לובג ירבעמ ,תויורירגש ,הסינכ תורשא -
םייללכ םיפיט -
תויצקרטאו הכישמ ידקומ -
הרובחת -
םילכונ - תוריהז -

: לובג ירבעמ ,תויורירגש ,הסינכ תורשא

Bangkok is a good place to get a Cambodian visa. If you persist it can be issued on the same day. The visa is valid for 30 days after the day it is issued and not for 30 days after entering the country. Make sure you arrange your travel plans accordingly.
Antti Saarela, Finland (Oct 99)

Entry visas can be obtained at the airport. The fee for tourists has gone up to US$25. I had to wait for one hour. Some thirty passengers queued up in a long line, despite about twelve immigration officers at the counter, processing the visa applications was excruciatingly slow.
Robin Crompton, United Kingdom (Oct 99)

Cambodian visas are issued at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok. All that is needed is an application form, one photo, a copy of your passport and $20US. The visa will be ready for collection the following day at 3Ppm. The address is: 185 Rajadamri Rd, but the entrance is on a side Street off Sarasin Rd. Opening times are 9am-11am.
Cloda Cassidy, Ireland (Sept 99)

Visas are still issued on arrival at Phnom Penh airport (as of May 99). Make sure you have two photos, otherwise you’ll have to pay a fine ($10 I think).
Adam Preece, UK (Jun 99)

Response to below: I don’t know where Doug Smith paid $32 to get his visa, but my girlfriend and I each paid $20 at the Cambodian Embassy on Rajdamri Road in Bangkok and got our passports back with the huge official Cambodian visa stamp (it consumes an entire page) the following afternoon. The whole submission process took all of ten minutes (ie you also have to fill out a form, submit a passport photo and a copy of the first page of your passport along with the money and the passport itself), and that included standing in line.
Aron Danburg, USA (Jul 99)

It’s now possible to get a Cambodian visa on arrival at Siem Reap for $20. We didn’t know this and ended up paying $32 each in Bangkok.
Doug Smith, USA (May 99)

As of last month (Feb 99), visas could still be purchased in Pochentong Airport ($20 tourist/$25 business). One of the LP newsletters (hard copy) from the end of '98 said that you couldn't get visas at the airport anymore. I know that there was talk of that (and it may have actually happened for a while), but that is no longer accurate.
Kim Baldwin Radford (Mar 99)

Cambodia/Laos border: travellers are advised not to attempt the crossing on the Mekong. The border officials are quite strict about this and bribes are out of the question. Especially do not discuss your intent to do so with owners of guest houses.
Peter Leth, USA (Mar 99)

Cambodian visas take a day to be issued in Bangkok and cost about USD30 and two photos.
The Canadian embassy is now located with the Australian embassy in PP.
Cambodia is an excellent place for Lao visas: they're issued the next day for US$35 and two photos.
It seems to be cheaper to buy Vietnamese visas in Cambodia through agents. Apparently agents are offered a concessionary price not available to travellers who simply turn up at the embassy.
Anon (Feb 99)

If travellers want to extend their one month visa in Cambodia it can take up to 30 days to process if you do not get an express visa.
Nick O'Connell (Feb 99)

I travelled to Cambodia last June, crossing from Thailand by land. I took the early train from Bangkok, which leaves around 6 am. The train is supposed to arrive at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet around noon, but usually arrives around 1 pm. From here, you just have to follow the crowd (not of tourists, but of locals) and take a small bemo or tuk tuk to get to the Cambodian border town of Poipet where you can easily find the small immigration check point. The Cambodian officials checked our passports and visas very carefully, and asked us to pay US$1 - for some kind of paperwork, they said. After the immigration check point, you have to walk a few metres, and you will meet locals who are very eager to take you in their pick-up trucks to Siem Reap. It is a long trip, but the villages on the way are interesting; we arrived there around 8-9 pm.

