Holiday in Cambodia (Cambodia)

Member Name: Pablo_Sevilla

Product:	Cambodia
Date:	31/05/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Angkor, Sihanoukville

Disadvantages: Crime in some parts of Phnom Penh, people can be very unfriendly, only worth 1-2 weeks...

Cambodia

By far the biggest attraction in Cambodia is the Angkor ruins. And despite the crowds and package tours there it really is still a marvel to behold, much more than just another temple ruin which many people seem to envisage. Angkor is actually a whole forgotten fallen empire scattered over a 100 kilometre squared area of land north of the city of Siem eap in north-west Cambodia. It was only rediscovered by French explorers in the 1920's when they found bits of Angkor Wat (the most famous of the ruins) in the jungle. They then cleared the jungle and found an entire empire. It was probably one of the biggest archeological discoveries of all-time.

But other than Angkor, Cambodia does have a few other attractions that make it worth a couple of weeks;

Phnom Penh is the capital and to be honest lacks any real sights other than S-21/Killing Fields and the Royal Palace. The former sites are a grim testamount to Cambodia's dark past as S-21 was a prison made out of a school during the evil Khmer Rogue years 1975-79.
The Khmer Rogue was a extremist 'Communist' tyranical regime that ended up wiping out a 1/3 of Cambodia's population (some figures put the death toll at 2 million) during only 4 years it was in control. It sent the entire population into work camps and S-21 was the place dissidents or victims of purges ended up to be tortured and then taken to the killing fields outside of Phnom Penh to be executed (often with clubs or plastic bags over there heads) and burried in mass graves.
A trip to either S-21 or the Killing fields (where mass graves are still being exhumed) is not for the faint hearted but is essential because people deserve to know what happened here. We owe it to the victims.

The Royal Palace is nothing at all special, it's small and the temples are average. The national museum next door is fairly small and has some okay angkor era displays but in the end is only average at best.

Phnom Penh is a dirty and very hectic city. You will get incredible amounts of hassle from moto drivers everywhere you go that don't take no for an answer. Lakeside is one place to avoid. Despite it being a backpacker haunt it does attract the wrong type of crowd and the mosquitos by the lake are horrific. The accommodation is cheap but in the end is it worth it? Drug selling moto drivers are also incredibly annoying and can be very aggressive. Lakeside is basically for people who like to get cheap dirty drugs and have a party for cheap. Though the resturants around here are good. It's worth visiting but I wouldn't stay here again for the above reasons.

Sihanoukville is a really nice beach area on the coast, 4 hours from Phnom Penh. Definitely worth a few days. The bars are good and budget options aplenty. Sea food BBQ are 3$ and delicious. Serendipity is the choice for backpackers and probably the overal best beach. Victory beach is full of prostitutes these days sleazy and not so nice.

Siem Reap is the jumping off point for the Angkor ruins. It's a quite nice city in itself, much more laid back than Phnom Penh. It has arguably better nightlife here than Phnom Penh. Pub Street is the place to be after dark with it's bars, clubs and resturants.

Visa is 30 days on arrival for 20$. Extendible once. You can get multiple entry 'business' visas valid for 6 months. They are infinitely extendible for 120-150$ once you are in the country on a 30 day business visa. Useful if you want to stay and teach English. There is no work visa requirement, not even an immigration system in place. If you have money to pay immigration , you can stay as long as you like.

The food is okay, much blander than neighbouring countries, but decent enough.

Budget: $20 a day. A bit more if you are a party freak.

The people aren't all that friendly. Definitely not the land of smiles...Moto drivers are especially aggressive.

Summary: Angkor aside, it's still struggling after decades of genocide and civil war. Lacks attractions.