Cambodia Country Profile

The name Cambodia is derived from the word Kambuja –meaning the sons of Kambu. According to legend Kambu, an ascetic, married a celestial nymph named Mera and founded the kingdom of Chenla. The neighboring Funan kingdom, the first Hindu State in Southeast Asia gained the kingdom of Chenla in the 6th century. This in effect was the precursor to the great Khmer Empire – the creators of the Angkor temple complex.

Angkor is comprised of many ceremonial structures built between the 9th and 13th centuries by the Khmer Empire that spanned a period of approximately 600 years. In 1431 it was abandoned and the capital moved to Phnom Penh. In the middle of the 19th century the French colonized the country and it was not until 1953 that Cambodia achieved independence when King Norodom Sihanouk proclaimed himself Head of State. The 1970's saw the country's darkest period. In 1970 General Lon Nol successfully staged a "coup d'etat" and ousted the King. Then in 1975, following a bitter civil war, the fanatical Khmer Rouge led by the infamous Pol Pot deposed Lol. For 4 terrible years the country reverted back to "Year Zero" as thousands of the country's intellectuals and over one million Cambodians died. In 1979 the regime was deposed. Today thanks to the magnificent ruins at Angkor and the peoples' resolve and spirit the country's future looks brighter than at any time before.

1. Visas
2. Arrival
3. Money
4. Clothing
5. Climate
6. Safety
7. Cuisine
8. People
9. Language
10. Public holidays and special events
11. Post and Telecommunication
12. Business hours
13. Departure airport taxes

1. Visas

Visitors arriving by air can purchase a one month visa on arrival at both Pochentong and Siem Reap Airport. For travelers arriving overland from Thailand via Poi Pet, Banteay Meanchey Province, or Kok Kong Province, it is advisable to obtain a visa in advance. Travelers arriving overland from Laos and Vietnam must obtain a visa in advance as they cannot be obtained at the border.

A tourist visa costs US$20 and can be extended for one month at a time for up to three months. A business visa costs US$25 and can be extended indefinitely. Two passport photographs should be submitted with the visa application form.

2. Arrival

Bring two small photos and $25 US. You will get two forms to fill out on the airplane. On the form you must identify your visit as a tourist visit or a business visit. It's $20 for a one-month tourist visa, or $25 for a one-month working visa. The only difference is that the working visa can be renewed without leaving the country, so if you might stay more than a month, choose that one. There has been no requirement to prove you are working for anyone. Tell the truth about your job, especially if you are not a human rights worker or similar troublemaker. Actually they don't seem to care.

After you land you will walk into the terminal, if you are prudent, and join a crowd of people at the visa counter. They will ask you for your passport and your forms. They will ask you for the photos as well. If you don’t have your photos with you, don't worry, they can take photos of you right there then just hand your passport over, and move down to the other end of the counter to pick it up and pay the fee.

Keep in mind that if you overstay your visa, you will be charged $3 for each day you overstayed. You pay when you leave; it's hassle-free.


3. Money

The official Cambodian currency is known as the Riel. The Cambodian Riel has been relatively stable and the current exchange rate is approximately 3,950 Riel to US$ 1. American dollars are widely accepted in Cambodia and even preferred in larger stores and supermarkets. However, the Riel is more practical and economical for smaller everyday items such as buying fruits and vegetables and paying taxi driver. Banks now change all major currencies with relatively little hassle. Tourists with traveler checks are advised to cash them at the bank as few shops and other outlets have facilities to change them and those that do may charge a high commission. Several banks do permit cash advances on major credit cards.


4. Clothing

Traditionally, sarongs (made of cotton or a cotton-synthetic blend or silk) are worn by both men and women and are most evident in the countryside. Most urban Khmer men dress in trousers and many women dress in western-style clothing. On formal occasions such as religious festivals and family celebrations, women often wear hols, a type of shirt. At night women wear single-colored silk dresses called phamuongs, which are decorated along the hems. If the celebration is a wedding, the colors of such garments are determined by the day of the week on which the wedding takes place.

5. Climate

The best time to visit Cambodia is between November and February. The two monsoons in the country greatly affect the travel calendar. From November to February the cool, dry northeastern monsoon carries relatively little rain whereas the southwestern monsoon carries up to 80% of the country’s rainfall between the months of May and October. Maximum daily temperatures range from the high 20s in January to more than 400 C in April. Daily minimum temperatures are usually no more than 100 C.

WEATHER CHART

6. Safety

Traveling in Cambodia is generally very safe. Incidents of petty theft and bag snatching are more widespread in Phnom Penh. Elsewhere in the country these events are almost unheard of. Most hotels have either a safety deposit box at the reception desk or in the rooms, or both. Just to be on the safe side when traveling anywhere in the country you should exercise common sense. The other concern often voiced is that of unexploded landmines. It is advisable not to stray from paths in remote areas and have a local guide with you at such times.


7. Cuisine

Cambodian cuisine is similar to Thai but with fewer spices. A traditional Cambodian meal almost always includes a soup, or samla, which is eaten at the same time as other courses. Samla machou banle is fish soup with a sour flavour rather like the hot and sour dishes of neighboring Thailand. Other soups include samla chapek (ginger-flavored pork soup), samla machou bangkang (prawn soup) and samla ktis (a fish soup with coconut and pineapple). Cambodian "salad" dishes are also popular and delicious although quite different from the western concept of a cold salad. Phlea sach ko is a beef and vegetable salad, flavored with coriander, mint leaves and lemon grass. These herbs find their ways into many Cambodian's dishes. Like all other Buddhist countries, vegetarian food is readily available and ordering in a restaurant shouldn't pose any problems, as there is a separate vegetarian page in most menus.