It is not useful to go to a travel agent to obtain a Cambodian visa, as they keep your passport for a few days and charge you more. Just go directly to the Cambodian Embassy. Mine was issued in 30 minutes, and the staff were very nice. When the Cambodian Consul saw that I planned to cross the border by land, he invited me into his office and explained to me that it was safer now, but that I should nevertheless be careful.
Marie Lesaicherre, Singapore (Dec 98)

On 30 November 1998, it was still possible to obtain a visa at Phnom Penh airport.
Steve Newcomer, USA (Dec 98)

Earlier this year, the Poipet border crossing opened to foreigners. On 23 May, I went by road from Siem Reap to Poipet, and then on to Thailand. The condition of the road was so bad that cars had to leave the road for some stretches and drive on the field next to it as it was so bumpy. There were no buses, so I travelled on the back of a pick-up truck. I did not feel unsafe, and have spoken to many tourists who took this same route and didn't feel unsafe either. Of course, I realise that there is a difference between my impression of the safety and the actual level of safety.
Johannes van der Heide, The Netherlands (Nov 98)

On 14 May 1998, the South China Morning Post (Internet Edition), reported the following:
'The Cambodian government has announced changes to its visa requirements to travellers visiting Cambodia. Cambodia's Consul-General announced last week that visas will no longer be issued on arrival at Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport. The changes in the visa requirement were originally directed only at diplomats and aid workers but the Consul-General has insisted tourists must have a visa prior to arrival in Cambodia. The cost of the visa remains the same at US$20. As travellers arriving overland from Ho Chi Minh City already are required to have their visas prior to arrival in Cambodia, they are not affected by changes to the new visa requirement'.

Lonely Planet has been receiving mixed reports from travellers about this situation, so we recommend calling your local Cambodian embassy before travelling. We phoned the Cambodian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, on 10 June 1998, and were told that tourists can actually still obtain visas at Phnom Penh's airport; the change to visa requirements apparently only applies to business travellers and diplomats. I was one of the first travellers to cross the Thai-Cambodia border (at Poipet) overland as they opened it officially during the time I was visiting Angkor. I had no problems at all, although I wouldn't say I felt safe all the time during the journey. You see dozens of people carrying heavy guns and the police and army (supposedly there to ensure the safe flow of goods and people from both countries), complete the scary scenery. Anyway, you save at least $100 by travelling from Siem Reap to Bangkok overland though you have to know that you are really taking a risk as, due to political instability, Cambodia isn't a safe country yet.
Eduardo Cardellini Martino (Apr 98)

: םייללכ םיפיט

Angkor - you can’t upgrade passes any more. The Cambodian government has sold the admission rights to a Vietnamese company for US$1.5 million and the rules have changed. There are lots of checks to make sure you have a kosher ticket and they are clamping down on re-sales.
Sam & Brain Cornah (Sept 99)

In Cambodia the US dollar is used at almost all establishments where backpackers go. It is good to have both currencies since depending on the place sometimes it is better to pay in riels and sometimes in dollars. The only problem your change will be given in the local currency.
Krzysztof Sobkowski (Sept 99)

Everyone in Kompong Som seems to have moved location and changed their names. The Sihanoukville Tourists Guide has the latest. It’s available from most guesthouses. The Angkor Arms also has many copies to give away.
Iago & Caroline Cornelius-Jones, UK (Jul 99)

Response to below: for the record, I paid for almost everything I bought last week in the Siem Reap markets (kramas, silk skirts, etc) with Thai baht, which everybody happily accepted (although the merchants did quote me prices in dollars before I asked if I could pay in baht). I also used baht without any trouble to pay for supplies in the small grocery store near our hotel and to get all our film developed at the photo shop. We did have to pay slightly higher prices in baht than we would had we paid in dollars, but we didn’t spend that much money in Cambodia anyway.
Aron Danburg, USA (Jul 99)

US dollars were the only currency accepted for visas, entry fees and hotels. In markets and restaurants, prices were quoted in dollars, though they did accept local currency. Carry a few twenties and the rest in 100s. Baht were not accepted. To change other currencies, a commission is charged.
Robert Patterson, USA (Jan 99)

Planning: we think there is a need for a sleeping bag in parts of Cambodia in December and January, and if you're riding a moto early in the morning a jumper would be nice.
Credit cards: the situation is pretty bad; don't rely on credit cards for anything if possible. Many banks will do advances for Visa and a couple for Mastercard but they'll charge you. Cambodia's national airline doesn't even take credit cards.
Email has well and truly arrived. The phone lines are still too dodgy and expensive for good Internet access but at least you can email.
Malaria: it's amazing how easy it is to get a fever in the tropics, but there are only a few reliable places to get a malaria test done. Many local physicians are notorious for not actually testing but diagnosing everyone as having malaria. One way to have peace of mind is to carry a Falciprum Malaria test kit. And bring some good insect repellent as it can be hard to find in some places.
Jady Smith & Kate Davey (Jan 99)

