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My friends and I decided to stay at Frangipani Villa for five nights in early December and we had an enjoyable stay.
The small garden was a beautiful, peaceful and relaxing place to sit, chat, eat, or read.
My room had air conditioning, cable tv, internet connection, coffee and tea.
The restaurant served us bread and scrambled eggs, and we could also ask for fried noodles in the morning with no cost at all.
All staff were so polite to guests.
Frangipani Villa is located in the centre and is very convenient to go to the supermarket or other places such as Russian Market, Royal Place etc.
Overall I found this a great stay and would certainly recommend it to other tourists who would like to stay in Phnom Penh.
www.frangipanihotel.com
#20R, Street 252, Sangkat Chaktomuk, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh 12306, Cambodia
Tel: (855)12 687717 / (855) 23 212 100,
E-mail: frangipani60s@gmail.com
because he is a local English speaking man who has extensive knowledge of the temples and surrounding area. He can help you with which temples to visit and inform you of local cultural events.
www.siemreapdrivers.com
or tel: 00855 12202796
Fantastic bar and restaurant: whether it's the fabulous food, chatting with the great owners and bar staff, having a beer in the treehouse or a swing in the hammocks - you won't want to leave!
right on Sihanoukville Beach
A sanctuary of calm behind the royal palace, this is a great part of the city to while away a few hours or spend a relaxed evening. Nice artsy shops, a handful of cafes that wouldn't feel out of place in Marylebone and a couple of good restaurants, notably Tamarind with its charming roof terrace.
There's also a Seeing Hands blind massage place nearby which is recommended after an afternoon tramping round the Royal Palace.
Street 240, Phnom Penh
Nicely situated guesthouse on the Kampot riverside, and an ideal base from which to enjoy this lovely relaxing little city and its surroundings.
Rooms are aimed squarely at flashpackers, and are simple but stylish, and the owners Dom and Denise and their staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. Great restaurant/bar on a balcony overlooking the river, too.
Rikitikitavi
Riverside Road
Kampot
Cambodia
Rikitikitavi@asia.com
www.rikitikitavi-kampot.com
La Villa is a converted colonial house on Battambang riverfront converted lovingly by its owners, a French-Vietnamese couple, into a gorgeous boutique guesthouse and restaurant.
Free-standing bath tubs in the rooms, art deco fans and a really beautifully-done restaurant and bar area make this well worth the 50 USD a night or so rate.
Just be sure to arrive here by boat from Siem Reap (you'll feel you've earned a bit of luxury!) and take advantage of the Smokin' Pot cookery school nearby, one of the highlights of our Cambodia trip.
N 185 Pom Romchek 5 Kom
Rattanak Srok Battambang - Cambodia
Tél. :(855-53) 730 151
lavilla@online.com.kh
www.lavilla-battambang.com
Rana is a village homestay located just outside Kampong Cham. My boyfriend and I spent two nights here in February 08 and had a great time. We have been travelling the world for 11 months now and have stayed at homestays throughout South America and Asia and I have to say that Rana homestay was the best.
We learnt so much information about the culture of Cambodia and the Pol Pot regime and ate excellent traditional food. Don and Kheang are very friendly and have wonderful children, Ra and Na. I would love to come back to visit and I would recommend this for anyone, but please do not expect a luxury room, it is basic but comfortable.
For contact information and to learn more you can visit: rana-cambodia.blogspot.com/
Your hotel will recommend a driver and guide (two separate people) for a hefty mark-up. I can recommend Nhep Sophea who's known as Tee for short. He's punctual, courteous and knows his way round all the temples. A car is much more comfortable than a tuk-tuk given the heat and dust and not a whole lot more expensive .
Packed with information on Cambodia including Siem Reap, this is essential reading before you get there, including the latest on the various Poipet border crossing scams.
Vanny is the best tuk-tuk driver/guide in town; reliable, funny and good English. Honest, talkative, competitive.
pechvanny@yahoo.com
Call him 012-876369
I recommend this spectacular light and sound show. Set against the back drop of the east entrance of Angkor Wat, a cast of some 160 Cambodians performed traditional Khmer dances, including the unique aspara dance. The hour-long show will play only until January 20 2008. A truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The places by the lake are backpackery, obsessed with drugs and Angkor beer. OK for a chilled-out day drinking and watching the lake, but paper-thin walls and minimal security did not make me feel safe.
I certainly wouldn't recommend it to lone women. If anything goes wrong (and it did with me) you will have absolutely no help whatsoever.
Capitol Guesthouse looks awful from the outside but on the inside it's scrupulously clean, has cable TV, private bathroom, air conditioning, good security (proper walls!) and all for about $8-10.
