We booked the Mekong Express bus to travel from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It cost $11 each and was easy to sort out by taking a tuktuk to their office on the riverside. Buses do get booked up so don’t risk just turning up on the day. It was a fairly old coach but had aircon and a toilet and so we travelled in comfort. The journey takes six hours with a 30 minute stop at a nondescript town about halfway which is obviously where all the coaches stop based on the tourist restaurant full of Westerners which served basic local food at inflated prices but was still a better option than walking round a grotty looking town and being hassled by beggars including some with grubby-looking young children which was upsetting. We had been given a bakery box containing a couple of things we didn’t fancy eating and had already had breakfast at the hotel so like many other passengers we gave ours to the people who crowded the coach door asking for money. A cheap way to get from A to B if you want to save money by not paying for an internal flight and popular with all ages not just backpackers. You also pass through plenty of local villages with stilted houses so get a chance to see some Cambodian countryside away from the main tourist hubs and busy cities.

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One of better buses going from Phnom Pehn to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is Mekong Express. Bus takes about seven hours and costs $12.

www.mekongexpress.com/

Bus Office is on corner of street #102 and Sisowath Quay on riverfront. No central bus station in the city - Mekong Express buses to Ho Chi Minh city leave from Orussey Market.

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If you're staying for a couple of days, it's worth cultivating a regular moto driver (many guesthouses have a bunch of reputable guys).

Saves hassle, and can be great if you strike up a rapport, even better if they speak a bit of English.

Pay 2000 riel per journey (maybe 3000 at 3am), or negotiate a day rate.

Plus if you're planning on being out late, having a moto driver you trust who you can ring up on a mobile is worth the extra peace of mind.

Ask your guesthouse owner

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These are free publications with detailed listings of bars, restaurants, guesthouses, shops etc plus useful articles, maps and so forth. They are very handy for tourists and other newcomers to this rapidly changing city, where annually published guidebooks can be out of date almost as soon as they are published.

The guides are available at guesthouses, bars, restaurants and shops.

www.cambodiapocketguide.com

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