Craig Ewing's "Space"
Cambodia Trip During April, 2003

(The following pages were recreated from notes that I took while I was on the trip.)

Pictures         Text

This was my first trip to Cambodia.   Some highlights of the trip were (in no particular
order) --

  1. Regarding the 4 countries that I visited during the 3 week period, the ones from
    poorest to richest were Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines, and Thailand.
  2. To enter the country, it is necessary to have a visa ($20).   To leave, it is necessary to
    pay a "departure fee" ($11).
  3. The currency is the "riel".   At that time, one U.S. dollar equaled approximately
    38,000 riel.
  4. Coins are not used in Cambodia.   The bills include 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000.  
    (There might be higher bills, but they aren't regularly used.)
  5. It is dangerous to walk along local streets at night.   I met one man who was beaten
    and robbed and had just returned from taking his friend to the hospital.
  6. If intending to visit Angkor Wat, you have 2 choices to get there.   You can either fly
    directly to Siem Reep or you can go to Phnom Penh and then travel to Siem Reep.
    I recommend using the first option because it is more difficult to get there from
    Phnom Penh.
  7. The language is "Khmer", not Cambodian.
  8. The most interesting things that I saw within the city were the Royal Palace and the
    Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
National/International Crisis
Strangely, whenever I travel to a country in either Asia or the South Pacific, a national
or international crisis occurs.   During this trip, the crisis was international -- Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS").   The fun never ends!

Epilogue
On April 14, 2014, a friend who went to Cambodia and Vietnam during the previous
month emailed me tips about handling visas for the countries.   Here is the information
regarding Cambodia ...
Vietnam-to-Cambodia via bus: The cost is the same as getting a visa from a consulate
office.   Give $20 to the bus driver for a single entry visa.   Do it each time you enter
Cambodia.   There are no multiple entry visas available.
Thailand-to-Cambodia via bus: When you cross the border, Thailand tuk-tuk driver will
try to take you to his travel agent for a Cambodia visa.   Their cost is double the normal
$40.   Additionally, the visa waiting line could be long.   It's a good idea to apply for an
eVisa in Thailand a few days before crossing the border.   The processing fee is $5.   You
need to supply a JPG file of your passport photo.   They will email you the "visa letter".
Print the visa letter and take it with you when crossing the border (use the eVisa line).
Tell the tuk-tuk driver that you already have an eVisa so that he won't bother you.

As I have mentioned on other pages that I have created on my Web site, I discovered that
my friends and family who use AOL's software are not able to access the pages if they
contain pictures.   With that in mind, I have created 2 set of pages here.   One contains
pictures and the other contains text.   Sorry for the inconvenience.


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