It also runs buses to Ho Chi Minh City, Siem Reap etc so it's very well located. You'll get off the backpackers trail just that little bit and experience much better levels of comfort, security and hygiene. And it's just round the corner from possibly one of the best and friendliest restaurants in Cambodia - Mama's.
Several locations across Phnom Penh. Well known - ask any moto driver. If you get the bus from HCMC or Siem Reap, chances are you'll be dropped off right outside!
If you are looking to volunteer in Siem Reap as a teacher for kids this is by far the best option!
They are a charity so there is no profit involved as with other operators in the area. I have seen where the money goes - new buildings, education, food, clothes, bedding etc for these kids. They are not just in it for the money, they really care.
When I checked out some of the others in Siem Reap they send volunteers to these places but that's where their support ends - Globalteer are also the cheapest so good news all round. Really friendly people working there too.
They take people for three months or even if you are in the area for a few days and want to help they will find a placement for you.
Cambodia is dealing with an outbreak of dengue hemorraegic fever. Many Cambodians can't donate blood because of previous illnesses and so Kantha Bopha/Jayavarma VII (which is partly funded by a Swiss organisation), and Angkor Hospital for Children (funded by an NGO called Friends without a Border), actively make appeals to foreigners.
I gave blood at Jayavarma VII hospital. The blood bank room was clean, my vein was wiped with alcohol before the needle was put in, and the phlebotomist took an extra sample of my blood to put in a test tube for analysis. I had to complete a questionnaire on my health, medications, sexual partners etc.
If you like music, Jayavarma VII also holds fundraising concerts each Saturday evening from around 7:15 pm.
AHC has an online shop with some beautiful cards and prints of Angkor.
Jayavarman VII Children’s Hospital
Street to Angkor
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tel 063 964 803
Angkor Hospital for Children
Street Achar Mean, Mondul 1 Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap District
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tel 063 963 409
www.beat-richner.ch/Assets/richner_present.html
www.nationalradio.com/DrBeat.shtml
angkorhospital.org/default.php
www.fwab.org/
Starfish Bakery is a charitable cafe/bakery/art shop with internet access that also offers excellent massages in its Sala Santepheap.
My massage, with a blind older lady named Janara, was one of the best I'd ever had and only cost US$10 for 90 min (in Sept 2007).
The cafe food also looked delicious. Mainly western stuff like omelettes, cakes, coffee.
Proceeds support Starfish Cambodia www.starfishcambodia.org/
www.canbypublications.com/sihanoukvilleads/starfishbakery.htm
Downtown Sihanoukville, on a small dirt road right around the corner from Samudera Market(1-2 min walk)
tel. 012 952 011
Also named SS21, Tuol Sleng used to be the torture center of Khmer Rouge. More than
10,000 people were killed here during the Pol Pot years. Visiting the centre gives deep insight into the evil forces of man and should be mandatory for every visitor to Phnom Penh.
Paul of Hidden Cambodia Adventure Tours looked after us from the minute we arrived to the minute we left.
He booked all accommodation, guides dinners & Angkor Tours. The big one for us was a 4 day 4WD adventure tour to Beng Mela and Koh Ker with an overnight in the village beside the temple. The second night was at Preah Vihear, a fantastic eleventh century temple on a mountain.
We stayed an additional night in Anlong Veng, a very interesting location which has strong Khmer rouge connections.
All in all, food, services and attention to detail provided, Hidden Cambodia was excellent and I would highly recommend them!!
Great staff makes you feel very welcome. The best selection of drinks I've seen in any hostess bar in Phnom Penh apart from DV8. Now it's the most popular bar on the street.
#25 street 104, Phnom Penh. www.phnomphennightlife.com
The one essential reason to visit Kampong Cham is for the Rana Country Homestay - the most rewarding day of our entire trip to Cambodia. 80% of Cambodia’s population are still subsistence farmers, and this place is unique in giving an insider insight into the realities of peasant life.
The delightful and informative owner takes you on tours of the village and farmlands, in between making delicious home-cooked Cambodian meals (best Amok by miles), and in the evening people from the village come to talk to you about whatever you want.
We found it particularly insightful to have this perspective on the Pol Pot years – especially as most information comes from previously wealthy city dwellers dispossessed by the Khmer Rouge or the horrors of Toul Sleng and the killing fields. Strongly recommend you take the short detour required off the road from Phnom Penh – Siem Reap to visit!
Don't just 'do' Siem Reap in a day, take a bunch of photos and then shoot off to Thailand. Once you've seen one temple you've not seen them all, any guidebook will tell you that.
Take time, find a decent guesthouse and spend at least five days there. Hire a bike and pedal round, stopping at anything that catches your eye. A five-day pass costs 60$USD, it will be one of the best buys you'll make.
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