Day 4: Phnom Penh

It was six in the morning and we were ready to go. Because we left early in the morning, we didn’t get breakfast. It was time to say goodbye to Ngoc Linh Hotel. We walked to the Sinhtourist office. At 6.35 a.m., the bus came and we departed from Sinhtourist. This $10 bus was quite comfortable with AC and reclining seat with a driver and his assistant. Slowly, the bus left the Saigon city center. From the window, I could see how hectic the morning traffic in Saigon. As usual, the motorcycle was the king of the street, with their massive numbers and their noisy horns.

My Last Pic in Saigon

The assistant checked every passenger’s passport to make sure that the passenger has the Cambodia visa. If you don’t apply visa in advance, don’t worry, the Visa on Arrival (VOA) is available. We paid US$25 for the VOA and our passport were collected by the assistant. The journey from Saigon to the Vietnam-Cambodia border (Moc Bai – Bavet) took about 2,5 hours. Nothing much I could see from the window. The panorama was almost the same as Pantura.
At 9 a.m. we arrived at Vietnam border. There were already a long queue in the immigration counter and we must wait for our VOA first. We stuck at this place for more than an hour. The VOA processing really took forever and we were really really bored to death.

Vietnam Border (Moc Bai)

So, finally the VOA-thing were done and we officially left Vietnam and enter the so-called “no man’s land”. We went back to the bus, crossing the “no man’s land” by bus. After like 2 minutes, we arrived at Cambodia border. The immigration process was quite fast and simple and we officially entered Kingdom of Cambodia and we continued our journey. From my observation, there were a lot of casinos near the Cambodia border. The casinos looked big and fancy. They built so many casinos here because they didn’t have to pay taxes.

My Visa on Arrival

Cambodia Border (Bavet)

Casino in Bavet

The traffic in Cambodia was very different than Vietnam. While Vietnam’s road was packed with cars and motorcycles (mostly), the Cambodia’s road was very quiet. I barely saw car and motorcycle. The panorama from my window was almost the same as Vietnam but clearly, Cambodia was less hectic and less developed than Vietnam. Finally, we saw the Mighty Mekong River. Mekong River is the 11th longest river in the world and officially the longest river in the Southeast Asia. The river itself was very wide but unfortunately there are no bridge, so the vehicle must use the ferry to cross the river. Maybe The Cambodian government still can’t afford to build the bridge, idk.

This is the Mekong ferry. Reminds me of Merak-Bakauheni ferry

At 1 p.m. the bus arrived at Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The bus stopped at the Sinhtourist office. From my window, I could see people from the hostel had already come to pick us. In Phnom Penh, we stayed at Fancy guesthouse and the owner, Mr. Phannak himself, come to pick us. He provided two cars to pick us to the guesthouse and it was free of charge. In the car, we had a conversation. Mr. Phannak asked where we come from, how long we will stay, and our next destination. Mr. Phannak also told us about Phnom Penh. He said that the economy is getting better, the living is easier, and many Korean corporation come to Cambodia to make investment. Mr. Phannak showed us the construction and he said that they were making the tallest building in Cambodia and It was a Korean investment.

Fancy Guesthouse, at the left side

Finally we arrived at the Fancy Guesthouse. We took 3 rooms. Two rooms with one bed for two people and one room with two bed for three people. The room was very nice and comfortable. There were also cable TV, fridge, and hot water. At the lobby, there were two computer that could be used for internet, free of charge of course. The location was quite strategic, not far from The Grand palace and Sorya mall. The staff was very helpful. With all those facilities, we paid for only US$15/night for two people and US$25 for three people. Mr. Phannak also offered us the minibus ticket to Siem Reap using Apsara Khmer Bus Company for only US$10. He also offered us the tour to Choung Ek- Toul Sleng – Russian Market with car for US$ 21. We accepted his offer because those location was quite far from the city center (about 15 km).

Clean Bathroom with hot water

This is the USD 15 room per night

So, after a long chit chat with Mr. Phannak, we finally explored Phnom Penh. Our first destination was Sorya Shopping Mall. We planned to have lunch there. Sorya is the largest mall in Cambodia but please don’t compared it to the luxury mall in Indonesia or Singapore. For me, Sorya Mall is more like Arion plaza in East Jakarta.

