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The Cambodia Roundup

30 Oct

The Statistics

Number of days spent in country – 4

Cities/towns visited – Siem Reap, Chong Kneas, Kompong Pluk

Number of different lodgings – 1

Flights – 0

Bus journeys – 1

Boat rides – 1

taxi journeys – 1

Rickshaw rides – 7

Bike rentals – 1

Attempted extortion by border officials – 1

The Budget

Total US dollar amount spent –$ 348.60 including $40 in visa fees

Average cost per day, per person -$43.58

Average lodging cost per night, per person – $7

We only stayed at one place during our time in Cambodia – The Phrom Roth Guesthouse – $14 for a HUGE room with AC, private bath and wifi. The only room they had was for 3 people and cost slightly more than we would have paid for a double room, but we arrived at night and didn’t want to waste a lot of time searching for a place in the dark. We had already looked at a few other places in a similar price range, but this was easily the nicest. They also had a FREE water re-fill service which saved us probably $8-10 during our stay so it worked out very well in the end.

Average food/drink cost per day, per person – $9.75 You can eat at anything from local street stands to very nice Western Restaurants. Some days we spent $12 each on food, other days we spent $6. We also drank a lot of beer here as there were .50 cent draughts all over the place.

The Best

Angkor Wat – This really goes without saying, but if you are in Siem Reap, this is what you are here to see. This was my second trip and it was just as awesome as the first time, even with the HUGE increase in tourists.

Too many people to deal with pre-dawn…

FYI, if you want to get the classic reflecting sunrise shot at Angkor Wat, you will need to battle for your spot in the massive crowds that gather along the edge of the little reflection puddle. We took one look at the mob and opted to go to the other side of the road, skipping the classic shot, but still seeing a lovely sunrise.

Breakfast at Temple Club – This was a pretty good deal for a hearty breakfast. The cheese omlette is large and comes with a huge baguette, fried tomato, and a tiny little juice for $2.50.

Pumpkin curry from the local food stalls that line the market.

We heart cheap beer.

50 cent mugs of beer from most places in town.

Hammocks and beer.

If you rent a bike you can ride the 11 kilometers out to the boat launch for the incredibly touristy floating village Chong Kneas. We rode out there, but didn’t end up taking the boat since we found what we consider to be a much better option for whiling away the afternoon. All along the road before the village are little local restaurants where you can lounge about in a hammock with a beer and a great view of the rice fields. With the bike you also get the chance to see the villages along the way.

The Worst

The border crossing at Poipet can be a pain in the ass. If you pay in Thai Baht you are getting ripped off. If you let someone buy your visa for you ahead of time you are getting ripped off. If you pay the extra ‘fee’ the border officials ask for, you are being ripped off. The visa costs – for US citizens at least – $20, payable in USD. That’s it. Don’t pay more. When we were asked for extra I smiled politely and shook my head ‘no’. There is a ton of info about the crossing on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum as well as on Travel Fish so I won’t reinvent the wheel here.

We found the ‘tour’ of Kompong Pluk, a stilted village, to be a bit of a rip off. The village itself is interesting enough to see, but it takes about 40 minutes in a tuk-tuk (about $15 round-trip) to get to the boat launch, then an hour in a little boat to get to the village itself. We were taken around in the boat for about 20 minutes through the main town area, and then returned to the boat launch. In the guidebook the price was listed as $8 per person, but when we arrived it had risen to $20 per person. We balked at this and turned around to leave but it was low season so we ended up getting a ‘discounted’ price of $25 total. It just wasn’t worth even the discounted cost for how little time you actually spend in the village, especially considering our boat guy didn’t say a single word to us the entire time.

Tags: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, cost of travel, round the world travel, rtw budget, RTW planning, Siem Reap, Travel

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Categories Budget, Cambodia, Lists, Roundups, RTW Planning, Tips
Author Ashley

The Argentina Roundup

28 May

The Statistics

Number of days spent in country – 43

Cities/towns visited – Mendoza, Bariloche, El Bolson, Esquelle, El Calafate, El Chalten, Ushuaia, Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Salta, Humahuaca, Purmamarca, Cafayate, Angostaca.

Number of different lodgings – 12 hostels and a couchsurf

Flights – 1

Bus journeys – 26

Combi/collective/taxi rides – 9

Bike Rentals – 1

Days of rain – 4

Budget

Total US dollar amount spent – $5522.62

Average cost per day, per person – $64.00

Argentina is not as cheap as it used to be. Our ‘Local Travel’ category of the budget was by far the biggest chunk of spending here – long distance buses are triple the cost that they were in 2009, and flights are as expensive for foreigners on the domestic airlines.

Average lodging cost per night – $15.35 per person. Hostels were pricey in Argentina compared to other places in South America. We ended up in dorms often, though we went for a double room, even with a shared bath, in a few places. You could do cheaper, especially if you are willing to stay in the party factory dorms, or sacrifice location or cleanliness.

Most expensive lodging – Reina Madre Hostel in Buenos Aires – a private room with shared bathroom was $23.25 per person. The second most expensive was the Freestyle Hostel in Ushuaia which was $20.50 per person for a DORM.

Least expensive lodging – $9.30 per person for a dorm room in a little hostel in Angostaca. We got stuck there overnight while on a road trip through northern Argentina.

Average food/drink cost per day (per person) – $14.30 – We consumed an obscene amount of cheap empanadas, usually for lunch. We often cooked dinners in at the hostels because of the high cost of eating out. We did go out for dinners sometimes though, or ate at the hostel when they had an asado night.

The Best

Empanadas!

Hostel Empedrado in Mendoza. They have private rooms as well as dorms, clean bathrooms, TWO kitchens with plenty of cookware, a small pool, hammocks, free glass of wine every night, free empanada making class, good wi-fi…and FREE LAUNDRY!!! It’s just an overall winner. It is a little bit outside of downtown, but not more than a 10 minute walk. You can book online, and if you’re headed there in the summer make sure to ask for a room with air-conditioning since some only have fans.

Hiking up to Fitz Roy in El Chalten. Looks like a fake background…but it’s not, it’s just a bad exposure!

El Chalten – Yeah, the town. If you like mountains you will LOVE El Chalten. There are multiple day hikes that get you way out into the hills with some of the most spectacular mountain scenery we’ve encountered. Take your time and spend more than a hot second there, you won’t regret it.

Big Ice Tour in El Calafate – Even though we got ripped off by the travel agent who sold us our tour, this still goes down as one of our favorite activities. It really was worth it, especially if you’ve never been on a glacier. If the cost is too steep for you, look into a trek on the Viedma Glacier out of El Chalten.

Taking a break from biking in Bariloche

Biking around the Circito Chico in Bariloche – We haven’t gotten around to posting about this ride, but it’s a 25 kilometer ride around beautiful meditteranean colored lakes just outside of Bariloche. You can rent a bike for the day and set out at your leisure. There are many places to stop along the way for picnicing, swimming, or just gawking at the scenery. The bike rental will only set you back about $18 and you can get there with public transportation. Your hostel should be able to reserve you a bike, otherwise any travel agent in town can also, just make sure they don’t charge a commission for it. You’ll get a map from the bike place, but don’t worry, it’s a loop and basically impossible to get lost.

The Worst

We really loved almost everything in Argentina, and the one major exception was Hostel Pudu in Bariloche. We heard that it was fantastic, and perhaps it used to be, but now it’s just run down despite the bright and shiny website. One of the hostel owners spent more time getting high with the guests than doing other things…like cleaning the bathrooms, which were disgusting. There was a pretty high price tag for a dorm room, and I have to admit to sheer laziness or we would have moved after the first night.