Cambodia - Getting Around

1. Recommended hotel - Princess Angkor Hotel2. Mode of transport - tut-tut (USD5/trip)3. Where to eat - many good small restaurants around4. Where to shop - Local bazaar (old quarter)5. Accessibility - shopping eating places are within walking distance (in town)6. Use US Dollar for all transactions - better deal.If you wish to visit the Angkor Wat's temple area, spare a few days to do so because 1-day trip will not cover the parameter of ancient temples.

If you want to go to see the dolphins on your own, just go to your hotel reception and ask for motos, they are very cheap (5 USD/day) and you can easily go around and find the good spot to dive in the Mekong...

Situated at the far west end of the slowly developing Cambodian coast, Koh Kong remains a fishing village inhabited by Thai and Khmer both.  It's tagged for development (already underway) and is likely to become a Thai style beach resort and lose it's Khmer character.  The Casino's are in place and multiplying, land is being purchased by foreign/Khmer corporations and by other wealthy Khmer.  The road from Koh Kong east to Sihanoukville (Snookie for short), is new, little traveled and should have the bridges across two rivers finished now (In April this year we had to take the motorbike on a wooden raft to cross these waters).  This is a pristine tropical paradise with a limited life expectancy.  Already Chinese backed projects are constructing dams that endanger rare wildlife, including the Cambodian crocodile's habitat.  It is likely that the coast will become privately owned beaches belonging to huge resorts, making access by the locals difficult to say the least. The Cardamom mountains have no roads crossing them yet and the trails taken by us few intrepid bikers are often hard to find and present wonderful adrenaline charged challenges.  Especially when the bike breaks down meaning a1-2 day trek (wet season makes this especially thrilling, insects, snakes, leeches of course) to find a village (few and far between).  Get there and see this area before it's too late!  Photo album of "Crossing the Cardamom's" can be found on my Facebook site.  This is an open border crossing into Thailand and buses can take you in either direction.  There are places to stay and I'm sure these are more numerous in the last four months.  The preferred currency is the Thai Baht or US dollar.  A cross country style motorbike is my recommended vehicle of choice in Cambodia, minimum 250cc but more powerful if you intend to scale small mountain sides, make the climb to Preah Vihear easily, cross the Cardamom's...you get the picture.

Getting around Siem Reap

The easiest and cheapest way to get from the bus station to your hotel is by tuk tuk. When we arrived in Siem Reap we hadn’t booked a hotel yet. Our tuk tuk driver, Red, drove us to several hotels in the city until we found one we liked. We must have stopped at 7 different hotels until we decided on one. The cost of this trip around the city was a mere $1 US.

  For short trips around the city you can try and negotiate under $1 US, but $1 was pretty standard even for trips consisting of only a few blocks.

Hiring a Tuk Tuk Driver for the Day at Angkor

Our tuk tuk driver from the bus station was so sweet and his English was so good so we were compelled to hire him for the following day to take us around Angkor. We settled on a price of $15 US for the entire day and arranged to have him pick us up at our hotel the following morning at 4:30 am so we could experience sunrise over Angkor Wat. We later realized we fell victim to the old “bait and switch” as he changed himself out for his cousin who he swore spoke English as well as his own (this wasn’t the case). But even though his cousin couldn’t speak much English at all he arrived promptly at our hotel the following morning and was a great driver.

 

If you are planning to do the small tour or grand tour circuit of Angkor (both of which include the closest temples) it is reasonable to hire a tuk tuk and driver for $15 US for the entire day. In addition to an all day hire it is not unusual to have your driver pick you up for sunrise, drop you back off at your hotel to escape the midday heat and then pick you up again for sunset all for the same price. The heat gets intense in the afternoon and it’s great to escape the noontime sun and enjoy the mysteries of Angkor in minimal heat.

 

Tips for hiring a driver all day: Settle on your price beforehand but do not pay your driver until the end of the day.

 

Negotiate your prices. Drivers will attempt to get more money out of you if they can. When in doubt walk away. There is always another tuk tuk driver waiting to be your guide. Sometimes simply walking away is the best negotiating technique.

 

Expect to pay $15 US for a full day of the small tour or grand tour circuits. If you want to visit Banteay Srey (37 km from Siem Reap) or Kbal Spean (49 km from Siem Reap) expect to pay between $18 to $30 US for the trip because of the distance and due to the fact that the roads out to Kbal Spean are currently extremely rough and hard on the tuk tuks.

  Website: http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srtemples.htm

Tuk Tuks Around Town Siem Reap is a relatively small city so it’s fairly easy to get around to most of the touristy parts of town on foot, of course the exception being the Temples of Angkor which are the major tourist draw to the area but are located 6km outside town. But most people choose to hop a tuk tuk to get around town. Drivers will bombard you with requests to ferry you around town so it’s easy to get a ride anywhere you want in the city at any time. Always remember to negotiate your price before you accept the ride and don’t pay the driver until you reach your destination. On average expect to pay about $1US for a trip around town. Many of the drivers will of course start their prices higher because they will expect you to negotiate down, but if they are asking too much or bargaining too hard simply walk away and find another driver. Chances are there are five more drivers right there ready to shuttle you wherever your heart desires. But always remember to be friendly in your negotiations. A smile and kind words are always appreciated.