Position and Times:
Between the two countries there are six crossings however only two are used by foreign vehicles. The major one at less than a days drive from Bangkok on highway 304 then 33. This is at Aranya Prathet in Thailand to Poipet in Cambodia.
A further crossing in the state of Trat in southern Thailand is less used and is perhaps unwise whilst there is some political unrest on the Cambodian side of the border. (As of June 2010)
The Aranya Prathet / Poipet border is perhaps one of the most exciting and eye-opening scenes we have experienced. Not only do you change from the Left side of the road to the Right but your perception of the world also changes. It is a kaleidoscope of people, transport, and goods. Cambodia is still struggling to rid itself of the horrific genocide that occurred during the Pol Pot/ Khmer regime between 1975 and 1992. Certainly it has improved since our first overland trip in 2000, however you will still see a very different world.
Although it may be possible to do the paperwork yourself at the Cambodian border for the vehicle, I would think with a very different spoken and written language it will be most difficult. In the end you will need help and that will cost you.
We used Diethelm Travel for our Cambodian paperwork and the same company for the Laos paperwork. Although we were dealing with different offices for this process, both were excellent.
Diethelm Travel can be contacted at: http://www.diethelmtravel.com/cambodia/Pages/ContactDetail.aspx
Our Contact was Phirum Seng - E-mail: phirum.s@kh.diethelmtravel.com
You will need to provide the following information:
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• Copy of the International Driving Permit
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• Copy of the Vehicle Registration
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• Copy of the passport of each Traveller
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• 6 Passport size photographs of each traveller. I just sent a scanned photograph of each traveller.
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• An Itinerary of your time in Cambodia. ( Does not have to be accurate other than arrival and departure point and date)
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• Vehicle Details as outlined in the ‘How to Explore Section.../ Vehicle import,export
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• Travellers Details as above.
The cost for them to obtain permission for our travel in Cambodia from the Ministry of Tourism and Customs Department in Phnom Penh was US$100 per vehicle and US$60 per vehicle for the 3rd Party Insurance. There was also a post delivery charge of US$20 for us to receive the original documents. They can also arrange accommodation and a escort/guide, however this service we did not need.
Diethelm Travel can provide an assistant/guide at the Poipet Border for a cost of US$153 and for the exit border into Laos for US$162. Both of these I declined. Apparently this was the first time they have not supplied an assistant to help at the borders as they consider it a risk that clients should deal direct with customs/immigration police. On the other hand I believe that being involved in the process and dealing directly with the officials is an important hands on part of our adventure. In the end all went well.
Once the government departments had signed off the permits they (and our 3rd Party Insurance Documents) were couriered to us so we had the original in the lead vehicle of the convoy as we approached the border post. We had previously made a copy to hand over to the officer at the incoming border whence the original was returned to us to present and hand over at our exit border.
These are the documents provided by Diethelm Travel for our Cambodian Entry/Exit:
It is a very busy border, made more so with all the scammers, offers of assistance (that must be paid for) and money sellers. You do not need any of these. Even the kind help, (that must be paid for) to fill out the Cambodian immigration forms is not needed.
The picture shows the Thai border post, you drive to the right of this then left. Here the overloaded hand trollies carry old rags, scrap metal, and anything of value that can be scavenged and sold into Thailand.
At a small office in the middle of the road, just before the three pagodas overhead bridge and Cambodia you park up. You need to go to the main building on the left. (To the right in the picture as this is looking back towards Thailand) Enter from the Thailand side end for immigration and passport check.
At this same small office in the road we handed over hand our Thailand Temporary Import papers.
Passing into Cambodia under the three pagoda overhead bridge remember to change to THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Park up the vehicle and on your right hand side is the Cambodian Immigration and passport check. (Again this picture is looking back towards Thailand so it is on the left)
For the vehicle import process you need to go to the four story Customs and Excise of Poipet Building on the left hand side of the road. At the office on the far left of the ground floor you hand over the original and copy of your paperwork received from Diethelm Travel.
They are very casual and as it was about to be meal (?) break, pointed out a restaurant for us to eat and to return in about an hour. We also changed money from one of the money changes in the area.
Here we are walking out of the Customs building with our signed papers.
All was very easy, we arrived at the Thai border around 10am and drove out of Poipet at 12.30pm
If you are thinking going further east to Viet Nam it is IMPOSSIBLE for a right hand drive vehicle.
Travel in Cambodia:
One soon gets used to driving on the right side of the road, just keep the road edge on your right. It is your passenger/navigator who has to watch for oncoming traffic to enable you to pass. CB/UHF radio communication is also invaluable if you are travelling in a group.
On the major roads the signs are in Cambodian and English but on lesser roads we rely on our GPS. The Nuvi loaded with City Navigator® Southeast Asia NT has been excellent all the way from Malaysia and into China.
Driving the roads is a wonderful experience of all things that move. Enormous trailers pulled by motorbikes, very overloaded trucks, machines that have been retrieved from the scrap heap and an old Chinese diesel pump motor added, all intermixed with hand and animal drawn carts and wagons. Do not expect to travel large distances, the roads are busy with all things, the country beautiful, and everything interestingly different.
It was in Cambodia that we witnessed an horrific accident between an overloaded motor bike and a vehicle so be careful.
In the cities most speak english but in the country, communication is by sign language, gestures and smiles.
At the major tourist places like Ankor Wat and in Phnom Penh you can be harassed by sellers of everything but once in the country, life is idilic and peaceful. When you arrive into a country village it is a bit like the ‘Circus has come to town’ with children waving along the road sides. You, like us, will love Cambodia.
Camping:
In all of Cambodia we free camped other than whilst we were in the centre of Phnom Penh. Here we camped in a car park and paid US$2/night. As before all our camp sites are in our blog at Travel Cambodia. But I will list the 2 important ones, because camp sites are difficult to find in the centre of the major cities of Siam Reap N13*22.003 E103*51.650 (Just opposite the City Museum) and Phnom Penh N11*34.060 E104*55.678 (Centre city, one block from the Mekong River and the entrance to a Chinese Restaurant)
Whilst driving through rice paddy country it is more difficult to find a place to pull off the road for camp. This is because the road is built on a narrow rise of dirt that runs between endless rice fields. At times we found road quarries, gravel pits, beach side camps or when we found flat private land we simply asked by sign language, the owner or nearest person if it was Ok to sleep here. We were always welcome.
North of Phnom Penh and more away from the usual tourist routes the villagers, although a little shy at first, become remarkably friendly. Eventually inviting us on a tour of the school, monk residences, the village Wat and their long boats.
Food:
All shopping was done in the street markets. The diversity of fruit, vegetables, sea food and meat was endless and of the quality good. Occasionally we eat at road side cafes but most of the time we prepared our own meals collectively as a group.
In the major towns are smaller supermarket type shops where we could top up with items like UHT milk, coffee etc. Breakfast cereal became increasingly difficult to get and increasingly expensive.
Sea food on the southern coast was fresh, delicious and very cheap.
Do be prepared for stomach problems in any foreign country.
Fuel:
Diesel was easy to find and not expensive at US$0.78-80 cents per litre.
Water:
This we obtained from service stations and in the north we increasingly used country wells. It is very advisable to have an onboard quality water filter. We use the Seagull IV from Purifiers Australia. The same one they use in all international aircraft. To date it had been perfect. See them at: http://www.purifiersaustralia.com.au/menu.php
Although I did not use, recently I note that this company produces a Garmin compatible map of Cambodia:
http://www.gpstravelmaps.com/index.php
For our actual Travel Diary through Cambodia see: GoannaTracks Across Cambodia
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