Advice (Important)

Several advice before you embark on your visit to Cambodia:

1. Bring your mobile phone with you.

Getting help to call locally or globally could be quite a feat.

The hotels' staff aren't too willing to lend us their phones (in particular, Bolyna Palace Hotel). Your other option would be to walk around aimlessly (ambiguous directions provided) to look out for a supposed "telephone" booth while it doesn't exist because it's supposed to be a shop that provides the service. You just have to tell them where you wanna call and they will charge accordingly. Knew about it, but didn't use the service because a helpful tourist lend us his phone in the end. Even at Reef Resort, I felt some "resistance" while asking to borrow their phone (my sentiments arose because we were not given any help on how to dial the numbers locally).

Bottomline is, you can trust no one but yourself over there. So you'll be better off bringing your own phone for emergency purposes.

2. Bring a medical kit.

While I have never really prepared a medical kit for my previous travel trips I've gone so far (Japan, China, UK, Scotland, Australia, Taiwan), I just had the urge to prepare one this time round. Almost felt I was over reacting until I did fall ill on my last day in Cambodia. Things to pack in your medical kit, medicine for headaches, fevers, flu, flatulence, diarrhea, a thermometer and some plasters. Heard that medical assistance was bad there and in the middle of the trip, I had to get to a local pharmacy to get some medicine since my gf fell ill as well.

My stereotypical impression of a local pharmacy was torn apart when I stood in front of the two pharmacies in Sihanoukville, both looked rundown and rather shady. With not much of a choice, I chose the one which looked like more $$ was pumped into it and spent a good 10-15 minutes reading the instructions of various medications, despite the recommendations of the local pharmacist. But you can't blame me for that, I would rather seem untrusting then to potentially get medication that does more damage than good.

Throw away Watson/Guardian/PolyClinic-like pharmacies, if you risk not bringing a sufficient medical kit, you'll have to come face to face with old-school, TCM-style like pharmacies in Cambodia.

3. Learn one-liners, Know the price, buy the "souvenirs" for immunity

This is especially applicable in Siem Reap. Be prepared to be hounded by thousands of Tuk Tuk drivers and children rushing up to you to ask you to get stuff from them. You might think it's alright to reject them, but imagine having to do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over ....... again!!! If you're fine with that, and can't bear to part with <$10 USD, then I wish you the best of luck.

Because the Cambodia committee seemed so tightly knitted, in all the wrong ways, I was wary to not offend anyone there. There wasn't many classic "buy text-books" "cons there. Only encountered one at Angkor Wat. There were many children selling friendship bands, "good luck" charms, scarves, books, magnets, postcards, etc.

We bought a good luck charm, 4 for $1 USD, an "Ancient Angkor" book for around $6 USD, 3 magnets for $2 USD, a stack of postcards for $1 USD, and Khmer scarves for $2 USD per piece (though not bought at the temple regions). I'm sure we could have gotten the book for a cheaper deal but for the rest of the items, I believe were as close to the cost price as they could go. The children were quite desperate to sell the items, so feel free to bargain as low as you want. Even a 25 - 50 cents profit would do for them.

I don't mean to sound harsh, or stingy on the cash, but imagine thousands (no exaggeration) of them coming up to you, compassion gradually turned into irritancy. The kids would say anything to get the deal, from "impressing you" all the way to "lying to you" (I give them the benefit of the doubt).

Ironically in Cambodia, eye contact will lead you to definite pestering. Avoid eye contact and simply ignore any "Hellos" and "chuk chuk" made by the locals to get your attendance. Feign ignorance, that's one of the best ways to avoid any conversations with them.

Worst case scenarios, learn one-liners to reject them. Close ended. When asked leading questions, return with closed answers. Yes, no, no thanks. One of the best one-liner I found for Tuk Tuk drivers was "We already have a driver". That will shut them up for good. Be it true or not, it's the perfect line.

As for buying stuff, just point to the things you've got and say, "I've got them already, no thanks."

And on a similar note, avoid any free stuff given by locals (except flyers which were legit)... especially joss sticks in temple areas. You take one, you better be prepared to drop them a tip if not you'll see some really rowdy faces.

4. Bring some spare food.

The food there is generally of Asian flavor but the hygiene of the food handling will always be on the front of your mind. The food will take a while to be served, and you can only let your thoughts run wild on you if you were to take a peep into the kitchen. On many occasions, we were mostly starving and trying to find a place to have some really "good decent" food.

Be prepared to fork out more (not much though, around $8-10 USD/pax) for better food in restaurants, but for street side stalls (more decent looking ones), you can actually simply pay up to $8 USD for 2 pax for a 3 course meal/a feast.

Suggest to bring some bread, and more substantial food such as energy bars and cereals to curb your hunger in desperate times.

5. Not a need to learn Cambodian

Most of the locals can speak a little English. However, there are some locals who only know Cambodian, but generic hand signs can get you to desired places. If you were to know just basic Cambodian such as numbers, greetings, formalities etc. they wouldn't get you anywhere. So you're better off not even bothering to learn it.

They won't even "connect" you to the locals. Saying "Hor Kun" like 20 over times still didn't bring out the genuineness of the locals. Almost every local (95%) there speaks to you for a reason, or badly put, for a motive. So do beware. You'll be better off knowing just English so that at least a good percentage of them cant communicate with you.

