As for bus transport, try to leave the compound and walk back to the main street. motos will find you. Pay say 2 USD which is a good price.

This scam is much more elaborate than anything you might know from CM. CM bath bus driver fade in comparison to the PoitPet-SR route. This goes on for well over (?) 2 decades now. I can attest to 13 yrs.

Perhaps a worthwhile change of route. Go from Poipet to Battambang and take the boat to SR. Costs more time and money and the boat ride takes a whole day. But it is memorable and you see a lot of stuff you would otherwise never ever view.

Before I start looking are there any useful links for the routes (Poipet-Battambang & Battambang-Siem Reap) you suggested? Do the 'transport mafia' also control onward route Poipet-Battambang?

thanks

[mike2011]

The Poitpet - Battambang and on to Phnom Penh route is used by many of the national bus companies which operate differently than the Poipet-SR scam bus.

Capitol and other companies have regular schedules like these here (for example):

http://capitolkh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=90

http://www.ppsoryatransport.com/eng/index.php?page=schedule

there is also GST and Mekongexpress and others

The overnight buses leaving Poipet for PP at around 8 PM also accept customers going only as far as Battambang.

For the boat do some web surfing and you get an idea about the river culture, the bird sanctuary etc. you will pass through. Take enough water and memory for the digcam with you.

You book the trip at your hotel/guesthouse in Battambang. I once booked it at the pier and the police asked me where I had stayed. Prices seem to be the same. They register all departures as a security measure. That was some 5-6 years ago. Try some of the travel boards for more up to date info.

Assuming that you want to do the entire CM-Aranyaprathet trip by train:

You will need to take the 1 pm train from BKK to Aran. This will bring you to Aran at around 7 PM. Outside the train station some tuktuks or motortaxis will wait. They take you directly to the border - of course you haggle over the price. Theevisa makes little sense as it is something like 27-28 USD now while the 20 USD touristvisa will not cost more than USD 25 if you decide to pay the "fee" and not to stand your ground. You can still make it to the bus stops in poipet on time by paying 1 USD to a motortaxis at the border and not the three they ask for initially. Make sure that the motortaxi guy disappears and does not involve himself in the purchase of the ticket. He will try to get 3-4 USD commission out of your pocket.

You would be around 11 PM or midnite in Battambang and can go on the next day. Or do it slowly, spend the night in Poitpet (USD 10) or in Aran (250 baht at Aran Garden 2, Aran Garden 1 is - i think - 175 baht). If you stay in Aran make sure you get to the border early and get to the PP buses.

The trip is pretty straight forward. Just do your reading on the border scams at Poipet aside from the awful bus scam there are plenty.

[intel4004]

The Poitpet - Battambang and on to Phnom Penh route is used by many of the national bus companies which operate differently than the Poipet-SR scam bus.

Capitol and other companies have regular schedules like these here (for example):

http://capitolkh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=90

http://www.ppsoryatransport.com/eng/index.php?page=schedule

there is also GST and Mekongexpress and others

The overnight buses leaving Poipet for PP at around 8 PM also accept customers going only as far as Battambang.

For the boat do some web surfing and you get an idea about the river culture, the bird sanctuary etc. you will pass through. Take enough water and memory for the digcam with you.

You book the trip at your hotel/guesthouse in Battambang. I once booked it at the pier and the police asked me where I had stayed. Prices seem to be the same. They register all departures as a security measure. That was some 5-6 years ago. Try some of the travel boards for more up to date info.

Assuming that you want to do the entire CM-Aranyaprathet trip by train:

You will need to take the 1 pm train from BKK to Aran. This will bring you to Aran at around 7 PM. Outside the train station some tuktuks or motortaxis will wait. They take you directly to the border - of course you haggle over the price. Theevisa makes little sense as it is something like 27-28 USD now while the 20 USD touristvisa will not cost more than USD 25 if you decide to pay the "fee" and not to stand your ground. You can still make it to the bus stops in poipet on time by paying 1 USD to a motortaxis at the border and not the three they ask for initially. Make sure that the motortaxi guy disappears and does not involve himself in the purchase of the ticket. He will try to get 3-4 USD commission out of your pocket.

