How to travel in Cambodia? 🌏
It is a simple question, but one that needs to know the country in order to be able to answer it. I shall list the various means of transport and explain how they work in my experience.
First of all, you need to know how to travel between every major city in the country. As a trainee, I could only travel on weekends, so I only travelled from Phnom-Penh or to the capital. However, links between cities without going through the capital are generally possible (see network map).
VAN / MINIBUS / BUS 🚌
The preferred transport in the country is undoubtedly the minibuses. It can travel on any road at any time, is air-conditioned and comfortable, making it ideal for travel. There are also sleeping buses which travel at night and can be very practical under certain conditions.
How to get a van ?
The most effective way is to book a seat on camboticket.com, which lists the different companies offering a route. Once you have booked your ticket, you only have to go to the company’s indicated address and get in the van. It will cost you between $8 and $14 per trip.
Specificities
The van is the fastest transport in Cambodia and offers many departure times for each destination. It usually stops every 2 hours at least 10 min and 30 min at the restaurant according to journey times. Getting into a van is an experience in its own right, since drivers practise what is at the very least 'sporting' driving, avoiding road defects, doubling motorcycles, bicycles, cars and lorries and sometimes bordering on vehicles coming across. As the roads are surrounded by houses, cows are often found on the road or dogs pass through it, which may be worth a few small brakes. As far as my experience was concerned, I had to stop on one trip to change one wheel and on another to exchange the two ice sheets between them because the main one was no longer working.
My opinion 🤔
Van transportation is an experience you have to live with and you will have to make a difference. The minibuses are so much more developed than other means of transport that you will very often have no other choice in using them, so value them!
TRAIN 🚃
The railway lines in Cambodia were built in the 1930s under French protectorate and then destroyed under occupation by the Khmer Rouge. Renovations only started in 2009. It was only in 2018 that the two old lines opened up to passenger transport. Both lines join the capital, one from Poipet, on the Thai border, the other at the country’s main port, Sihanoukville.
A round trip is made daily on these lines.
Poipet - Battambang - Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh - Takeo - Kep - Kampot - Sihanoukville
How to take the train ?
The most efficient way is to book a seat on the Royal-railway.com website or to go to the station more than 3 days in advance. Once your ticket is booked, you only have to go to the station and get on the train. It will cost you between $8 and $10 per trip.
Specificities
Contrary to expectations, the train is not faster than the minibuses, it is even slower. The trains in service are rather old and comfort is limited, but taking the train in Cambodia is more than that. Being cheaper for the Cambodian (6%) and having more seats than a van, for example, it is very popular with them. They take it as a family and the fact that so few tourists use it makes it all the more authentic.
The train is a complete immersion in Cambodian life and the fact that the train follows a line drawn in the countryside and not surrounded by houses makes the journey much more pleasant with stunning scenery.
Here again, the train sometimes has to stop for a herd of buffaloes, and the non-automatic barriers taken down by employees contrast with the usual Western world.
My opinion 🤔
Rail transport is, in my view, being put aside too much by Western tourists as well as expatriates, and if the opportunity arises to travel between Poipet or Battambang and Phnom Penh or between Phnom Penh, Takeo, Kep, Kampot or Sihanoukville, do not hesitate to come up and discover Cambodia by train.
And finally, we must be able to move within the cities themselves, both in the capital and in remote towns.
TUK-TUK 🛺
As one might imagine in Southeast Asia, it is the tuk-tuk that is the country’s flagship transportation. You can find them everywhere and they will usually come to you without even asking. But be careful, they won't mind inflating prices for you. To avoid paying more than necessary, applications exist in the Uber way and are located in the majority of cities in the country:
Grab
PassApp.
Scooter / motorcycle 🛵
A very useful way to travel in and around countries is to rent a scooter or motorcycle. Cambodian people use both wheels a lot and you'll feel like a regular. The lease is simple since you only need to deposit your passport in bond in exchange for a 50cc or 125cc even if you do not have a French licence. Be careful, however, because driving is more dangerous, the road is much more chaotic and the helmets provided will not be very helpful in the event of an accident.
GO2 🟡
Located only in Phnom Penh (for the time being in 2022), this service is very interesting as it allows great freedom and remains very affordable. GO2 is an electric scooter rental service per minute. It is less expensive than a tuk-tuk, all the more so if you use it at two, and operate with appropriations that you feed upstream on the application. You will recognize them easily with their yellow and white colours.