The language you really need over there is, Money. Money will get you anywhere and almost anything over there.

6. Bring lotsa Sunblock, eyewear, mouth protection and toiletries.

During our 10 day visit there, there wasn't a single drop of rain from the sky. We were baking in the scorching sun and a good Sunblock/SunTan lotion will give you the protection you need and the golden tan you've always been looking for if you just prepared for it.

The temperature there is much hotter than Singapore, about 2-4 degrees higher. Think the day temperature over there was about 33 degrees Celsius and on one particular day (though we didn't measured), it was so hot it felt like it was 35-37 degrees. We were perspiring at night even after our shower. Be prepared to adapt to the feeling of having a thin layer of "dirt moisture" on your skin throughout the entire day.

Because Tuk Tuks are the main mode of travelling for tourists, I suggest you bring a pair of sunglasses if you aren't wearing spectacles and bring along some mouth masks as well. As mentioned before, there's lotsa of dirt roads and every now and then, apart from the visible exhaust emitting from who-knows-how-old vehicles, there will also be sand beating against your faces every now and then. My slippers were covered with sand at the end of the day and it was so hardly recognisable and covered with so much dirt, that I was almost certain no one would even have thought of stealing them even if I were to serve it on a platter.

And because Tuk Tuks are open aired, expect lotsa "breeze" and don't bother even bringing your hair gel/wax/spray because at the end of 1 trip, it will be reminiscence of a bad hair day in your life.

Generally, accom places provides complimentary tooth brushes, tooth pastes, combs, shampoo, bath wash, and 2 bottles of mineral water. However, some places have weird tasting toothbrushes and what seemed like spoilt tooth paste (Reef Resort). Some don't even have shampoo and bath wash, they just provide you with soap (Bolyna Palace Hotel). Not all accoms provide combs and you'll have to seek for special request if you want a hair dryer (Alliance Villa provides and Reef Resort on request). My advice is to bring your own toiletries (with the exception of toilet paper cos every accom provides them, prolly a few packets of tissue papers because the accom there are quite stingy on replenishing them).

2 bottles of 500ml mineral water is hardly enough so you'll have to drop by a local supermarket to get a 1 litre bottle of mineral water to last you an entire day. On some days, we needed 2 bottles. The only accom which sells 1L mineral bottles is Alliance Villa. The best price you can get your 1L mineral bottles for are 50 cents-75 cents. Most convenience shops and roadside stalls sell them for a dollar.

7. Don't bother bringing a coin purse.

They don't handle any coins in Cambodia. Generally USDs are like dollar notes, while Riels (Cambodian dollars) are cents. The "standard conversion" rate in the country is 4,000Riels = 1 USD. So 2,000 Riels gives you 50 cents etc. The notes come in denominations of 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000, 500, 100. In Siem Reap, most simply use 2,000, 1,000, 500 and 100. The bigger notes are transacted in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

8. A waterproof camera might come in handle.

If you're thinking of touring to nearby islands at Sihanoukville, I would recommend having a waterproof cam to capture one of the most memorable sea shots (snorkeling or in crystal clear waters) you might have.

9. Bring a pair of shoes / buy a pair over there.

If you're very keen on exploring temple complexes like Tomb Raider, then it's advisable to be wearing shoes over there. The pavements are rocky and harbor potential "booby traps". Expect lotsa walking so if you wear slippers or sandals, blisters are an inevitable consequence. I'm someone who really likes walking with slippers, and usually will not have any problem walking in them for hours and hours but the terrain there, I have to admit, is truly unsuitable for bare flip flops. Climbing, huge jutting stones from the ground, sharp rocks, and even ants etc.

I hurt my feet once because of a jutting high density rough-ass stone and it was due to a moment's negligence. I was weary throughout the day, but just for that one time, when I was distracted by some view, when I let my guard down was when I hurt myself. So to have that peace of mind, so that you don't really have to be so paranoid checking the pavements all the time, a decent pair of shoes should suffice.

Thought I bring it up as well, a decent pair should be enough. Don't bring a good pair because expect it to be really dirty after your temple expedition. My slippers were totally covered with reddish-brown dirt at the end of the day and it was so bad, even if I were to leave it unattended, exposed to theft, thieves might even think twice about stealing them. What we did was we brought a spoilt pair over there and dumped it in Cambodia.

10. Bring at least 2 torches.

Perhaps the last and most important advice is that you'll want to bring at least 2 handheld torches (1 for backup) to navigate your way around the temple complexes when the skies turn dark. Don't "worry", there's lotsa opportunities for you to use torches over there, temple complexes, dark roads etc. The torch is going to be your best "friend" for this trip. Try your best to bring more powerful torches because it's not just to illuminate what's ahead, but also what's under since most if not all of the walking pavements are not as level as you hope them to be.

Important to note that these torches should be within easy reach, either in your pockets or hand-carry. You don't wanna be caught up in a situation where you're too engrossed exploring that the darkness strikes too abruptly. Many temple complexes wouldn't be that thriving with tourists during that time of the day so rather than hope other tourists "shine you the way", you'll be better off depending on yourself for that.