TRAVEL CENTURE

Travel Information

Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonder, situates to the South portion of the Indochina Peninsula. The country is known to be the Khmer Empire’s holy land with the famous UNESCO Heritage Site, the majestic Temples of Angkor Complex. Famous for the flourishing era in the past with impressive stone architectures and carvings, Cambodia also attracts tourists by its special historical background, the rustic charm of the countryside in Mekong Delta, and the tropical vibe from beaches and islands offshore. Healing from the dark past, Cambodia nowadays has been an intriguing country for anyone desiring to explore the exotic Khmer culture as well as the nation’s history.

There is so much more to Cambodia than Angkor Wat. Go for the traditions, go for the history, but more importantly, go for the people. Their friendliness and sincerity is unmatched.

Angkor Wat

Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Phnom Penh

Visit the bustling capital with a rich history

Gastronomy

Taste some of the countries tradional dishes

Amazing Scenery

Explore rainforests, beaches and beautiful rivers

When to visit

Cambodia is warm all year round. November to May is the dry seaon with cooler temperratures at the beginning of the years. The wet season runs from June to October with rains falling mainly in the afternoon.

Best time

November - March

Good time

April - May and September - October

Ok time

June - August

Cambodia at a Glance

Prepare for your journey with this “at a glance” breakdown of information you need to know about Cambodia to help you on your way to understanding this beautiful and fascinating country.

Capital city

Phnom Penh

Population

17.5 million

Languange

Khmer

Currency

Cambodian riel (KHR)

Time zone

GMT+7

Calling Code

(+855)

Electricity

Type A / C / G, 230V

Weather

Tropical

Useful Information

Facts & Tips

When travelling to the Kingdom of Cambodia …

And while preparing your travel and stay, visitors should think about what to bring along and to take care to observe local customs and common sense practices. You may find it useful to familiarize yourself with the following common Facts and Tips before embarking on your trip to Cambodia.

1- Good shoes for the visits of the temples; tongs and sandals are not recommended;

2- Bring a cap + sun glasses for sun protection and sunscreen protection cream; Straw hats are available for sale at Temple entrances (around USD 1,50 to 2 $ per piece); Drinking a lot of water is recommended, so keep in mind to often drink as much as possible so to avoid severe dehydration;

3- Light clothing as it may be getting hot as early as in February/March until July/August, while a raincoat and K-way is recommended for the rainy season from July to October (also, as the temples are still worshipped by the Khmers,inappropriate clothing is not recommended as you may be turned away for the visit of the temples); when traveling, always keep a traditional “krama” (Khmer scarf) with you as it is a very helpful piece of cloth;

4- Mosquito repellent may be helpful for the persons allergic to mosquito bites;

5- Some medicines (Paracetamol, Imodium) may be helpful though good pharmacies are available around town and in Shopping malls / No need for malaria treatment (though recommended if going to the remote places and far-Eastern provinces such as Mondolkiri or Rattanakiri);

6- IMPORTANT: Have ready upon arrival 1 or 2 ID-Photos for visa processing on arrival at Airport; your photo for temple passes will be taken on spot when processing the pass. Have some small US Dollar change and notes / one-1, five-5 or ten-10 US$ notes (exchange Rates may sometimes be more advantageous in Cambodia);Also note that your passport MUST be valid 06/six months AFTER the date of your planned departure from Cambodia!

7- Suggestion for lunch: you may want to have lunch at Le Jardin des Délices, the Training Restaurant of the Paul Dubrule Hotel and Hospitality School on weekdays (Tuesdays to Fridays), and meet with students, then visit the school (all proceeds for lunch go to the Scholarship funds); many other possibilities for eatery venues are now available in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap cities, while Battambang have seen new places sprucing up, and fresh seafood is available at Kep (famous for its Kampot Pepper Fried Crab) or in Sihanoukville;

8- Be careful of NOT LOSING the individual Temple pass (otherwise you may need to purchase a new one);

9- Make sure you do not lose the Departure cards (second sheet/part of the Arrival card) which should have been stapled onto your passport by the Immigration official, and to be filled out before checking-in and going through Immigration Police on departure day.

Be it while visiting temples, beachcombing or simply hanging around, you will come to interact with the People of Cambodia who are well-known for their traditional hospitality and warmth. Out of respect to the Khmer traditions, visitors to the Kingdom should take care to observe local customs and practices. You may find it useful to familiarize yourself with the following common Do’s and Don’ts before embarking on your trip to Cambodia.