8 . People

The population of Cambodia today is about 10 million. About 90-95 percent of the people are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent include Chinese-Khmers, Khmer Islam or Chams, ethnic hill-tribe people, known as the Khmer Loeu, and Vietnamese. About 10 percent of the population lives in Phnom Penh, the capital, making Cambodia largely a country of rural dwellers, farmers and artisans.

The ethnic groups that constitute Cambodian society possess a number of economic and demographic commonalties- for example. Chinese merchants lived mainly in urban centers and play middlemen in many economic cycles, but they also preserve differences in their social and cultural institutions. They were concentrated mostly in central and in southeastern Cambodia, the major differences among these groups lie in social organization, language, and religion. The majority of the inhabitants of Cambodia are settled in fairly permanent villages near the major bodies of water in the Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands region. The Khmer Loeu live in widely scattered villages that are abandoned when the cultivated land in the vicinity is exhausted. The permanently settled Khmer and Cham villages usually located on or near the banks of a river or other bodies of water. Cham villages usually are made up almost entirely of Cham, but Khmer villages, especially in central and in southeastern of Cambodia, typically include sizable Chinese communities.


9. Language

The vast majority of Cambodians speak Khmer, a language of the Mon-Khmer group. Its only close relative is the language of the Mon, a Burmese minority. Khmer is only distantly related to Thai and to some Indonesian languages, with some borrowed words from Vietnamese, Chinese, Pali, French and English. The script is related to Devanagari and looks a bit like Thai script at first glance. An increasing number of urban Cambodians speak English, especially young people, and some (mostly older) Cambodians can speak French. Though its grammar is quite straightforward, Khmer is a fairly difficult language for most English speakers to learn because of its pronunciation.


10. Public holidays and special events

During public holidays and festivals, banks, ministries and embassies close down, so plan ahead if visiting Cambodia during these times. These institutions also take holidays on Christmas Day, New year's Day, the Day for Remembering the Victory over the Genocidal Regime on 7 January and Chinese New Year, so all in all they spend a fair number of days on holiday each year. The festival of Cambodia takes place according to the lunar calendar so the dates vary from year to year.

Chaul Chnam
Held in mid –April, this is three-day celebration of the Khmer New Year: Khmers make offerings at Wats, clean out their homes and exchange gifts of new clothes. It is a lively time to visit as, like the Thais, Khmers go wild with water and talcum powder leaving a lot of bemused tourists looking like plaster cast figures! It is not the best time to visit the temples of Angkor as half the population of the country turns up there and you will find yourself with no peace to explore the temple.

Chat Preah Nengkal
Held in early May this is the Royal Ploughing ceremony, a ritual agricultural festival led by the royal family. It takes place near the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

International Workers' Day-1 May

P'chum Ben
Held in late September, it is a kind of all soul's day, when respects are paid to the dead through offerings made at the waters' edge.

His Majesty the King's Birthday -30 October to 01 November

Bon Om Tuk
Usually held in late October or early November, this celebrates the reversal of the Tonle Sap River (with the onset of the dry season, water backed up in the Tonle Sap lake begins to empty into the Mekong, in the wet season the waters reverse). This is one of the most important festivals in the Khmer calendar and a wonderful time to be in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, as boat races are held on the Tonle Sap river and the moat around Angkor wat.

Independence Day - 9 November

Chinese Lunar New Year
The Chinese and Vietnamese inhabitants of Cambodia celebrate their New Year in late January or early to mid -February - for the Vietnamese, this is Tet. Because Chinese and Vietnamese run many businesses in Phnom Penh, commerce grinds to a halt around this time.


11. Post and Telecommunication

Post is now routed by air through Bangkok, which makes Cambodia a much more reliable place from which to send mail and parcels. Telephone connections with the outside world have also improved immensely, though they are not cheap. Most hotels in Phnom Penh do not charge for local calls. Numbers starting with 011, 012, 015, 017 or 018 are mobile phone numbers. There is no directory inquiry service. Some hotels have telephone directories for Phnom Penh.

Phone Cards should be used for International telephone calls. Phone cards come in denominations of US$2, US$5, US$10, US$20, US$50 and US$100. Rates are lower on the weekend, when discounts can be up to 20-30% off standard rate. For collect calls a home country direct service has been set up for some countries. Home country direct calls allow you to either reverse the charges or have the call charged to a Telstra or AT&T Telecard.

Faxes cost US$4-US$6 per page. Internet access is available in all major tourist places at a cost of US$2 per hour, although it is not as fast as you would expect.

12. Business hours

Government offices, which are open from Monday to Saturday, theoretically begin the working day at 7 or 7:30 am, breaking for a siesta from 11 or 11:30am to 2 or 2:30pm and ending the day at 5:30pm. It is safe to assume that few people will be around early in the morning or after 4pm.

Banking hours tend to vary according to the bank, core hours are 8:30am to 3:30pm.
There are an incredible number of public holidays and festivals that close down offices.

13. Airport Taxes

Pochentong International Airport:
Domestic departure: US$6.
International departure: US$25.

Siem Reap Airport:
Domestic departure: US$6.
International departure: US$25