March 1, 2018
My route in Cambodia and some final thoughts
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Should I possibly wait a few days before I do summarize Cambodia? No! "Time heals wounds" as a German saying goes. And I don´t want that. I want to be authentic and honest regarding my own perceptions. And the verdict after my two stints is sobering: I really disliked most of my cycling in Cambodia this time. It has been my third time on two wheels in the country and as much as I like the Khmer people themselves and as much I feel for them having been thrown back to the medieval only 40 years ago it is difficult to be positive about riding your bike in the current depleting infrastructure. The "jewels" (Siem Reap/Angkor, Sihanoukville) are being sold out to the tourist industry from China and South Korea with nobody caring about the roads that are not required for mass tourist transportation. The ordinary people are left behind in red dust and a rapidly disintegrating street network . And you will join them in this malaise when riding in the countryside. Cambodia has never been a visually very exciting place since I have been coming here first in 2005. No wonder after what the country has been through a few decades ago. Trying to survive people killed anything that was edible and cut any tree trying to cook it in succession. Valuable flora that was left over was used to make as much money out of it as possible. What´s left? Monotonous bush and dust. Plenty of dust. What´s gone? 90 % of the forest and at least 51% of the sealed roads. I am very likely exaggerating but I found the deteriaration of infrastructure and nature alarming. I would love to hear/see whether the fellow cyclists who have been here recently too, Jan and Leo in particular, share my views .
Back from emotions to facts:
Visa
I read before that Cambodia does now issue online visa for 30 days at a cost of 36 US$. Get lost! The visa-on-arrival procedures are extremely smooth and efficient and you will only pay 35 US$. Just make sure you have one passport photo on you.
Money
Riel and US$ are both legal tender in Cambodia at an exchange rate of 4000:1. You can mix as you wish. If your bill will be 8000 Riel you can give 1 $ and 4000 Riel without asking. The ATMs do only provide US$ though and often in large denomination. I always used one of the 100 US$ notes to get 402000 Riel at any money exchanger.You do not only get a yota more out of it but have change available when buying a small bottle of water i.e. which comes at 500 Riel. One advice regarding ATMs: The local banks do charge 5 US$ per transaction except the Malaysian "Maybank" when using a visa card. I had three withdrawals with them saving me 15 US$ which is a one day budget realistically.
Having the dual currency system sounds a bit confusing initially but I actually like it. You can brake the larger US$ notes by changing it to Riel and at the same time not leave the country with this otherwise useless currency as you can get entirely rid of them over the last few days in the country and only use US$ at the end.
Food
Light years behind Thailand! You can get a decent meal in the tourist capitals but I found it difficult to eat while on the road. I simply lost the confidence into the countrywide hygiene after serious, food inflicted diarrhoeas on my previous visits. Nothing went wrong this time but I basically avoided any meat or seafood.
Accommodation
That´s a much brighter topic while travelling Cambodia. I have been happy again with the cleanliness and price-value ratio as such. A regular fan room comes between 5 and 8 US$. Exemption being Sihanoukville, where it was almost impossible to find anything at all over the weekend but I know from asking that accommodation would have been overpriced anyway.
Other (bike service)
I said it while I was still in Phnom Penh: The best bike service I possibly ever had. Put Flying Bikes 2 onto your thumbs-up list.
PS. I will addend if I can think about any further points.
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I agree with you, in Cambodia so much dust. It is normal if you should wear a dust mask during cycling. Everything is dust and the nature situation is indeed alarming.
What I really like about Cambodia are the people ! So positive, strong. They are not so submissive, they are proud. And that is what I really like. Always help you if you need and they don't accept money for their help.
The history is so sad and visiting Killing Fields and S-21 prison are things you will never forget your life.
Leo
6 years ago