Do’s

  • Ask for permission before taking photographs of any Cambodian people or monks.
  • It is customary to remove your shoes when entering a place of worship such as a pagoda or a sacred spot in the temple. Additionally, visitors should dress appropriately when visiting and when being inside the premises of a religious site, e.g. Angkor Temples, Royal Palace (shoulders and upper arms with a shirt or blouse, and legs and knees should be covered with long pants or long skirt – no mini shorts and miniskirt above the knees – , and hats removed when entering the sanctuaries or Vihear).
  • It is respectful to remove your shoes when entering someone’s home.
  • Though not always expected, a respectful way of greeting another individual is to bow the head slightly with hands pressed together at the chest (known as “Sampeah”).
  • If invited to dine in a Cambodian family’s home, it is polite to bring a small gift for the host such as fruit, dessert, or flowers.
  • If invited to attend a Cambodian wedding, it is customary to bring an envelope with cash as a wedding gift.
  • When using a toothpick at the table, use one hand to cover your mouth.
  • Keep business cards ready, and present them with both hands. Accept business cards with both hands.
  • Last but not least, protect yourself from the heat and sun and do drink plenty of bottled water as to avoid severe dehydration.

Don’ts

  • Don’t use your feet to point at someone as it is considered extremely insensitive and impolite.
  • Don’t touch a Cambodian person (be it an adult or a child) on the head.
  • Don’t begin eating if you are a guest at a dinner and the host has yet to take a bite.
  • Women should never touch male monks or hand something directly to them.
  • Keep public displays of affection to a respectful minimum.
  • Keep business cards ready, and present them with both hands. Accept business cards with both hands.
  • Travel safely and do not put your own life at risk.

Commonsense practices

  • Do not litter; keep our community clean and safe.
  • Plastic bags can be hazardous; dispose them properly and help keep our city and streets clean and tidy.
  • In any situation, do keep a smile on the face as this will also help your interlocutor to keep a “face-saving” attitude, for making someone “losing face” may lead to misunderstandings and should you lose temper, you could end up spoiling your entire holidays. 

For a seamless arrival, a one-month tourist visa can be readily obtained upon entry at major international gateways, including Phnom Penh International Airport, Siem Reap International Airport, and all land border crossings. The cost for this visa is US$30, and a single passport-sized photograph is required.

Alternatively, for those who prefer to arrange their travel documents in advance, visas can be procured through an e-visa option is available for US$36 via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the details here.

Cambodia travel insurance is an absolute necessity and must be purchased prior to travel with a reputable provider in your home country. You are unlikely to find adequate insurance cover in Cambodia and the costs of evacuation can be high should you encounter unexpected trouble.

Medical and evacuation insurance cover

We strongly recommend all travelers to Cambodia to have medical insurance that will include cover for medical evacuation in the event of serious illness or accident. There are several high quality children’s hospitals (supported by foreign donations) in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, but generally high quality medical care is limited and expensive.

In the event of serious ilness or accident medical evacuation to Bangkok is recommended (the Bumrungrad hospital there is excellent). This may be straightforward from Siem Reap but require private air transport from remote parts of the country. Medical insurance cover is now available in Cambodia but is targeted mainly at the long-term expatriate market.

Cambodia travel insurance – cover vehicle accident

With minimal insurance cover for vehicles it is essential to have good personal cover. ABOUTAsia has no insurance cover for its guests as meaningful cover is simply not available here.

A legacy of the UN’s brief rule here, English is widely spoken in most urban areas which makes Cambodia easy to travel and navigate for English speakers. Most menus and signs will be in English, and vendors operating in busy areas are all able to speak English.

The local currency is based on the US dollar and its largest printed denomination is 50,000 Khmer Riel – or $12.5 USD. The economy here is still based on the US dollar, another legacy of the UN’s governance here in the early 1990s.

The US dollars are accepted everywhere and officially exchanges at 4100 Riel, however, most places accept 4000 Riel to $1 USD for the sake of simplicity. Anything below $1 USD uses Khmer Riel exclusively – American coins are not accepted here. We recommend just carrying USD for larger bills so your wallet isn’t stuffed with small denominations.

Most places will not accept plastic- even restaurants and bars that seem like they should. Those that do typically display a Visa or MasterCard sign at the door. But don’t expect it or travel without cash- roughly 70% of all the money in Cambodia is in cash- here cash is truly king. 

