Last days in Cambodia

It was sad to reach the final days.  This was one of our favorite trips ever!  Cambodia is such a dynamic, beautiful country.  The last two days there were spent relaxing.  We did some swimming, a little work, a lot of eating, and spent more time in town.  The last night we went to a Khmer Kitchen restaurant and got our final curries and amok dishes.  It was all delicious!  I can't wait to go back!

Every time we are setting up holidays, we have a hard time picking a hotel and then end up asking a million questions to people that have been there.  So, I decided after each trip I will write out some useful information for those of you interested in going there.  Here is our first one:

Important information about Cambodia:

• They use US dollars and Cambodian money, but mostly US dollars.  There are many ATM's in town to get money.
• You will need to get a VISA on arrival.  Bring with you $20 per person and 1 passport sized photo.  They are not too picky on size.
• Tipping is welcome, but you don't need to do much.  A little money goes a long way there.
• Angkor Wat is HUGE.  Plan on spending at least 2 days there.
• The town is small, but packed with great restaurants, shopping, and bars.
• Food ranges from $3 to $5 at most places and is AMAZING!!!!
• Beer will run you $0.50-$1 :)  and cocktails are about $3.50
• Tuk tuk rides cost about $2

Our hotel:

We stayed at The Shining Angkor Boutique Hotel and LOVED it.  It only has 20 rooms.  We had the best room and it was only $50 a night and included a great breakfast each morning.  The staff is very sweet and helpful.  I felt like we were the only ones there most of the time.  We planned nothing ahead of time.  We just talked to the staff and they set everything up for us.  It cost us $15 for a tuk tuk that took us around ALL DAY at the temples and then $15 for the day we went to the museum and the floating villages.  It was $5 for the tuk tuk to the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  We had a pool that was nice and the restaurant had great food.  Lunch was delicious, but it took them a while to make it each day, but believe me, it is SO worth it when you get it, especially if you get the red curry!!!  Oh, and we had unlimited free rides in to town on a tuk tuk each day.  We were located in between Angkor Wat and town and I loved that.  You got to see and experience so much more of the city.

Flights:

We flew China Southern and enjoyed it.  It was so much better than China Eastern.  They had good food and the seats were really roomy.  The only downfall was our 8 hour layover in Guangzhou.  I don't recommend that, but if that is the only way you can get to Siem Reap, do it!

Things to do and costs:

• Angkor Wat and all the temples- $15 a day or $40 for 3 days (either rent a bike or a tuk tuk to take you around, it is huge). Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat were our favorites.
• Old Market- lots of cheap shopping in town, closes at 6pm  You can usually get stuff for less than half the price they originally say if you do good bargaining.
• Night Market- open at 6pm (there were lots of bugs while we were there, so we didn't last long here)
• Aki Ra's Landmine museum- long ride, but amazing chance to see the local villages and learn a lot about Cambodia's history, $3 per person.
• Floating Village- $13 per person (long ride out there, but I loved it)
• Cooking classes- There are lots of different classes.  We did the Le Tigre one and loved it.  It was $12 per person and got us the class and a 3 course meal.
• Eat Chicken Amok, sooooooooo yummy!
• Eat curry, again soooooooooo yummy!
• Go to a restaurant in town and sit upstairs to do some people watching
• Go to the Mekong Quilt store- even if just to look.  The quilts are quite cheap (for quilts) and there are lots of other little things to buy.
• Get the pancakes from a street vendor!!!  I suggest banana, chocolate, and condensed milk!

Favorite Restaurants:

• Red Piano- good Cambodian and Western food
• Khmer Kitchen
• Little India- great Indian food!!!!
• Le Tigre- good Cambodian and Western food
• Blue Pumpkin- only if you are in the mood for sandwiches and salads and ice cream.
• There are so many others to choose from too!  This is really making me miss it!

Leaving:

The airport is very small.  We got there an hour and half before our international flight and had plenty of time to get to our plane.  Also, there is no cost to leave the country.

That's all!

We were there for 8 days and it was great.  If you really cram stuff, you could probably do it all in 4-5 days.  For us a holiday is not rushing though, so we liked what we did.  I could have stayed longer actually!  Hope this was helpful to all of you that plan to go (which should be everyone reading this!).