Cambodia Transportation Tips by AndreSTGT

Ko kong to Sihanoukville overland

There is now (2005) an alternative to the ferry between Sihanoukville and the Thai border. A new highway has been built through the previously impenetrable mountain range. This being Cambodia, of course, new highway means a bumpy dirt track with four river crossings on ferries that wouldn't have looked different at the beginning of the 20th century. There are two ways of doing this trip. Either you can take one of Mealy Chenda's brand-new tourist vans (15$) but if you take a look at my 'Warning and Danger tip' you'll see how i feel about them. Much better, if more painful is to take the public van, a 9 hour nightmare with 25 people squeezed in like sardines in a derelict van. But the scenery is really nice and for me these kinds of trips are what travelling in Cambodia is all about.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Bus

Poipet to Siem Reap

The overland trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap took one day and from Poipet at the border the trip became adventurous and hard on the bones. Ten people + luggage, eight hours at the back of a pick-up truck. The quality of the roads alternated between muddy, uneven dirt tracks and paved roads full of potholes, the size of bomb craters.
But this trip turned out to be harmless compared to the pain that awaited us on the stretch between Battambang and Phnom Penh.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Battambang to Phnom Penh

If you ask travelers in South-East Asia about the hardest trip on public transport they have ever made, most will probably answer : Poipet to Siem Reap. But this is only because few travelers are stupid enough to do the trip from Battambang to Phnom Penh by pick-up.
This seven-hour trip is a nightmare, but at the same time an adventurous opportunity to test one's ability to suffer.
From Poipet to Siem Reap there are only tourists on the loading area and you can sit on your luggage, between Battambang and Phnom Penh there are up to eighteen people like cattle in the back of the truck, you have to sit in the blistering heat on the metal edge for hours and hours, always hoping you that don't fall off the vehicle. With every pothole you think that your spine will crack sooner or later. When we arrived in Phnom Penh and checked into our hotel the guy at the reception asked if had just arrived from Battambang. I asked back how he could tell and he just replied : I can see the desperation on your face!

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Sihanoukville to Thailand

The ferry to Koh Kong was the first modern means of transportation Cambodia had to offer. For three hours it cut through high waves at break-neck speed, so that many passengers got very sick. At least we passed some beautiful islands with beaches on the way.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Ship/Boat

Siem Reap to Battambang

The four-hour boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang in tiny not very trustworthy speedboats was a real highlight.
The trip starts on a lake and via small canals we came to the river that leads to Battambang. On the way we passed several floating villages.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Ship/Boat