Road Trip Pattaya to Sihanoukville

[Lucky33]

Last Thursday, February 28th, I decided to take a road trip on my Honda CB500F from Pattaya to Sihanoukville to see a friend who rides his bike from Sihanoukville to Pattaya on a regular basis. Besides a couple of trips to Koh Chang this would be my longest ride and the first one where I had to take my motorcycle through immigration.

I started out at 7:00 AM in Pattaya, stopped to fill up with gas, and headed off to Cambodia. The trip down to Had Lek, the Thai border town, was uneventful and I arrived there about 11:00 AM. I was virtually the only person crossing through the Thai and Cambodian immigration so it was a fairly quick process. First I went to the Thai departure window and received my exit stamp, then over to the Cambodia entry window where a guy wanted to take care of everything for 100 baht. I was charged 1,200 baht for the visa which is a little over the going price but I had decided to make the trip at the last minute and didn't have time to apply for an online Cambodia visa which is $37. The correct price at the border is $30 US but I didn't want to spend the time haggling with immigration to get the correct price.

Next I went to Cambodia customs where they inspected my green book and issued a visa for my motorcycle, no cost for this. Also I had a switch put on the Honda so I could turn off the headlight during the day, it's against the law in Cambodia to have your headlight on during the day, go figure. After getting the motorcycle visa for Cambodia I had to take the paper over to the Thailand immigration where they issued me a permit for the bike for 10 baht. That all took about thirty minutes and I was on my way through Koh Kong to Sihanoukville.

I had good roads all through Thailand but the main Cambodia road, Number 48, has a few spots where there is no pavement and it is a hard clay surface. It was OK for this trip but I am thinking that for the rainy season it won't be so good. They always receive a lot more rain down there than we get in Pattaya. Everything went smooth though, I had filled up again right before the Thai border and that tank lasted me all of the way to Sihanoukville, from my condo to Sihanoukville was 600 kilometers on the nose. There weren't that many road markings in Cambodia so I was glad I had my smartphone with me and could use the GPS to make sure I was on the right road. One hundred kilometers from Sihanoukville I hit the main road, Number 4, that took me on to Sihanoukville. Cambodia 48 has almost no traffic but when I hit the main road, 4, it was heavy traffic all of the way on to Sihanoukville.

Cambodia 48 is a scenic road with quite a few mountains and rivers that you cross and I really enjoyed that part of the trip. The speed in Thailand was usually 100-120 KPH, on Cambodia 48 80-100 KPH, and then on Cambodia 4 probably 50-60 KPH because of the heavy traffic. It was a fun trip and I enjoyed it and plan on doing it again but next time I think that I was overnight in Koh Kong, ten hours was a long motorbike ride.

Here I'm filling up with gas in Pattaya

The beach at Sihanoukville

Street in front of the main market in Sihanoukville

Moon Julie Hotel where I stayed, very nice and I'll stay there again my next trip.

[guzzi850m2]

Nice trip report with photos.

Is a class A insurance valid in Cambodia? Well I guess it depends of which company you are using.

[papa al]

I like Cambo.

Not far away.

Been there on 125cc, 150cc, and CBR250.

I felt a bit ostentatious on the 'big' CBR.

[Shurup]

Nice trip! It's been a while since I've been to Cambodia, it's time I plan a bike trip there but now on a bike. Maybe later this year.

[Gweiloman]

Tell us a bit about Sihanoukville, particularly the night life. Are there bars? What do drinks costs? Good massage to relax after a long day's riding? Do you get to go to bed "happy"?

[Dutchbike]

I never been in Shinoukville but I guess............

[guzzi850m2]

I never been in Shinoukville but I guess............

go shinoukville.png

Oh boy, lets go tomorrow

[Shurup]

Tell us a bit about Sihanoukville, particularly the night life. Are there bars? What do drinks costs? Good massage to relax after a long day's riding? Do you get to go to bed "happy"?

I've been there a few times but the last time was over 5 years ago.

It's a nice place and really cheap (if things didn't change much in the last 5 years. One .5 liter jug of local draught beer (Angkor beer) is 50 cents US diring the happy hours. USD is the local currency (on top of their local Riel currency) and most of everything costs 1-2 dollars. If you go, make sure you have enough $1 bills to pay for things, you often won't get $ change for a large denomination. I stayed at the newish GST hotel right on the Serendipity beach for a whole $7 per night!

Night life sucks a little but you will always find what a guy may want.

And yeah, as already mentioned, running with the headlight ON in the day time is illegal so carry a piece of cardboard (if you don't want to mess with wiring) and some bungee cord to cover the headlight. Or have a fistfull of $1 bills ready to pay the fine.

[Gweiloman]

I never been in Shinoukville but I guess............

go shinoukville.png

Oh boy, lets go tomorrow

Sorry mate, can't wait for you. I'm already on my way

[WingNut]

You look great in that blue visor filling up your own petrol tank. I always pump my own gas too. [emoji6]

[Lucky33]

Tell us a bit about Sihanoukville, particularly the night life. Are there bars? What do drinks costs? Good massage to relax after a long day's riding? Do you get to go to bed "happy"?

Thanks for the comments guys, I enjoyed making the trip. As for the night life, there are many bars in Sihanoukville and the beer is cheap enough, fifty cents to one dollar US for a bottle of beer in most of them. US dollars are used as currency all over Cambodia. As for a good massage, I think that it is best to stick to Pattaya for that. Most of the people in the bars in Sihanoukville were either backpackers or expats.

The bars are similar to Pattaya beer bars, I didn't seen anything resembling a go go bar. There are two main bar areas, one on Victory Hill and another one near the Lion roundabout. Like I said, I think that it's better to stay in Pattaya for the nightlife .

[guzzi850m2]

I was once in Phnom Penh and it was a wild place and since I was not married then I had a real good time

Ahem now back to topic, so OP did your bike class A cover in Cam. or did you have an additional insurance for that?

Well don't really know why I am asking, no way will my wife allow me me to go over there by my own

[Gweiloman]

I was once in Phnom Penh and it was a wild place and since I was not married then I had a real good time

Ahem now back to topic, so OP did your bike class A cover in Cam. or did you have an additional insurance for that?

Well don't really know why I am asking, no way will my wife allow me me to go over there by my own

Then don't tell her that you're going on your own. Tell her that you're doing with some mates

[Lucky33]

I was once in Phnom Penh and it was a wild place and since I was not married then I had a real good time

Ahem now back to topic, so OP did your bike class A cover in Cam. or did you have an additional insurance for that?

Well don't really know why I am asking, no way will my wife allow me me to go over there by my own

I really don't know about the insurance, the only insurance that I have on the bike is the inexpensive insurance that you are required to have to get your registration. The hotel where I stayed had 24 hr security for the parking lot so I wasn't afraid of having it stolen. I didn't buy any additional insurance and I'm pretty sure my Thailand insurance wouldn't be any good in Cambodia.