You would be around 11 PM or midnite in Battambang and can go on the next day. Or do it slowly, spend the night in Poitpet (USD 10) or in Aran (250 baht at Aran Garden 2, Aran Garden 1 is - i think - 175 baht). If you stay in Aran make sure you get to the border early and get to the PP buses.

The trip is pretty straight forward. Just do your reading on the border scams at Poipet aside from the awful bus scam there are plenty.

Okay looks like I'm better off getting the bus from BKK to either SR or PPenh to avoid the scams and hassle at the border. I'm really keen on doing that boat trip between SR & Battambang, sounds very interesting this could be a detour so to speak. Thank you for all your advice

[TheSiemReaper]

SR is hectic and PP is not? You have them the wrong way round. SR is a country town with big city ameneties thanks to the tourists. PP is a big city and somewhat reminiscent of Bangkok 20 years ago.

It's the slow season so you will be able to find something on the day but you're better off booking in advance. Use Hostelbooker for the best for your budget. You can get an air-conditioned room for $7-$8 in both places if you know what you're doing. A fan room is doable for $4-$6 in both.

SR has a lot to do and a week will fly by. PP also has a lot to do but a week may be a little long. On the other hand if you want a good time; both will be fine.

[intel4004]

SR is hectic and PP is not? You have them the wrong way round. SR is a country town with big city ameneties thanks to the tourists. PP is a big city and somewhat reminiscent of Bangkok 20 years ago.

It's the slow season so you will be able to find something on the day but you're better off booking in advance. Use Hostelbooker for the best for your budget. You can get an air-conditioned room for $7-$8 in both places if you know what you're doing. A fan room is doable for $4-$6 in both.

SR has a lot to do and a week will fly by. PP also has a lot to do but a week may be a little long. On the other hand if you want a good time; both will be fine.

Okay, will have a look at Hostelbooker thanks for the tips. Plan to spend about 3-4 days each in SR and then PP and then try out the beaches. Still trying to figure out which beaches are best for a relaxing 5/6 days.

Thanks

[seasia]

Hi

I have a question on PP, been before, liked it and going again very soon but wondering about accommodation location.

I want to be very central for restaurants/cafes/bars, some street noise not really an issue.

Budget 20 - 40 US$ per night.

I`ve looked at hotels on line , 1st choice is Green Palace, # 61 Street 111/corner 232 Boeung Pratit

2nd choice is Silver River # 37 Street 172.

2 others are located street 282 & street 48.

If someone knows their way around PP and could comment as to locations, appreciate it

Thank You

[TheSiemReaper]

Silver River is decent. It's a short walk/tuk-tuk from Street 51 (big bar street and GSM) and 172 itself is a decent street of cheap bars and eats. You're also closer to the main bar district than you'd be in the others but I don't know those. The others are closer to BKK1 which may or may not matter.

[seasia]

Silver River is decent. It's a short walk/tuk-tuk from Street 51 (big bar street and GSM) and 172 itself is a decent street of cheap bars and eats. You're also closer to the main bar district than you'd be in the others but I don't know those. The others are closer to BKK1 which may or may not matter.

Thanks for your answer.

I`ve been in Silver River since Sunday, location just what I was looking for.

Staff are nice, everything seems to work OK and as you said decent selection of places to eat very nearby.

Enjoying my PP break, people friendly and interesting.

[seasia]

Hi

Just as a little update, had 8 days altogether in PP, although I had booked the first 3 nights at Silver River, I extended my stay there, liked the staff/service and had a very good wifi signal.

Cheaper options on that street but I was happy enough so didn`t bother changing.

I liked the street itself, well lit, enough facilities on it.

I did go to St. 51 as mentioned by The Siem Reaper and ended up there every evening, particularly liked Oscars ( the bar with the music band in it ) Shanghai bar and actually found the Sorya Mall bars to be OK also.

I didn`t really do anything touristy, just wanted a break that`s all enjoyed it and didn`t encounter any problems.

When I next go to Cambodia I`ll have to plan to also visit Siem Reap as never been and sounds nice.

[TheSiemReaper]

I like Oscars too and Shanghai's good (hostesses are not pushy and generally looking for LTR rather than "you give me boom boom baby?"). If you head to Siem Reap; I can recommend Rosy's Guest House for a nice place to stay.

And strangely, I've just got back to SR after staying in the Silver River for a few days while I collected my passport.