There is no longer any problem with visiting the ruins at Banteay Srei or the Roluos group except for the awful roads. Nor is there a problem with the boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Riep (leaves 7 am daily, costs $16 and takes five hours).
Dick Warren, USA (Jan 99)

During the water festival and the King's birthday (end of October to early November), all banks and government offices close.
Credit cards are really difficult to use. Most of the ATMs in Phnom Penh run out of money within minutes of the bank's closing, especially in Siem Reap where there are only three banks.
J Alan, UK (Nov 98)

Inside the Diamond Hotel (Monivong Blvd), there is a cheque cashing/money change place called Chequepoint that is open seven days a week and will cash travellers cheques and do cash advances on credit cards. Banks are closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Eric Chu, USA (Mar 98)

: תויצקרטאו הכישמ ידקומ

What I want to do is see the freshwater dolphins reported to be in the Kratie area. To get to the fast boat, I have to climb over several other boats until I reach ‘Rambo 4’. Rambo is almost an airplane on the water - really fast (five hours upriver, four hours downriver). It goes without saying that like everything that moves in developing countries, it’s overloaded. Sitting outside gives you a bigger chance of sunburn, but also a bigger chance of survival if the boat flips. On the other hand, you miss the wrestling video inside. So I am inside. Kratie is a wonderful clean town on the Mekong. I am driving with a motodop north for about 15km near the village of Kampi, looking for dolphins. But for now, I only see people building provisional bamboo boats to get the illegal logs down the Mekong. So let’s take a boat - someone will surely be happy to make US$5 an hour. Finally I see the rare freshwater Mekong dolphins, always at a distance of at least 8 to 10m, but it’s a wonderful experience. There is such a big fuss about some dolphins in the very south of Laos. No one I talked to has ever seen them. Here, there are about 30 of them, and you can easily spot at least two or three in an hour’s boat ride.
Marcel Stoessel (Apr 99)

Phnom Kulen is a mountain range set to the north of Siem Reap and is the headwaters of the Siem Reap river. At the source of the river is Kabal Spean, which is known as the place of a thousand lingas. The whole area has a mystical feel with carvings into the rock face and even the river bed. There are even said to be some lifesize rock carvings of animals such as elephants. Unfortunately the mine status of the surrounding area is undetermined so you shouldn't go wandering around. Most of the guesthouses around town can organise a trip out here, and the drive there shows some good examples of Khmer villages.
Jady Smith & Kate Davey (Jan 99)

The boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang was a highlight, with its mangrove forests and many interesting and colourful birds. You can also see how the people live on the water.
Sako Klinker, The Netherlands (Dec 98)

As breathtaking as the temples of Angkor are in northern Cambodia, there is a fresh water, crystal-clear lake 30km north-east of Siem Reap that all the motorcycle riders know about. It's a great way to take a break from routine. Similarly in Phnom Penh, 500m from the Capital Guest House, is the Olympic stadium with tennis courts and pool (olympic size and diving). $2 gets you in all day. They have a baggage room and great soup stands. Excellent value for money.
Barry Fagan, Ireland (no date)

: הרובחת

We found the trip from Poipet to Angor HELL. Not so much that we were treated like cattle and were cramped onto the back of a pickup truck sitting on top of our packs under 7 hours of hot sun BUT the road (or what they called a road) was 10 hours of motor cross track. It had holes you could park trucks in and it’s worse after rain. It is only about 150km but it takes 10 hours or so and no one would commit to a travel time because you can’t predict the conditions ahead. So be warned as there seems to be no indication that is going to be fixed.
Francis Lim, Singapore (Sept 99)

When we entered Cambodia from Poipet, there was not only regular transport by pick-up to Siem Reap, but also to Battambang. Moreover, in Siem Reap we got to know that there is also regular transportation between Battambang and Siem Reap by express boat starting from 20 June 1999. It also appeared that going by road from Siem Reap or Battambang to Phnom Penh is no problem, except for the bad roads of course. In Phnom Penh we heard from French students that Battambang to Pailin by road and Battambang to Phnom Penh by rail was considered safe. Some of them did the trip. We got the impression that since the Khmer Rouge’s last stronghold near the border with Thailand vanished, regular transport connecting major towns popped up everywhere.
Serge Gielkens, The Netherlands (Jul 99)

