Overall advice

Hi,

I%26#39;m new to TA, and for the past two days I%26#39;ve been reading a lot of this forum trying to get my head around our upcoming trip. We are coming to Siem Reap next week, even though we booked our flights 4 months ago we hadn%26#39;t had time to actually think about our trip, which is quite embarrassing. I%26#39;ve got a few questions, and please bear with me if they are absolutely stupid, which I bet they are.

1. Even though the currency in Cambodia is the Riel, it seems that basically the currency in Siem Reap is the US dollar. Am I correct? Is it better to have US dollars than Riel?

2. This is our somehow belated honeymoon (two years after the deed), so we really wanted to take it easy and pamper ourselves a bit. Unfortunately, our budget is also not that big (Aussie dollar went down at the most inconvenient time). I might have found a place to stay, but is this time good to bargain? I think $US60 is a bit excessive for accommodation, specially seeing that we%26#39;re going for 2 weeks, but then again I haven%26#39;t gone in a holiday for awhile and might be out of touch with prices and things like that. My question is, is this a good time to bargain? My eyes are going square from looking at so many different hotels and prices. Any recommendations? (Something a long the lines of the lines of Palm Villa, which I think is not available in the dates that we need, and if it%26#39;s cheaper the better!)

I%26#39;d highly appreciate your help.

Many thanks

Ava

Overall advice

We just got back from Siem Reap, and there seem to be plenty of accommodation places at reasonable prices. Check the hotel reviews for Siem Reap on this site, although $60 might be pushing things a bit for a top range place, you should be able to get something comfortable. We stayed at Palm Village, which you say is booked out. For $50 it was quite basic, nice and relaxed, but certainly not in the luxury class. Perhaps check latestays.com for last minute deals at places. There are also so new places opening all the time.

You won%26#39;t need any Riel at all. The whole place runs on US$, and you just get small change in riel that is really just worth cents.

Overall advice

You%26#39;re still in high season so bargaining hotels is probably out of the question. You can certainly mention a ';long term stay'; (how many nights will you be there?) and see if you get a discount.

you might consider staying in a ';pamper hotel'; during the first part of your visit, then stay in a guest house the rest of the time.

Did you check the Bopha Angkor? That%26#39;s my pick for a mid-range choice.

Also check asiarooms.com for good rates.

The upside to hotel expense is that food, transport and entertainment in general are quite reasonable.

You may have read this already, but ATM%26#39;s dispense US currency and it%26#39;s convenient to arrive with a nice stack of ones. Make sure your US currency is not torn or mutilated in any way and riel is worthless outside Cambodia, so don%26#39;t bring any home.

Ava,

I noticed you are from Brisbane and I was wondering which airline you went with to fly into SR as I am flying from Sydney but then out of Hanoi and if you could let me know roughly the price you paid.

Hope you enjoyed your trip and if you have any tips for me on your return I would really appreciated it.

Thanks

Debbie.

Not sure what airline AvaVeen is flying with but one option for Brisbane is AirAsiaX from the Goldcoast to KL then Air Asia to SR. I think the Sunday night flight out of the Gold Coast arrives KL 4am, flight to SR leaves 7am. Costs vary on dates, try a dummy booking and see.