There’s also a set of local attitudes towards cash that may be unfamiliar- local establishments refuse $100 bills because they’re seen to be a nuisance to break. Most places will not accept bills with rips or tears- even really tiny ones. Bills that have a small stain, or a bit of ink on them are known to be turned away too. There’s a belief here that banks will not accept them (which is untrue) so no one else does. Even those without bank accounts to deposit into will not accept these unwanted bills- less than 4% of Cambodians have a bank account. In fact, it’s the people who do have bank accounts that will accept the bills readily. Most foreign businesses (or ones that cater to foreigners) will accept big bills, or slightly mistreated ones because they will be depositing them into their accounts anyways. Go figure. 

The easiest, cheapest, and most efficient way around the city is by Tuktuk. Most hotels always have a few drivers waiting outside on the street to take guests to their destinations and are also ubiquitous throughout the city. You need to haggle the price before you start your journey. $2 USD is a typical price for a standard 10-minute ride around town. You are likely to be charged the “tourist fee” which is typically only a dollar or two more than standard local fares. Or just try what locals do – don’t mention price until you arrive at your destination, say thanks, then give them a couple of bucks and walk away. If the driver is unhappy they will let you know!

If you don’t want to deal with the stress of haggling and navigating the city, there are two big ride-share applications to use: PassApp and Grab. PassApp is the most popular local application and can find you 2-seater tuktuks, 4-seater cars, and 6-seater four-wheel drives to take you around the city. You can set pick-up and drop-off locations around town for pre-negotiated rates. The prices are exceedingly reasonable and far better than you’d be able to negotiate with a tuktuk on your own. Payments are made in cash.

Uber sold its local business to Grab, an international application that is relatively new and growing. This is the best way to get to the airport or destinations a bit further in the city. It also has the option of getting the old-school 4-seater tuktuks if that’s something you prefer, and also allows you to pay via credit card- which is very useful if figuring out a foreign currency is confusing to you.

Important: Please be careful with your belongings, bags, and phones during any tuktuk ride – have them hidden or secured and not within reaching distance of people outside. Drive-by thefts by motorbike are unfortunately common in Phnom Penh in areas where tourists are known to frequent.

We recommend using ABA and ANZ ATMs as they are partnered with the Bank of Canada and Australia/New Zealand, respectively. Your debit or credit cards are less likely to be flagged by these reputable international banks. They both allow you to withdraw USD and KHR and are easy to locate on Google Maps. They will charge you $4-5 USD to use their service for each withdrawal. Keep in mind that $100 bills are not accepted at most places without a big purchase- so do what we do and withdraw $10 less than you usually would- $90 instead of $100, or $190 instead of $200, so you have convenient bills to carry around. 

Besides hotels, shopping malls, and Lexus dealerships, it’s rare for places to accept cards. Cambodia is still a cash-based economy, so even higher-end bars and restaurants only accept cash. If you forget, don’t worry, most establishments will be able to direct you to a nearby ATM.

While US, European and UK power outlets can be found in Cambodia, the typical flat 2-pronged US outlets are the most accommodated, but not by a large margin. Due to the UN occupation, it’s very common to see multi-pronged sockets everywhere. Voltage in Cambodia is 230 volts (US voltage is 120), so you may still need an adapter if your device is unable to handle the higher voltage. Most electronic devices will not have a problem, but items like hair dryers sometimes do not work without an adapter.

If your devices use UK or European plugs then we recommend you bring an adapter, but if you forget they are quite cheap at the local markets or minimarts! Your hotel should also be able to provide something helpful for you, but its always best to have a personal one at hand. 

Sim cards are cheap and worth the trouble. You can pick them up at many ports of entry, and the Phnom Penh airport even gives SIM cards for free with unlimited prepaid plans (which are usually a bit pricier than the local plans, but hassle-free.)

We recommend Smart or Cellcard– these are the biggest and fastest operators in Cambodia. Smart and Cellcard shops at the airport will charge around $7 for a sim card with unlimited data for a fixed time. If you’re going to get one later, make sure you bring your passport as all SIM card purchases usually need to be registered.

Alternatively, many street-side cellphone shops also sell sim cards. You’ll find them around any market- just look for the stores displaying cellphones in the glass cases. They will charge about $3 but passports are not required. English will be limited, and the sim card will have no balance, but by using a pre-paid plan you could spend less than $5 a month on plenty of data, texts, and local calls.