It’s probably worth getting a return boat ticket for Siem Reap in Phnom Penh. It seems ‘difficult’ to get a ticket in SR back to PP for the US$20-22 you paid for the trip up!
Iago & Caroline Cornelius-Jones, UK (Jul 99)

Royal Air Cambodge: the check-in staff have recently started collecting some sort of fee or tax in addition to the normal taxes (US$10 I think) from almost all passengers holding domestic tickets. I am not sure of the details - mine was one of the few tickets accepted without payment, although I’m not sure why!
Adam Preece, UK (Jun 99)

These days it is possible to enter Cambodia by land through Thailand at the border of Aranyaprathet (Thailand) and Poipet (Cambodia). From Bangkok there are two trains a day to Aranyaprathet (6 am, 1.30 pm). It’s a six hour trip and costs 48B. If you take the early train you can cross over the same day and even get to Siem Reap on the same day. Taking the 1.30 pm train means overnighting in the small town of Aranyaprathet which has two cheap guesthouses.
For people coming from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, if you take the 7.30 am bus in Phnom Penh it is possible to reach the ferry in Sihanoukville and therefore get to Trat on the same day without having to spend a night in Sihanoukville. This means you can even catch a bus to Bangkok on this same day, either at 6 or 11 pm and be in Bangkok 18 to 24 hours after leaving Phnom Penh!
Anon (no date)

Angkor Wat - Royal Air Cambodge: Royal Air Cambodge is now located west on Route 6 at Villa 362 on the south side opposite the Tala gas station. This is useful to know to confirm air flights.
John Deacon, Canada (Jan 99)

I wouldn't advise trying to get to Cambodia by sea in either direction. The Thailand side has had recent pirating raids from Cambodia. The Vietnamese side is around the disputed Island of Phu Quoc.
No matter how you travel in Cambodia you should be aware that many Cambodians think it's dangerous to travel at night. Try and plan to have a few hours of daylight spare so you don't have to travel at night.
Jady Smith & Kate Davey (Jan 99)

The coach station near the new market in Phnom Penh has good modern coaches to Sihanoukville, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chanang Takeo, etc. I travelled all over the place without any problems. The price of the tickets is clearly stamped on them so there's no fear of being overcharged. The shared taxis are also a good deal: they get you there in half the time but tend to cram people in as tightly as possible. The fares for the taxis are the same as the coaches so if you think you're being overcharged, just check with the coach drivers. The taxis always leave from the coach stations.
Mr S Adlington, UK (Aug 98)

We took the train to Aranyapretet. It no longer goes to the border so you will need to get a tuk-tuk to the border post. Also, the train was two hours late so we had no chance of getting to Siem Reap in one day. Take the bus or stay in Aran the night before!
Bryan & Helen, UK (Jul 98)

Phnom Penh: a new metered taxi company has started operation. It's called Taxi Vantha. There is a 3500r flag fall that gets you the first two km after which it's 500r per km. After dark, they supply an armed security guard sitting beside the driver. They operate around the clock. Phone: (018) 810 267 or (023) 982 452.
David Boyall, Australia (May 98)

Bangkok Air now has direct flights to Siem Reap. We were able to book Bangkok Air through United by using United's 'partner' relationship with Lufthansa. We had to tell the United person that Lufthansa provides this service for Bangkok Air.
Nancy Shilepsky (Mar 98)

Angkor-Phnom Penh (slow boat): in my opinion, this journey is highly unadvisable as it should take approximately one day. In my case, the boat was loaded with over 100 pigs, raided by various bandits every few hours, shot at numerous times, had luggage stolen from the boat by 'the bandits', and took a long, hard three days to eventually arrive at Phnom Penh.
Alun Thomas, Wales (Feb 98)

