Quote:
Originally Posted by Columbine
When I went to Cambodia I got mine at the Vietnamese land border directly. I have a British passport, if that information helps, although the Americans traveling with us had no problems either. If you are flying direct, contact either the Cambodian Embassy in your country (if there is one) or else your own government should have a visa-advice and travel website. For example, this is the British Embassy's Advice website (but check it out even if you're not British for useful links and info): Cambodia travel advice
Generally speaking, traveling by land to Cambodia is not impossible, but the Thai->Cambodia land border is the one most notoriously corrupt. Going through the same border from Cambodia -> Thailand, however, is much less of a bother, but the road is abysmal. Travelling to/from Lao, you need to be very organized. The Vietnamese land border is about the easiest to get through.
Phnom penh:
Definitely go and see the Royal Palace, it's really interesting and absolutely stunning. Ditto Wat Phnom. After the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's put an awful lot of effort into collecting and preserving it's national art, so the museums are also well worth visiting; the sculpture is particularly good. The Tuol Sleng genocide museum is something I think that everyone should visit, but perhaps rather upsetting and morbid for a honeymoon, and not for the very squeamish. The memorial at the killing fields of Choeung Ek, gives probably the same amount of information and impact, but is much less gloomy. Please however be aware that not all of the bone remains have been recovered yet and some are not concealed.
Siam reap:
Is much smaller. Be very careful of con-artist tuk-tuk drivers; only go with those referred to by your hotel/hostel and be suspicious of a very low price and any insistence on returning the next day. They're usually on commission to bring tourists to various seedy bars and can get aggressive.
The market and the Ankor Wat temples are the main attractions here. The market can be gone around in less than a day. You will need to buy a pass for the temples, so make sure you have a spare passport photo. Not all dawns/sunsets are that spectacular, so you'll just have to hedge your bets and try your luck to see if you get the iconic view or not. Take a moment to go around some of the lesser visited temples in the north-end of the complex too; it's better for the temples and they're often just as interesting and much less crowded. There's a cafe listed in the Lonely Planet guidebook that supports disabled and orphens of the khmer rougue regime; it's near the market and does very good food.
Food is a mix of native khmer cuisine and french cooking with some strong similarities to both thai and vietnamese food; expect a lot of chilli, phnom pehn has it's own speciality noodle dish that's worth trying (and definitly sample the spring rolls), and lots of river fish. For your own health, if you decide to sample the street food, try to stick to places that are busy and bustling with a high turnover.
Hope you enjoy your trip! |
Although I'm not the OP, that's an awesome job at giving all this info!
If the OP never sees it, then at least know I appreciate it lol :L