First timer to Cambodia.

[chang14]

Hey all.

Planning a 2 week trip through Cambodia.

Been living in Thailand for the last 3 years, newly single.

Any recommendations where to visit.

I plan to stop by SP and PP. then onto Vietnam.

[Sheryl]

Depends entirely on what your interests are?

[chang14]

Everything and anything.

[Jip99]

Where is SP?

[asdecas]

Where is SP?

Near TQ?

[yellowboat]

If you are referring to Siem Reap, you will enjoy it there. It is a nice place to walk around.

When carrying things, be sure they are not exposed to the traffic side of the street. Thieves on motorbikes are common.

[prakhonchai nick]

If you are referring to Siem Reap, you will enjoy it there. It is a nice place to walk around.

When carrying things, be sure they are not exposed to the traffic side of the street. Thieves on motorbikes are common.

Been to Siem reap on numerous occasions. Never seen thieves on motorbikes. Katoeys looking for sex...yes!

[smotherb]

Depends entirely on what your interests are?

He's newly single. Perhaps a nice game of bingo at a local temple.

[smotherb]

If you are referring to Siem Reap, you will enjoy it there. It is a nice place to walk around.

When carrying things, be sure they are not exposed to the traffic side of the street. Thieves on motorbikes are common.

Been to Siem reap on numerous occasions. Never seen thieves on motorbikes. Katoeys looking for sex...yes!

Perhaps you weren't looking for thieves on motorbikes.

[JD66]

Spent 6 months in Siem Reap before moving to Thailand.. The food does'nt come close to anything here , obviously.

Never had any problems with thieves.

But the tuk tuk drivers are horriffic. Nothing compared to the drivers here in Chiang Mai. In Siem Reap THEY WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE! They don't shut up and can't take no for an answer. If you're polite and just asy ''no thankyou'' they start to badger,harass and follow you asking if you want everything from drugs to women to massage ,guide etc, etc, Beyond annoying.Best to do with teh Koreans do...just completely ignore them .Here in LOS one no thanks to a tt driver is enuff.

Theres dozens of temples .A very small mall. But the beer is much cheaper. and pretty good.The girls are sweeter and more friendly more innocent and less jaded..And in my opinion prettier.In fact I found the Cambodian people in SR much friendlier than here in Thailand. The massages are much cheaper there then here as well The legit and otherwise.

[notmyself]

Take your own food.

[GOLDBUGGY]

I had a nice time in Cambodia. I thought the food was okay. Mostly Chinese Style rather than Thai Style but still good. I found the locals really friendly to me in PP. Never got hassled or felt uncomfortable there even walking around a lot.

Perhaps my biggest surprise was the ability to take out US Dollars on any ATM Machine and how interchangeable that currency was there. You could use that to pay your hotel bill for example. But you still need local currency to pay for Tuk-tuks and street vendors, unless you like leaving $10 Tips.

When I was their last, there was an airport export tax you had to pay when leaving. Not much but be prepared for it and have enough currency to cover it. Although they may have stopped that now. It has been awhile since I was their last.

[notmyself]

I had a nice time in Cambodia. I thought the food was okay.

Nice enough place, nice people etc. but the food is somewhat wanting. How many Cambodian restaurants do you find around the world?

[slerickson]

Can't argue with previous posts. I was there a year ago in PP and SR. Don't bother with Cambodian currency, it's all dollars there. The ATM's spew out 100 bills too so you have to find a place to break them.

Food is good but street food didn't look appetizing at all.

You can walk down a street and after passing the 40th tuk tuk sitting there the guy will ask you Tuk Tuk? It's frustrating because why the hell would I have passed 40 of them just to get one from this guy?

Yea they're annoying and in Siem Reap there are no Taxi's from what I saw.

I wasn't thrilled with Angkor Wat, some of the smaller temples that have grown over were more interesting.

I had a guide in SR and we went out to the Tonle Sap lake. We were on a standard, very slow tour boat. I had the driver flag down one of the motorized long boat skiffs. We got in that and hauled ass out to the lake. That was fun.

I think it was about 5 bucks for speed boat ride from some kid that happened to be going by.

PP was lively and worth spending time in. The Killing Fields is definitely something to take in. The tuk tuk ride to get there was interesting too. Cambodians come up with the damndest motorbike configurations for hauling stuff.

Have fun!

Get a tee shirt that says

"No tuk tuk today

Maybe Tomorrow"

[Jip99]

Spent 6 months in Siem Reap before moving to Thailand.. The food does'nt come close to anything here , obviously.

Never had any problems with thieves.

But the tuk tuk drivers are horriffic. Nothing compared to the drivers here in Chiang Mai. In Siem Reap THEY WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE! They don't shut up and can't take no for an answer. If you're polite and just asy ''no thankyou'' they start to badger,harass and follow you asking if you want everything from drugs to women to massage ,guide etc, etc, Beyond annoying.Best to do with teh Koreans do...just completely ignore them .Here in LOS one no thanks to a tt driver is enuff.

Theres dozens of temples .A very small mall. But the beer is much cheaper. and pretty good.The girls are sweeter and more friendly more innocent and less jaded..And in my opinion prettier.In fact I found the Cambodian people in SR much friendlier than here in Thailand. The massages are much cheaper there then here as well The legit and otherwise.