It's very easy and very cheap to get to the border on your own (from Vietnam). City Bus runs from Ben Thanh station (Ho Chi Minh City) to Ben Xe Tay Ninh station for 3000 dong. They'll actually give you a printed ticket and believe it or not, you won't be overcharged. From Tay Ninh station you can catch a Tay Ninh bus that passes the turnoff for the Cambodian border. From here you'll have to take a motorcycle. They ask for $1 but it's better to pay in dong as they'll then ask for only 10,000 dong. Sinh Cafי has a bus going to the border if there are enough people (US$5). Cross-border bus: Vietnamese bus leaves from the garage behind the Rex Hotel in Saigon at 4 am on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there's a Cambodian bus leaving from the bus stop nearby for $5 (4 am). They'll tell you there are no buses on these days, but that's because they want business for the Vietnamese bus. Direct flights between Bangkok and Siem Reap are up and running, operated by Bangkok Airways. We got a round trip ticket Bangkok-Phnom Penh (Bangkok Air) -Siem Reap (Royal Air Cambodge) -Bangkok (Bangkok Air) for $205.
Phnom Penh domestic departure air tax is now a stonking $10 per person. Departure tax from Siem Reap is $8 per person.
Nat & Rob (Jan 98)

There are no longer any slow boats from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The 'Sarawak Express Boats' are probably your best bet at arriving in Siem Reap safely. There is also a minibus going from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, but the drivers are crazy (so we heard) and the day we wanted to take one, it had vanished the day before. So, it's not entirely safe.
It is now allowed to use one motorcycle for two people around Angkor. This will cost you US$7 a day.
Bangkok Airways recently started flying from Bangkok to Phnom Penh for US$75. By far the best deal.
Joris Postema & Kim den Boer, The Netherlands (Jan 98)

I flew Bangkok to Phnom Penh last week. A new Thai-Cambodian airline is operating since last November. It's Kampuchea Airlines but in Thailand tickets are sold as Thai Orient. An open return ticket is now about US$100. They fly every day and they look reliable.
Orazio Strazzeri, Italy (Jan 98)

: םילכונ - תוריהז

I was robbed at gunpoint in Phnom Penh, on 125 Street, outside the guest house where we were staying. It was 10:30pm at night but I was with 3 other people and felt relatively safe. We were approached by 4 men, one of whom had a gun and pointed it at me fairly aggressively. Two days later a girl was robbed in the same area. Subsequently various locals told of an American backpacker who was shot dead at this point a year or so earlier. This area is not safe and those who do choose to stay there should be very, very careful if venturing out at night.
Andy McKee, United Kingdom (Oct 99)

A scam at the immigration post at Poipet - you have to go through ‘quarantine’. If you have no International Health Certificate to prove you have been vaccinated against cholera then you have to pay US$5 for two antibiotic tablets. The doctor and his ID are bogus.
Sam & Brain Cornah (Sept 99)

Boat trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh: these boats are dangerously overloaded. The day I travelled, it was full inside with locals so our only option was the roof. Those near the back of the roof were being soaked. Not a single life jacket on board - a disaster waiting to happen.
Andrew Ewart, Wales (no date)

Response to below and comment further down from Gilad Ulman: this scam seems to have become obsolete. A private company now handles admissions to the Angkor ruins and they have changed the entry system. While the prices that Gilad quoted remain the same, you now simply buy your ticket at a toll booth on the main road leading into Angkor and the ticket has the duration and price printed in big bold red letters on it. Upon purchase, the official also stamps the first date of entry and the expiration date on the pass. Then, each day that you enter Angkor, the toll booth man punches one more hole in the ticket before letting you go inside. So when you’ve got three holes in your three-day pass, you’ve got to purchase another one to keep visiting. Furthermore, most of the major Angkor sites (including Banteay Srei) also have guards standing near the entrance who may ask to inspect your pass at any time. The fine for touring without a valid pass amounted to something like $10 or $20, so our guide always made a point of asking if we had remembered to bring our passes before we started touring each morning or afternoon.
Aron Danburg, USA (Jul 99)