Before continuing the story, I will explain about the currency in Cambodia. The official currency in Cambodia is Cambodian Riel (Riel). US dollar is widely accepted in Cambodia. In fact, the US dollar is much more accepted than Riel. Everything is valued with US dollar, not Riel. The US dollar that circulated in Cambodia is probably the worst US dollar I’ve ever seen. I mean, the dollar is very dirty and “kumel”. The rate is 4000 riel for US$1. The most annoying thing is, if you buy something in dollar, let’s say the price is $ 1,25 and you pay with $2, the change will be in Riel which is 3000 Riel. Yeah, it’s quite confusing and quite annoying.

One interesting fact in Phnom Penh is the fact that many people have luxurious cars. I was truly amazed, seeing so many brand new Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus Harrier, Toyota Camry, Toyota Celica, and Mitsubishi Pajero in this town. I mean, this is a poor country but its citizen can buy those kind of cars. Most of the cars even were just parked at the streetside and most of them were dusty. Finally, I asked Mr. Phannak’s brother about this fact and he said that Lexus Harrier’s price in Cambodia were only USD 11.000. It’s like 1/6 – 1/7 Harrier’s price in Indonesia!!!! I don’t know why the price is so damn cheap, maybe there’s no tax for luxurious car. I don’t know.

Toyota Celica. You can easily find this kind of car in Phnom penh

Another interesting fact is most of the street don’t have a name. Instead, the street’s “name” is simply given in number. For example, our guesthouse’s address is on 48 street. The parallel of 48 street is 52 street. Only the big/protocol street has a name.

Typical building in Phnom Penh

Back to the story, we had lunch in the food court. The food’s price range between 5000-8000 riel. I had pork as my lunch and the taste was quite good. After lunch, we went to the upper floor of the Sorya Mall. From there, we could see Phnom Penh’s panorama. We also went to the supermarket to buy drinks and some snacks (it was my first transaction using USD and I got Riel as the change).

Phnom Penh from Sorya Mall rooftop

We went to our 2nd destination which was Central market. This market has an unique architecture. It was like a dome with four hand. Unfortunately, it was already 4 p.m. and the market was already closed. From what I read, most travel guide don’t suggest you to do shopping here. They said that Russian Market is cheaper.

Central Market with its unique architecture

Since Central Market had already closed, we moved to our next (and last) destination of the day which was Sisowath Quay. I think this place is the most touristy place in Phnom Penh. There are so many bars, travel agent, saloon and massage, and hotel in this area. Sisowath Quay is beautiful. It’s a riverfront area. It runs along the west bank of Tonle Sap River, but in the southern side, The Tonle Sap river will join the mighty Mekong River. The Sisowath Quay is a perfect place to enjoy the sunset. The atmosphere was great. So many Cambodians came here to walk around, jogging, or just gathering. In this place, there were flags from almost nationality. We found the Indonesian flag and we didn’t forget to take a picture.

Tonle Sap River

Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh's riverfront area

One Two Three... Let's do the exercising

the other side of Sisowath Quay

Merah Putih in Phnom Penh

For dinner, we ate at The Pizza Company. It was like a carbon copy of Pizza Hut. The ambience, the lay out of the restaurant, and the menu was similar to the Pizza Hut. I think Pizza Hut taste better than this restaurant.

See, the interior is similar to Pizza Hut!

It was 8 p.m. and it was still crowded in the Sisowath Quay. I suggest you to go back to the hotel earlier because I read that the crime rate in this town is quite high, especially to the tourist. So, at 8 p.m. we went back to the hotel and a big and meaningful journey had waited for us for the next day.

Expenses
Visa on Arrival USD 25
Fancy Guesthouse USD 7,5 / person/night  2 nights USD 15
Killing field Tour USD 21 per car ( USD 6 per person)
Minibus to Siem Reap USD 10
Lunch USD 2
Snack and drink USD 2
Dinner @ PizzaCompany USD 4 per person
Total USD 64