Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap | .: ShaolinTiger

Cambodia Day 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane to Siem Reap

February 21st, 2006 by ShaolinTiger at 9:03 AM MYT - 2,629 views

So I decided before my Mom came, to take her on a little trip, seen as though she's flown half way around the world to get here, I was looking at the Malaysia islands like Langkawi...then I saw Air Asia was flying to a bunch of new places, one being Siem Reap..although I had no idea where it was, I looked up all the new places, most were in Indonesia.

But Siem Reap it turned out was in Cambodia, and only 5.5km from Angkor Wat! I was so excited, and I knew my Mom would LOVE it there. So I booked the tickets, it was only $9.99 each way for the tickets as it was a new destination. You can check the prices now on Air Asia. I think you'll find it's about $240 for the ticket to and fro now (Around $80 there, $160 back).

So before going I did some research on the net, the best places I found were Wikipedia for Siem Reap/Angkor Wat and the Tales of Asia site. Tales of Asia has MORE than enough info on health, currency, immigration issues, travel, what to see, where to eat, where to go and so on.

His amazing Cambodia FAQ was extremely useful.

Take a note that the currency there is mainly USD, the local currency (The Riel) is only used for small change and small transactions.

The official currency is the riel, however the de facto currency is the US dollar and most prices are quoted in dollars. Even the government quotes fees in US dollars. As there are no coins in Cambodia, riels function as small change and you'll accumulate some during your trip. There is no reason to change significant quantities of cash into riel, but it's a good idea to carry a few thousand riels in your pocket for moto drivers (they NEVER have change) and other small purchases

So off I went to KLIA with a pocket full of USD, a few ideas of where to stay and a bunch of print outs from the net.

The Air Asia flight was timely for once, and we arrived in Cambodia after 2 hours and 5 minutes as expected. Bear in mind if you are not from South East Asia you will have to pay for a Visa when you arrive in Cambodia, you require a recent passport photograph and $20USD.

It's the first visa entry card I've seen with a picture and in COLOUR!

Cambodia Entry Pass

I hadn't slept the night before...and I looked like it too LOL, I went back to the hotel and crashed out.

Siem Reap Airport

You can get from the airport into town for $5USD for a taxi or $1USD for a Tuk-tuk.

I woke up just about in time for dinner, best! Most dishes are about 3-4USD some slightly more, obviously expect to pay more in the guesthouse than outside, unless you go to a posh or a tourist restaurant. This is for Khmer food, it's fairly much like Thai food but not spicy.

Cambodian Food

We had 3 dishes for dinner, some kind of vegetable..

Cambodian Vege

Sweet and sour pork..

Sweet and Sour Pork

And the local speciality, a very light coconut curry called Amok..

Chicken Amok

We organised our plan that night too, from what I'd read I decided to get a guide and a car, a guide will set you back around $25USD a day however you travel and a car around $20USD a day. If it's a bigger group, you can hire a minibus, but I'm not sure on the cost for that.

You can opt for a cheaper Tuk-tuk for around $12USD a day, but bear in mind a Tuk-tuk can only really accomadate two people and the cars there are 90% old Toyota Camrys so they can take three easily (Remember there is a guide and a driver, so there are already 2 in the car).

Also calculate in the cost of the Temple Pass ($40USD for 3 days per person).

Plus the cost of food (for 2-3 people it about $15USD a meal), so yeah it's not a really cheap trip.

Siem Reap is not a huge place, so wherever you stay it'll probably be within walking distance to the old market and the middle of town with the bars/restaurants, from our place it was about 15 minutes walk, pretty much any distance is $1USD on a Tuk-tuk.

Tommorow the temples!

Tags: air-asia, angkor-wat, cambodia, holiday, siem-reap, Travel, trips

Posted in Food/Eating, Trips & Travel | -

Related Posts:
- Cambodia Day 4 - An Afternoon at Tonle Sap (The Great Lake)
- 2006 The Year That Was - A Summary - Part I
- Cambodia Day 5 - Leaving Peace of Angkor and Thet
- Cambodia Day 3 - An Afternoon at Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and Old Market - Siem Reap
- Cambodia Day 4 - A Morning at Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko (Roluos Group)
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18 Comments so far

shag on February 21st, 2006 at 11:53 am
Using Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 on Windows XP

when were you there? I was just there in mid Feb but I didn't notice any dogdy englishman with mother in tow around SR town.
spiller on February 21st, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

Did you fly on the new Airbus 320?
skyflakes on February 21st, 2006 at 2:24 pm
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beautiful place.. although the killing field is a bit scary... and u HAVE to visit tonle sap (the lake) simply breathtaking
killuminati on February 21st, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

great writeup. i'm thinking about going on vacation there too.

and amok. gotta love the name.

amok.

i can't help myself.
ShaolinTiger on February 21st, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Using Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 on Windows XP

shag: Was there 23rd-27th of February

spiller: Nah old plane still

skyflakes: Yes I did visit Tonle Sap, will document my whole journey, it's way too much for one post!

HB: Yah I recommend going soon man, before it gets TOO commercialised, it's getting that way already.
KinkyPugKevin on February 21st, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Using Safari 417.8 on Mac OS X

I want tapau! Haha!
J on February 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows 2000

Wow.
You look rEaLLy disgruntled/ darn tired in the photo...
zbjernak on February 22nd, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Using Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 on Windows XP

WOW.....
cool...

hmmm
i love angkor too

hope tht u could write a brief guide abt it...
so that not-so-brave people like me will have some info before stepping onto the plane...

have a nice trip...
moo_t on February 22nd, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Using Mozilla 1.7.8 on Windows XP

Too late, just want to warn you, "Don't recommend Cambodia to killuminati". Because it is sixthseal heaven.
tonyk on February 22nd, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

Bloggers to Siem Reap!
ShaolinTiger on February 22nd, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Using Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 on Windows 2000

J: Yeah I was, extremely so

zbjernak: I'll be giving a full guide day by day in the week or so, bit busy at the moment.
jitpunkia on February 23rd, 2006 at 9:56 am
Using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP

pretty fascinating . a white man living a msian life n im a msian living the white man's life . oh man i do miss msia . interesting blog u have there ...
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