Having just returned from two weeks in Cambodia, I wanted to pass on a warning about two scams that are operating there. While they don’t actually involve getting any more money from tourists (for a change!), they do cheat UNESCO out of thousands of dollars. The first involves Angkor Wat. The guesthouse operators/moto drivers in Siem Reap will all offer to pick up your $40 pass to Angkor in advance for you. There is no charge and they will indeed pick up your tickets with no trouble. However, the pass you receive will be ‘recycled’. Passes are taken from visitors at the end of their trip, the dates stamped on them are removed with nail polish remover, and new ones are stamped on. The $40 you hand over to the moto driver will be split between him and the gate staff - who are more than willing to cooperate - and UNESCO gets nothing. Having heard about this before I arrived, I insisted on buying the ticket at the gate myself, and felt quite pleased with myself for doing the right thing. That was until I noticed, two days later, that exactly the same thing had been done to my pass; the gate staff obviously have a stash of their own! The only answer is to encourage people not to hand over their tickets to anyone in Siem Reap. My moto driver gave me all sorts of stories about why he should have my pass but it really isn’t necessary. I found, ‘No sorry, I want to keep it as a souvenir’ worked quite well as a response. There is something similar happening at the Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Penh. I do not know who runs it, but the official opening hours are 7.30 to 11 am and 2 to 5 pm. We were in the area at about 1 pm and decided to sit outside and eat lunch while we waited for it to open. However, as I suppose I should have expected, the place was open and full of people. You can go in between 11 am and 2 pm, it’s just that your details aren’t recorded in the official log and the gate staff pocket your $2. One more piece of advice for those who get off the Siem Reap express boat to Phnom Penh trail. In most small towns, most of the cheaper guesthouses are in fact brothels. In Kampong Thom, we stayed at a particular place in the middle of a long line of similar places near the minibus stop. Ours, and at least three of the others, were brothels. I have no particular moral objection to this, but finding used condoms all over the bathroom in the morning is not particularly pleasant and single females might find it intimidating. As might some single males!
Wendy Silva, UK (Mar 99)

Be careful: from Kratie to Stung Treng the trip is very dangerous because of bandits along the river. They have heavy weapons and stop boats, go aboard and ask for money from the passengers and also steal their belongings. I tried to go to Stung Treng and our boat was stopped by these bandits (they called themselves Khmer Rouge, but aren't actually). Fortunately, the captain knew this might happen and so he'd hidden our cameras and luggage. Anyway, they asked me for US$50 as payment for passing their controlled area, while other passengers (all Cambodian) had to pay US$10-20.
Piergiorgio Pescali, Italy (Feb 99)

The road between Poipet and Battambang is in very bad condition and pretty dangerous to travel by taxi.
Nick O'Connell (Feb 99)

Phnom Penh: while taking walks around the city early in the morning, do not enter ANY buildings to ask questions if you are lost as one of them just may in fact be a government building or prison with no guard out the front (believe me). I was detained and searched and almost lost all my belongings because I was foolish enough to enter the grounds of a prison (no guard, open gate, nice French colonial architecture, ie no sign that it was a prison). Be very careful, as what you think may be harmless sightseeing may get you into trouble. The police do not take intrusion lightly and they enjoy going through your things. If you find yourself in this position, avoid direct eye contact and look sorry.
John Hryniuk, Canada (Jan 99)

Note from LP author, Nick Ray, to clarify below two posts:
It's nothing radioactive or nuclear, just a large amount of nasty mercury with a way higher level of toxicity than is acceptable. It's about 20km from the beaches, however, so doesn't really affect the town itself. What is more worrying is the possibility that companies have also been dumping out at sea and this case is just the tip of the iceberg - they were dumb enough to get caught.
Nick Ray (Feb 99)

Amendment to below post:
Rumours around Phnom Penh were that the dump in Sihanoukville was radioactive. After doing some research on returning home I found that this dump was contaminated with mercury and was not radioactive. The Taiwanese company that disposed of the material had not declared what was in it. After three deaths locals found out that there was Mercury in the material. The plastics company that was responsible has agreed to take the material away in 60 days. Hopefully the area will be safe for all then.
Anon (Feb 99)

The beach at Sihanoukville is apparently contaminated with radioactive material and is probably unsafe. During my time in Cambodia, I heard reports that a Taiwanese boat had dumped a load of nuclear waste in the bay. Children picked up bags on the beach marked with radioactive symbols and the skin on their arms and legs had been dropping off. People were very upset wondering how the government could let this happen. I gather permission had been given for this dump but am unclear about details.
Anon (Jan 99)