Agree with all that except the food comment (unless you are directly comparing LOCAL food here and there). There is wide range of international cuisine that is better quality and value than Thailand.The service is 100% better.

[UPDEHSOI]

Where is SP?

Near TQ?

GROANNNNN!

[morpho]

Spent a lot of time in Cambo and of course Siem Reap is a must-see. Two of my favorite places are Kampot and Kep in the southeast near the Vietnam border...nice countryside and Bokor Mountain to explore on a motorbike and a few islands to visit offshore from Kep. If you want a little bit off-the-beaten track, those are two places I would check out. Pailin and Battambang are also very nice...again with wonderful countryside to explore on a bike.

PS. Giant ibis is the best bus company for getting to many destinations.

Edited December 8, 2015 by morpho

[morpho]

I had a nice time in Cambodia. I thought the food was okay.

Nice enough place, nice people etc. but the food is somewhat wanting. How many Cambodian restaurants do you find around the world?

I agree. Cambodian food and my gastrointestinal tract do not get along very well...but there are several very good Vietnamese restaurants in PP.

[thailanddogerator]

Yes they are so boring if you look like a tourist.

Spent 6 months in Siem Reap before moving to Thailand.. The food does'nt come close to anything here , obviously.

Never had any problems with thieves.

But the tuk tuk drivers are horriffic. Nothing compared to the drivers here in Chiang Mai. In Siem Reap THEY WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE! They don't shut up and can't take no for an answer. If you're polite and just asy ''no thankyou'' they start to badger,harass and follow you asking if you want everything from drugs to women to massage ,guide etc, etc, Beyond annoying.Best to do with teh Koreans do...just completely ignore them .Here in LOS one no thanks to a tt driver is enuff.

Theres dozens of temples .A very small mall. But the beer is much cheaper. and pretty good.The girls are sweeter and more friendly more innocent and less jaded..And in my opinion prettier.In fact I found the Cambodian people in SR much friendlier than here in Thailand. The massages are much cheaper there then here as well The legit and otherwise.

[mrfaroukh]

Keep some food in your hotel room, after 9 PM very difficult to find anything decent.

[roiethome]

I have lived and worked in PP on many occasions.

There is no departure tax to pay on leaving, it is included in the ticket now.

Plenty of good restaurants near the river, Foreign Correspondents Club has good views from first floor over the river with western style foods.

Good Cambodian cuisine at Titanic Restaurant also on the side of the river.

The casino in PP has a great all you can eat and drink buffet everynight, and no obligation to use the casino.

Tuk Tuk drivers in PP will accept US$, make sure you have small bills; most journeys within PP are 4 or 5$ plus a dollar tip.

Score Bar is great place for watching live sports, cold beer and great varied menu.

Plenty of hostess bars in street 104 and 130, and cheaper than BKK.

You should enjoy PP.

[slerickson]

In Siem Reap the hotel I stayed at was called the Ree Hotel. Place is out of the colonial past and would have been a great set for a Bogart movie. Best swimming pool i've encountered, great service, food etc. Well worth staying and the prices were competitive. I've included a couple shots of it here as well as the countryside. All except the skulls (killing fields) are from Siem Reap area and Tonle Sap lake. About 5km out of town there is no electricity and things are primitive. I hired a motorbike tour and road around the dirt back roads. GPS would be of no use because many of the roads are just jungle paths. Beautiful countryside.

[Jiggo]

Buy your cambodian tourist visa before you go (on line) saves time at the Airport and a page in your passport.....$30...

[Tapster]

In 2012, I spent six weeks riding around Cambodia on a motorbike.

I may be shot down in flames for saying this but I don't think Cambodia has many world-class attractions. I saw a lot of rice paddies and flat, unremarkable land.

Having said that, here are my top pics which are totally subjective, of course:

• The temples of Angkor - amazing, and worth spending a few days on because some of the best temples are some distance fromSiem Reap. It's maybe somewhere you won't visit again so, I recommend getting out there a bit if you can; there are many fewer people in these temples as well. Banteay Srei - well known for its very detailed carvings, and the great Landmine Museum is on the way to it. Beng Mealea - unspoilt and not cleared of encroaching jungle - you can wander around this temple and climb into mysterious ruins at your leisure. Not many tourists will be there. Don’t be afraid of the tuk-tuk people. Just be firm and arrange a driver for a day or three. Do some research about what you want to see in Angkor, there's a lot of it.
• Phnom Penh - The Russian market and Central market. Tuol Sleng - the infamous Khmer Rouge interrogation and murder facility (and other killing-fields-related sights....haunting!). If you like guns, spend some dollars going out to a military base near the airport where you can shoot many types of weapon. It’s a little expensive but, unless you live in the USA or have been in the army, you probably won’t do this anywhere else! I shot: M16, M4, M60 machine gun (wild!), AK47, Thompson sub-machine gun (Tommy gun) and I threw a hand grenade. It’s a blast!
  
• In the South West, approx 400km from PP, there’s an interesting area. You can head for the Cardamom Mountains and take in some unspoilt jungle at Kirirom National park, go to Sianhoukville, a famous beach resort and then continue round to Kampot, a riverside town which draws tourists with its charm, slow pace of life and as a base for Bokor National Park.

Have a great trip!

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[Tapster]

Dunno what happened to my formatting!

Apologies!