Data here is very cheap, and $2 for a week-long stay is more than enough pre-paid phone credit to buy. It’s easy to purchase additional credit any time by visiting a street-side mom-and-pop shop (the ones that sell a little bit of everything, with a big orange cooler out front). If you’re not sure, literally ask anybody to point you in the right direction and you will get help. Let the vendor know what carrier you’re using and how much you’d like to top-up. They’ll give you a scratch-off code card that has instructions on how to input on your phone.

If your are visiting the islands off the southern coast: please check if your hotel has wifi. The islands have to set up their power and water independently, but they can’t set up cell towers, etc, so many hotels do not offer wifi there. Those that do often have very shaky connections (check the reviews, people!)

Metfone is also a good choice as it is more reliable on the islands, but it’s not as commonly used on the mainland and will be harder to top-up. The islands are perfect to escape the modern world, but if you need to be contactable or if you are staying for a long time it could be worth just getting another Metfone sim for that leg of the trip- or re-booking someplace that has reliable wifi.

We don’t have a tipping culture here, so it is not expected, but it is welcomed and appreciated if you do feel like service was exceptional. Tipping is only really a *thing* at massage parlors; when your masseuse is waiting to see you out at the lobby after your massage, show your appreciation for skill by slipping a couple of bucks. It’s still not mandatory though, but just more common here. 

At massage parlors and everywhere else, there are no guidelines at all about what percentage of the bill is expected based on the level of service delivered, so just go with your gut if you feel like giving an extra “thank you.”

Before going to Cambodia, consult a doctor and ensure all your vaccinations are current and you are vaccinated for Tetanus, Polio, and Diphtheria. Other vaccines recommended include Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, Typhus, and Tuberculosis; vaccinations against rabies and Japanese encephalitis are also advised. However, officially, no vaccinations are required to enter Cambodia.

In case of emergency, you can find vaccinations against rabies and Japanese encephalitis at the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia.

In some regions, you may come across venomous animals (snakes, spiders): if bitten, you should be able to find antivenins in Cambodia readily.

Your home embassy may be able to assist with advice during emergencies or serious problems. You might want to register before you arrive so that the embassy staff will know where to reach you in an emergency at home.

If calling a Cambodian emergency number, you may have to ask for the aid of a Khmer speaker because there might not be an English-speaking operator on the line:

  • Ambulance: 119
  • Fire department: 118
  • Police: 117 or 118
 

Phnom Penh

Calmette Hospital
Address: 3, boulevard Monivong SC Phnom Penh
Telephone: +855 (0) 23 42 69 48

Pasteur Institute
Address: No. 5, Boulevard Monivong, 12201 Phnom Penh
Telephone: +855 (0) 23 42 60 09

Siem Reap

Royal Angkor Hospital
Address: Phum Kasekam, Khum Sra Ngea, National Route 6 (Airport Road), Krong Siem Reap 17000,
Telephone: +855 (0)63 761 888

Ambulance of the provincial hospital in Siem Reap: 855 (0) 63 76 11 19

Pre-departure Tasks

  • Ensure your passport is valid for at least six months before expiration.
  • Consider medical, baggage, and trip cancellation insurance.
  • Check with your doctor regarding vaccinations and medicines needed.
 

Clothes

  • Light clothes (the weather can be hot and humid)
  • Long T-shirts and trousers to protect yourself against mosquitoes (mainly during the evening and in remote areas like the jungle)
  • Hat and sunglasses
  • Clothes with covered shoulders and knees for sacred buildings and temples
  • Good shoes for trekking and walks around temples
 

Pharmacy

  • Insect repellent
  • Antiseptic wipes for hand washing and emergency toilet paper
  • Personal First Aid Kit (bring in small amounts and in small containers)
  • Aspirin/ibuprofen, etc. (paracetamol is recommended – aspirin can be dangerous in case of dengue fever)
  • Cold-symptom relief tablets, antihistamines, cough drops
  • Adequate quantity of sweat-resistant sunscreen with at least an SPF 15 rating or higher and lip balm with sunscreen
  • Prescription medicines in their original bottles. Acidophilus enzyme (available in capsules in health-food stores). This often helps your digestive system get in shape for “new” flora.
  • Immodium, Lomotil, or similar anti-diarrhea medicine. Pepto-Bismol tablets and liquid (in leak-proof bottle).
  • Medical prescriptions if you travel with prescription drugs.
 

Misc.

  • ID pictures for visa
  • At least 30 USD in cash for the visa fee
  • Passport and essential documents’ photocopies in case of loss