I've just returned from ten days in Cambodia and wanted to warn all fellow travellers about the dangers of Phnom Penh after dark. On our first night my boyfriend and I met a tourist at the local expatriate pub who had just been robbed at gunpoint whilst on a motorcycle taxi on the main street at about 10 pm: two men pulled up on another motorbike and forced his driver over, then stuck a gun in his face and took all his money. The story left me a little shaky so we set out on the task of finding a car taxi to our guesthouse - they are few and far between in Cambodia. The next night my boyfriend and I decided to go out for dinner, but only after asking the owners of the guesthouse what time we should return for safety reasons: they said 11 pm if taking a motor-taxi. Well, while on a motor-taxi after a delightful dinner, the same thing happened to us a mere 50m away from our guesthouse! Two men on a motorbike pulled our driver over with a shiny gun in their hands and then beat up my boyfriend, even though he was cooperating with them completely. These guys were very aggressive and looked like they would have been quick to shoot had anything gone wrong. I also heard of several other robberies that had happened earlier that week, as well as a shooting down the street from our guesthouse. The locals told me that robbery is worse than usual this year because there has been so much drought and famine, with little aid from the government. The people are becoming desperate, and foreigners are moving targets! They often hang around outside places like pubs, hotels and guesthouses, just waiting for the opportunity to rob you when nobody else is around. The place seemed fine during the day, but if you do decide to stay out after dark, you really should try to have the bar or club you patronise call a car taxi as it involves less risk. Take care when visiting this city and best of luck in your travels.
Nadima, Thorn Tree (Nov 98)

Beware of a scam taking place around the Angkor temples. The entry fee to Angkor is one of the highest fees in south-east Asia: US$20 for a day visit, $40 for a three day pass and $60 for a week. However, after seeing this amazing site and the great reconstruction work being done there, I believe one should willingly give this contribution for saving and restoring the place. We bought our tickets from our guest-house owner, as many people do, and were told that the tickets will be with the driver the next morning. On entering the site we asked the driver to show us the tickets and soon discovered that they were used, some of them with erased names on them, some with a date stamp from a few days ago. As we had already paid for the tickets and entered, the only thing we could do was take them with us after our three days so they could not be reused. I recommend tourists who come here buy their tickets in an authorised office and make sure they get new unstamped, unpierced tickets on the spot and then write their names on them and take them with them afterwards - they also make a very nice souvenir. I hope that from now on more money will make its way to the right hands so they can use it for the preservation of the city of Angkor, which is probably the greatest and most astonishing of all south-east Asian cities.
Gilad Ulman, Israel (Oct 98)

Dengue Fever is raging in Thailand and Cambodia. I had the unpleasant experience first hand in Chiang Mai this July and the unusually hip doctor explained that as of July, reported cases in Thailand were as much as 100% above the annual average. My friend and I were the only farangs suffering from it in this particular hospital, but there were floors full of afflicted Thais. The most important thing to remember is that it is not just in the rural areas! I knew someone who hadn't left Chiang Mai in months and had gotten it.
Everyone should stay close to good medical treatment after any unusual fevers - Dengue can ravage you for a day, then go away making you think it was food poisoning or the flu. But in two to four days, it may strike by causing your white blood cells to plummet or your platelets to practically disappear overnight.
Kelley Gary, USA (Sep 98)

Be careful of the area around the new market in Phnom Penh after dark: a lot of people were getting robbed. Also, the park near the Victory Monument is a bad place to be late at night. It's also wise to ask the door man or the security guards outside discos/night clubs, etc if they know the moto driver if you decide to take one late at night. There's been a lot of incidents of crooks posing as moto drivers taking their passengers to dark, quiet areas and robbing them.
Mr S Adlington, UK (Aug 98)

Be careful about getting a lift with anyone who offers to take you somewhere. Being in a group does not necessarily give you total protection either. We met a couple of people who had been part of a group of 20 or so on the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap boat. When they arrived, they all jumped on the back of a truck whose driver offered to take them all in to town. The four guys in the truck proceeded to drive them for 20 minutes down a dirt road into the middle of nowhere before stopping and demanding money from everyone. As it turned out, they were very unambitious kidnappers - they only demanded $1 from each person - but if they had demanded everything, how much choice would they have had?
Nick Linnane (Jul 98)

At night on the ill-lit streets of Phnom Penh, watch out for broken or completely uncovered manholes, particularly on pavements near the kerb. Also, be wary of ropes hooking hammocks, mosquito nets and especially awnings to lamp posts. Depending on their height and your speed, they could either trip you up or take your head off.
Sיamus Martin, Saudi Arabia (Oct 97)