 Moto taxis (read: motodups)
To travel around Phnom Penh the cheapest
and often fastest way of transport is by motodup or moto
taxi. You
see them on every street corner and for a few thousand riel they
will bring
you anywhere you need to go in town.
You will recognise them on their baseball cap, though a few start
wearing helmets now. Helmets for passengers are not available. If
security is a concern, bring your own helmet. But then, if security
is really a concern, don't use motodups.
Most of the motodups do not know the streets by street number and
use a system of landmarks instead. Use the name of a nearby pagoda
or market or of an important street. "Street" in Khmer is
"Phlow" so Sihanouk Boulevard would for instance be "Phlow
Sihanouk" in Khmer.
Motodups, waiting for customers in
front of hotels catering to mostly international customers,
might speak some English, but most others don't.
Another piece of advice: if you ask a motodup if he knows a
certain place, he will most probably answer "yes", even if
he doesn't. Saying "no" is not polite in Khmer culture. So
check out if he really knows before he starts driving you all around
town and charges you accordingly. Make sure to discuss a price
before leaving.
Also beware that motodups are generally not insured, so all costs
in case of accident are for your own account. After all, his daily earnings
are normally somewhere between $2.50 and $5.
For the adventurous: it gives
you a unique understanding of traffic flow in Phnom Penh, a town
where there are no rules because nobody knows any rules, not even
the police.
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When it rains you will find Taxi Vantha
is a
more comfortable means of transport. Likewise when the sun burns too
hot or
when you have luggage of some volume or just, when you want to feel
safe and protected with a respected taxi enterprise, our air-conditioned cars will give you
some time to
breath.
 Taxi Vantha will charge you a pre-defined tariff
so no need to bargain. These prices are honest and competitive and
you will never feel cheated.
The cars are connected by 2-way radio to the dispatch, so if any
problem occurs, the driver can call for assistance to the
dispatcher. If some destination is not known, the dispatch can
research and help you get where you want to go without taking you
all around town first.
To the provinces
Now, to travel to the provinces, there are a lot of options. Taxi
Vantha can bring you to the provincial capitals and alongside the
roads that are covered with tarmac and that are free of serious potholes. The network
of places that are available in this way is constantly growing. But
for most rural places, you will need four-wheel drives or depend on
the local transportation. Some local taxis may do what we cannot do
because their cars already suffered all the damage which Taxi Vantha
avoids to offer you better comfort in town. For 4WD have a look at Hidden
Cambodia for instance.
When available, busses and trains may be safer options. When you
consider using a boat, remember that the luxury boats are
comfortable though rather pricy, while the speedboats are floating
sardine boxes. When the boat sinks, you have only one escape door,
so make a reservation next to the exit or sit on top.
Organised tours are a good idea for those who are less
adventurous and want to be sure not to miss out on the most
important sights. We advise to have a look at Diethelm
travel, a reliable travel agency with office in Phnom Penh.
Cambodian taxis
For travel to the provinces, the cheapest means of
transport is by Cambodian taxi from one of the taxi markets.
You find the car to the correct destination and pay per seat.
If you travel alone, you could take a front seat, which you
would pay for as two places. You will see that Khmer usually
go six or seven passenger in one Toyota Camry. That means that
occasionally the driver also shares his seat with a passenger.
You may have to wait some time for the taxi to fill up.
Then again, your seats might be just what the driver needed to make
his day.
The cars are generally not insured though some might start
to discover insurance makes sense. In that case, you may see a sign
on their cars announcing the fact. This sign however says
nothing about passenger insurance. CAMINCO might be a company
to look for. Insurance certainly eases the hassle if the taxi gets
involved in an accident.
Most of the cars have right hand side steering wheels
though
here again some change can be noticed. Terrible accidents used
to happen with those Thai cars on Cambodian roads. The
disadvantage of hiring the front seat is that you sit in the
killing spot. You may need iron nerves.
Stops to pee on request. "Bot Cheung" (flex the
legs) is the polite way to address the issue. Depending on the
time of the day, a meal stop will allow you to eat a cooked rice meal.
Places in pickups and mini busses are even cheaper with
increased risks. They travel however slower but this helps little to
reduce the risks.
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Busses
 To many destinations, there are now comfortable busses for
very cheap prices and they have insurance though only for
medical treatment
inside Cambodia. Medical facilities are poorly equipped and
lack most resources.
Some busses can get crowded along the way. Dependant on the
distance and the time of the day, there may be one or more
lunch and pee stops. There will be bushes if no local
restaurants are used. The restaurants serve cooked rice meals. The
stops are all
planned for you by the bus operators. You can still select
your meal.
Road vendors may try to sell you things like cooked duck
eggs (this comes with salt and pepper, already mixed), some
fruits with salt, fried spiders or other delicacies of the
region. |
Boats
 When the rivers are high, you can travel to
Siem Reap by
boat (price: $25 include free transfer from hotel to the boat)
and from there to Battambang. From
Kampong Cham you can
board a boat to Kratie. Sometimes, during the monsoon season,
there are also boats from Kratie to
Stoeung Treng.
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Motor bikes
Travel by motorbike might be another idea for the adventurous.
There are shops that will rent you a motor bike for decent
prices, but you will have to leave your passport behind in the
shop.
 There are
organised
motorbike tours into the provinces that are worth trying.
They combine the sense of freedom of a motorbike tour with the
security of being in a group. Cambodia is a country of hidden
mysteries waiting to be discovered by you, but it is also a
country strife with remnants from a terrible civil war. Think
of your security in this country that has not yet healed its
wounds from something terrible that overcame them: the Vietnam
war.
Red
Raid organises dirt bike tours in Cambodia. Another
possibility is Hidden
Cambodia Adventure Tours: They have the option of
motorbikes or 4WD.
It is never a good idea to travel alone. It is never a good
idea to travel at night. Security comes at some price. |
Trains (and lories)
 There are trains
from Phnom Penh to
Batambang, to Sihanoukville and to
Kampot, covering 602 kilometres. Train fares are remarkably low but trains and tracks
are in deplorable condition. Trains are usually overcrowded
with people sitting even on the rooftops of the wagons.
Trains travel at low speeds, usually not more than 30 km
per hour. Though some Cambodian snacks might be sold on the
train, you best bring your own food and water. If you travel
during the rainy season, remember that all roofs leak.
 There
is usually one train per day in each direction on each of
these tracks. When there are no trains, local entrepreneurs
will transport people and merchandise on these tracks. In
Khmer, their vehicle is called a lory. When a
train or another lory approaches, the wooden table is removed
off its axes and both axes are then taken off the tracks. Passengers must
wait in the field or in the bushes for the train or lory to pass
by. They start slowly but can attain considerable speeds
when there are no obstructions.
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Local air fare
From Phnom Penh there are flights to:
- Siem Reap
- Battambang
- Stoeung Treng
- Ratanakiri
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