Living in Phnom Penh - Q's

[MikeFook]

Hi all - been reading for a couple weeks, since I had to do a visa run from Thailand. Stayed there 5 days and had a good time, different vibe than Thailand - and loved the food. I'll be back - and maybe for an extended stay - but had some questions first.

Is living on a budget of $1,000 USD possible? I'll need internet, motorbike, eat out daily - $15 in food/day, maybe 20 sometimes... Could I get an apartment for $200 in a safe place? How much is water, electric, garbage? I was told by some girls at the restaurant that they paid some outrageous fee in garbage collection. Does that hit everyone, or just those close to the river? or ?

Is there a deposit and first, last months rent expected usually?

Are there students there with skills? I'd like to find a couple of smart students and teach them some things they can do when I'm not there - and make some cash. This is all online I'm talking about. Students as in 22-30 year olds.

Is Western Union safe to use in Cambodia to pay these students?

Does Western Union report the income of these students to anyone in the govt for tax or other reasons?

Is it easy to setup Paypal to pay someone in cambodia that has a bank account?

I read that packages go lost often from other countries TO cambodia. What is the safest way to send something - jewelry for instance?

Anybody go overland from Thailand to Phnom Penh? If it's tolerable, I'd like to try it next time. I don't do night buses, or vans. I'd need a day trip. I don't want to bounce my ass all over the vehicle either. If it's riding on dirt roads - F that - I'll take the plane again.

Any decent herping groups there - for finding snakes? Or, nobody goes into the jungle because of unexploded ordinance?

A lot of questions I know - if you can answer, please help, if not - no worries.

Cheers!

MF

[SunSan]

I pay 1USD/month for my rubbish.

The rest of your questions have been answered this week. Read a bit more.

No idea about students or Paypal. Just open an account.

[violet]

No you cannot use PayPal in Cambodia (a shame).

[hanky]

Is living on a budget of $1,000 USD possible? I'll need internet, motorbike, eat out daily - $15 in food/day, maybe 20 sometimes... Could I get an apartment for $200 in a safe place?

I'm not exactly qualified to give budget advice, but I can do simple math. You've got an average of $525 on food already, plus $200 on rent with bills we'll say $250. That's $775, leaving you $225 or $7.50 a day for your internet/motorbike/other expenses, which isn't a huge amount.

Are there students there with skills?

Sure there are, but finding them might be difficult.

Is Western Union safe to use in Cambodia to pay these students?

Does Western Union report the income of these students to anyone in the govt for tax or other reasons?

It's safe, but probably not the most efficient way of sending money. As far as tax goes, how would anyone know its not just a gift from abroad?

[Soi Dog]

Anybody go overland from Thailand to Phnom Penh? If it's tolerable, I'd like to try it next time. I don't do night buses, or vans. I'd need a day trip. I don't want to bounce my ass all over the vehicle either. If it's riding on dirt roads - F that - I'll take the plane again.

Many key intra-city roads in Cambodia are one million times better than they were just a couple years ago... at least the ones from the major Thai border crossings to Phnom Penh. It's still a 12 hour trip, though... plus border time. Not always a great selection of departure times for busses within Cambodia. You MAY have to spend one night in a border town and then head on to PP the next morning.

[nightmare.believer]

I suggest that everyone travel from Thailand to Phnom Penh for the experience. It is a very beautiful country and you will see a lot of it on the trip. That being said, it is a hard and arduous journey, one that is probably going to be very uncomfortable in a very many ways. There are a few ways to do it.
Go to the Trat (Cham Yet?)/Koh Kong border crossing. The boat to Sihanoukville leaves early in the morning, 8a.m. I believe. There is a bus station, but I dont know about times to Phnom Penh.
You can go to the Arantyaphrathet/ Poipet crossing. Poipet is about as sketchy a place as there is in Cambodia, so you will want to get out of there as soon as posible. I have gone this way a couple of times and you can rent a taxi near the border to drive you and as many people as they can shove in a Camry with air con like a small child blowing cold air on you, for the 7 to 8 hour ride to Phnom Penh.
You really have to be in a mellow frame of mind for any cross country trip like this.

[SunSan]

There is no more boat from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville.

The boat from Sihanoukville only goes to Kog Sdach now.

[LaudJohn]

How do you spend $15-$20 per day every day eating out???

That is a lot.

Decent breakfasts with coffee and internet are around $5, have that at midday and you only need a dinner.

Try a few local places. Fired pork with noodl;es is under a dollar, a large Pho is about 5,000 reil, 12 dumplings are $1.

