Cambodia

All visitors to Cambodia should have up to date inoculations as recommended by their doctors. Visitors should take preventive measures against mosquitoes as in any tropical country, especially at dusk. Health insurance, especially medical evacuation cover is recommended as international standard healthcare is minimal, especially in rural areas.

Although Cambodia is not a Malaria risk-free country, your health will not be at risk if a proper precaution is undertaken. Consult your doctor is our best advice. Generally, the anti-malarial pills like Chloroquine and Mefloquine are recommended, however, if you were going to the remote area, then Doxycycline may be a better choice. Proper clothing and insect repellent can help a lot from insect disturbance.

We have included a list of some major hospitals and medical centers in Cambodia in case of emergency need. It seems that most of them do not currently have any website. If we were able to find one, we will add it here. To call Cambodia, dial (855) and Phnompenh prefix (23)

Visa and Entry Information

All Foreign Visitors are now able to obtain the Cambodia visa upon arrival at the airport.  It is no longer necessary to get the visa stamp at the Cambodian Embassy before your visit. 

Thing you must have before entering!
A Passport Photocopy
1 photo (3 x 4 cm)
US$ 20 Cash for tourist visa fee (Paid directly to the Immigration)
US$ 25 Cash for a business visa fee (good for a month)

You can also trust some motorbike rental shops to get your visa updated for one month,three months ,six months or a one year visa. the cost changes annually and the shops charge a small fee for the service certainly better than doing it yourself and waiting for a half day at the embassy.

At the airport if you pay $20.00 for your entry visa and you decide you want to stay longer you will have to leave and re-enter cambodia and pay the $25.00 business visa entry fee valid for thirty days.

The Cambodia Visa is issued officially at the following ports of entry:
fficially at the following ports of entry:
I was quoted about $150 for 6 months and $270 for one year by Lucky Lucky
Motor bike rental shop.

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By Air

Pochentong Airport in Phnompenh
Siemreap Airport (Angkor Wat Region)

Check on Flights and Prices here. 

By Land

Travelers can travel to/from Cambodia by land through:
Aranyapathet-Poipet Border
Trat-Koh Kong Border of Thailand
Moc Bai - Bavet Border of Vietnam

Cambodia Visa Validity:
30 days from the date of issue, *NOT* from the date of entry.

Visa Extension:
Travelers who would like to prolong their stay in Cambodia may extend their visa at the Department of Immigration situated just opposite the Pochentong Airport. I was quoted about $150 for 6 months and $270 for one year.

Currency and Banking

There are ATM's in Cambodia!!

Ensure to bring enough cash/travelers checks for your entire trip plus a little extra just in case.  The one option that you have is getting cash advances on your Credit Card but this can only be done at certain banks Visa/MC only and only during bank working hours.

The official currency in Cambodia is the Riel which come in denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 50000 and 100000 notes. However, in the major towns and cities, US dollars can be freely spent though travelers are recommended to use smaller denomination notes as change may be difficult. Most places will refuse old, tatty or damaged US bills, sometimes they do try and give you old notes for change, smile, wink and ask nicely for a different note and they will give you one.  Popular local and international currencies can be exchanged openly and freely. Major credit cards are only accepted in a very few places so travelers checks or cash are recommended.

Below is a list of some banks and their addresses;

Cambodian Commercial Bank 
#26 Monivong Street - Tel: (23) 426145

Cambodia Mekong Bank
#1, Street 114 - Tel: (23) 430518

Food

Staples

The staples in the Cambodian area are rice and noodles. Noodles come in all shapes and forms from thin rice, flat (and fat) rice, yellow egg noodles thin and thick, and often curly. You can even get the packaged 2-minute noodle types. A great variety of meat is eaten - chicken, duck, pork and beef.

A common ingredient in many dishes is fermented fish sauce, made from fermenting all kinds of fish and prawns/shrimp. These ingredients are brewed to form a dark sauce that smells very strong and can initially be offensive. It is used in all manner of foods and cooking.

Spring rolls are also found everywhere, varying in size and filling, both veg and non-veg, and even the pastry casing can be quite different.

For the westerners hooked on fast food, in Cambodia there are none of the traditional western fast food chains. However, they have made their own local varieties (only seen in the capital Phnom Penh) — such as Pizza World and Lucky Burger!

Fruit & Vegetables

There are limited vegetables, mostly green leafy types, carrot, string beans, tomato, cucumber and lettuce. Fruit is plentiful, with the full range of tropical types; banana, pineapple, mango (often eaten green), jackfruit, durian, dragon fruit (pink skin with white flesh and black seeds throughout), lime, rambutans, lychee, watermelon, star fruit, mandarin, choko, longan (smaller and less fragrant than a lychee), guava (also eaten green more than ripe) and mangosteen. They have a huge amount of pomelo, which is like a gigantic grapefruit around 20cm in diameter with the skin about an inch thick. Fresh fruit shakes can be ordered on street corners, mixed up in a blender with ice, and sometimes sweetened condensed milk. Delicious on a sticky hot day!

Breakfast

Typically noodle soup is eaten for breakfast. Another item is rice with some barbecued meat.
Crusty baguettes can be found all over the region, due to the French influence. An unusual variety we found in Cambodia was the baguette covered with a sweet coconut oil.

Signature Dishes

• Amok Curry — red curry paste, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and chilli, makes a rich thick curry with chicken or fish.
  
• Ginger chicken/fish —- wok fried meat with loads of ginger, some garlic and onion and eaten with rice.
  
• Lemon fish soup —- A clear broth with a strong lemon flavour, with fresh herbs, spring onion and garlic, You can add chilli and soy sauce if desired.
  
• Cambodian Laksa — A take of the famous Malaysian dish, thin rice noodles in a red curry soup, you add bean sprouts, Vietnamese mint, chilli, cucumber and some other stalk green vegetable. Delicious.
  
• Beef and vegetable salad — cabbage, tomato, carrot, red onion and very thickly sliced cooked beef covered in a sauce of lime juice, fish sauce, vietnamese mint and peanuts (as far as I could detect!).
  

Snacks

Deep fried spiders — this is probably the most unusual food I have seen in all my travels. I didn’t believe it till I saw it with my own eyes. Ladies walk around with a tray full of big black hairy spiders that have been marinated and barbecued. People buy bags full of them. I was only game enough to try one, and I could only manage a leg! A little crunchy and hairy, but not at all inedible!

Desserts

Small donut balls — with a semi sweet lentil filling and a icing sugar coating. Quite heavy and doughy.

Drinks

• Angkor beer — of course the national beer is named after the most important national monument, as everything else is! You can also get Anchor beer, pronounced soft like ‘chores’ not ‘k’.
  
• Hot green tea is served with most meals for free, you can also get in shops a packaged cold variety.
  
• Energy drinks and alcoholic energy drinks are very common
  
• Soft drinks are a whole new world here, there are loads of interesting varieties like fruit punch, pineapple, lychee and regular Fanta, as well as green cream Mirinda.
  
• Condensed milk is used in many hot and cold drinks as an alternative to fresh milk