Cambodia travel tales and tips

Cambodia travel tales

Our customers share their travelling experiences in Cambodia. Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation. Also, you might want to read our Angkor / Siem Reap city guide, and Phnom Penh city guide.

J Avery	24 September 2004
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
GoldFish restaurant has excellent Khmer food on the river. The Palace was well worth seeing though the national gallery was very average with little information on the exhibits and little information in English. This is unfortuante as many of the best pieces of Angkor are here. Tuk Tuk and Moto is best for getting around and hiring a car/Moto for trips to the Killing Fields and S-21 is best and saves the hassle of continously haggling fees.
C Mcneur	23 September 2004
Stayed at Inter-Continental Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Certainly the most interesting and horrifying part of a visit to Phnom Penh is a visit to the notorious Killing Fields and the related downtown museum. Unlike many other memorials around the world the Killing Fields still seem to be present day and very visible. In fact so visible that any visitor can view the bits or bone, teeth or clothing protruding from the soil and footpaths at this site. The horror of the Khmer Rouge atrocities is not only available for viewing here but at the downtown location of a former school where many innocent Cambodian and foreign victims were tortured and murdered. The torture rooms as well as the machines for brutality are exhibited along with many very heart wrenching portraits of the former prisoners.
N Bremner	16 September 2004
Stayed at Mysteres d' Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The top class hotels in Siem Reap are very overpriced for the region. We visited the Grand Hotel D'Ankor and the Victoria Hotel, and looked at rooms in both, as well as the common areas. Both hotels were almost empty, though it was low season. Whilst very nice, they really did not merit the exorbitant rates being quoted of around $350-400 per room per night. Half that would still have been steep. A Sofitel and a Meridian are also opening soon, which will lead to a real glut of 5 star hotels in the town. If value for money is important, be warned that you will be disappointed with some of the top hotels in Siem Reap.
C Vavro	13 September 2004
Stayed at FCC Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We rented motorbikes with a guide for like $10 a day...great way to see the temples. Angkor Wat was the most amazing place I`ve ever been. Bring a big suitcase for tons of cool souvenirs!
L Ramirez	11 September 2004
Stayed at Princess Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
TukTuk is a cheap way to get around Cambodia. A travel around the whole town only costs $6. They can take you to the temples also. Don't miss out on a dinner and cultural show. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was close to the hotel. They had a buffet which was excellent and the cultural show was fascinating as well. When shopping, always bargain. Try to bring the price down to half and usually the sellers will sell them to you. I bought an Angkor book for $5 eventhough it was listed for $24. I bought it at the street vendors next to the temple. When I tried buying it inside the hotel, the lowest they would sell me was at $10. It is always cheaper to buy at the market or street vendors.
K Woodhall	08 September 2004
Stayed at Passaggio Boutique Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Definitely try the Khmer Kitchen restaurant in the old market. Authentic Khmer food, great service and even better value!!
D Hagerman	05 September 2004
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Street 240 is an attractive alternative to the somewhat seedy riverfront area for drinks and dinner. Excellent Khmer food at the pleasant Sugar Palm --- amok, Khmer chicken salad, and green mango salad among other items --- and, if you're tired of Asian food outstanding sandwiches, home-baked bread, housemade ice cream, and other deli items at The Shop (open till 7p only). Street 240 and 178 (next to National Museum) have a lot of interesting shops if you're looking for something other than the usual copies of Angkor-era stone figures, etc.
C Usher-clark	29 August 2004
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Tourism in Siem Reap is growing exponentially with new large hotels being built in multiple locations. Go now before the town is enveloped! A 3 day pass to the temples was about right. We paid $6 for a tuk tuk at our disposal on the first day and $20 for a guide/$20 for a car on the second. A good guide brings the temples to life and is well worth the extra cost as it stopped us getting "temple syndrome" which so many talk about. See Angkor Wat at sunrise - 5.30a.m. Costs more to get to Banteay Srei as it is farther out hence more petrol. Went to the Kulen restaurant for an Apsara dance show - $12 per person with unlimited food buffet (excl. drinks) and well worth the money. By comparison we costed the Angkor Village/Apsara Theatre show at $22 per person! FCC good for lunch but more expensive - Red Piano does a good Cambodian curry; Khymer Kitchen was amazing and very cheap - worth hunting down that side alley for. The Blue Pumpkin inside the Artisans D'Angkor/Angkor Cafe is exceptional and very good value (cheaper than the other more "local" looking restaurants surrounding it!). Would recommend rainy season - so much quieter with about one sixth the number of tourists and it rained no more than an hour a day about 4pm so didn't distrupt our days at all.
G Brown	27 August 2004
Stayed at Raffles Hotel Le Royal - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Great little restaurant is Rega's, just near the Holiday International hotel, itself just near the French and British embassies. Enjoy a wonderful three course French meal for just US$5. The chocolate mousse is superb. And a great place for massage is Bliss on Street 240. The treatment rooms are in a stunningly renovated colonial building. Have a steam and plunge in their pool as well. And if you like organza, measure your windows and have curtains made here very cheaply at the Russian market. Organza is a buck fifty a metre and it costs about the same to ask a seamstress to sew curtains to your design.
W Susanto	20 August 2004
Stayed at Borei Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Life in Siem Reap was utterly simple...temple trekking in the morning, return to downtown for lunch, swim and take a nap in the hotel, temple trekking again in late afternoon for sunset, dinner in downtown, and finish the day with bar hopping. Repeat this for the next 2 days. In addition to the temple trekking, you can also add a bit of fun by doing the elephant riding ($10 from South Gate of Angkor Thom to Bayon) and Hot-Air Ballooning ($11 for 10mins). All prices in Siem Reap are in US$ and always rounded to the nearest dollar. For Khmer food, Bayon Restaurant was my favourite. For pubbing, try the Deadfish Tower where you can use the internet for free and feed live crocodiles. For evening drinks, go to the Red Piano and Temple Bar. For massage, you can go to Chai ($25 for 90mins). Have fun!

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