A burger at the Garage is not too expensive.

A decent meal at a good Indian resturant is under well under $10

Try Boat Noodle resturant, lots of reasonably priced dishes there.

I remember I used to go somewhere for a couple of Thai curries with rice for lunch for $1.50, this has probably increased a bit.

You are budgeting to spend more than twice what I spend on food in Australia.

I am hard pressed to spend more than $25 per day on food and drinks when I visit PP (except when drinking with Lord Playboy) and I drink a fair bit of beer!

Lots of bars have wifi internet so as long as you are not downloading torrents etc, you can do all your browsing there, internet cafes are very cheap.

Buy a decent bike and just ride over to Thailand when you want to go.

[SunSan]

A couple of Viet places on St. 63 have buffet lunches for 10k riel, all you can eat, usually 5- 7 different dishes plus free tea.

[LaudJohn]

A couple of Viet places on St. 63 have buffet lunches for 10k riel, all you can eat, usually 5- 7 different dishes plus free tea.

wow things have changed.

It used to be $5 and a free shower but the choice was more than 5-7 on st 63

so I have been told

[angsta]

Go to the Trat (Cham Yet?)/Koh Kong border crossing. The boat to Sihanoukville leaves early in the morning, 8a.m. I believe. There is a bus station, but I dont know about times to Phnom Penh.
You can go to the Arantyaphrathet/ Poipet crossing. Poipet is about as sketchy a place as there is in Cambodia, so you will want to get out of there as soon as posible. I have gone this way a couple of times and you can rent a taxi near the border to drive you and as many people as they can shove in a Camry with air con like a small child blowing cold air on you, for the 7 to 8 hour ride to Phnom Penh.
You really have to be in a mellow frame of mind for any cross country trip like this.

If your coming from Thailand it's probably best to stay the night on the border either in Kho Kong or on the Thai side near Poipet. The bus to PP from Poipet leaves around 9 ish and it's a pretty painful journey but now the road is fixed it's a good way to see Cambodia. Think a slightly poorer Issan with worse roads. The trip from Kho Kong to PP is much more scenic through the hills/mountains with some river action thrown in. Just make sure you have a Cambodian E-visa before you get to the border.

[unperson]

Backpacker Index: US$19.95/day

Cambodia’s capital has a bustling expat community and a steady stream of travelers drifting through as well. Sections of the city are quite seedy, which also happens to be one of the reason many tourists come in the first place, but overall it’s quite pleasant and easy to deal with for English speakers. Stay a few blocks away from the river and prices drop quite a bit.

http://www.expatify.com/asia/10-cheapes ... -asia.html

For backpacker guest-house, meals, and beers...and a banana pancake.

[SunSan]

A couple of Viet places on St. 63 have buffet lunches for 10k riel, all you can eat, usually 5- 7 different dishes plus free tea.

wow things have changed.

It used to be $5 and a free shower but the choice was more than 5-7 on st 63

so I have been told

That whooshed over my head... until I just reread it...

The restaurant I mean is south of Sihanouk...

[MikeFook]

Thanks for all your replies. I have a much better idea about things now. I budgeted so much for food because I really do like to eat decent food. I went for 18 months here in Thailand living off 9,000 THB - WITH my girlfriend... so, now that we're doing a whole lot better I tend to get decent food. I've eaten the 4.50 bfasts - they're great. My lunch was usually not much more. My dinner at the Indian places about 8 bucks with a beer or two. I exercise a lot so eating at noon and dinner only - is impossible for me.

I wanted to see how much I could stay in Phnom Penh on for a couple months at a time. I still have to pay for wifey and my daughter back here in TH, so I wanted to do it on as little as possible. I'm not much into giving up food for it though...

I don't think I'll be doing the 12 hour trip by Camry. I'll take the damn plane - I WOULD like to see the countryside - but, maybe by motorbike would be better.

Is it possible to take a Thailand registered motorbike across the border to Phnom Penh without suffering too many tea money stops?

Or, is it possible to rent a motorbike on the Cambo side of the border and go to PP?

I love long motorbike rides - did the Isaan to Phuket / Krabi trip a couple times and I really enjoyed it. Maybe that'll work... if someone knows about the rental situation... and if it's safe to be blowing through these small towns with my white shiny skin glistening in sweat... looking like diamonds to someone sifting through garbage to eat.

I noticed Cambodia is much worse off than the worst parts of Thailand. And, similar or worse off than the Laotians. Does that mean it's less safe for long motorbike rides? I'd guess so - but maybe someone can give an opinion on that....

Cheers - and thanks again for all your help.

MF