Cambodia expat blog: Cambodia travel tips, advice, and info

Cambodia found photographs

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

Charles Fox is a Cambodia-based British photographer who works for publications around the world. After first moving to Cambodia in late 2005, he moved to the UK where he started collecting photographs of the Cambodian diaspora. He moved back to Phnom Penh in 2012 and started hunting down portraits and family photographs from post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia for his Cambodia found photo project. We asked him a few questions about the project.

How did it get started? What was the first photograph that inspired the project?

Taken in 1985 in Kampot, Cambodia. Photographer unknown.

The first were a set of pictures from my Cambodian friend Yanny. I would go to see him when I was in the UK and he would drag sets of pictures out and I would spend hours looking at them asking him questions about life in Cambodia in the early 80s. I guess it was our friendship that inspired the project.

What is the goal of the Cambodia found photo project?

The project has a very specific aim, to document as many of these pictures as I can from 1979 to the current day, and through photography, build a catalog of social and cultural development and change. You can read more about it on my blog.

“The photographer combined two images; we wanted to show we were a happy family.” Taken in 1983

How and where do you find these photographs?

For want of a better way of explaining it … it just happens! I meet people through my work as a photographer and we click and I tell them about the project and they show me their old photos. I am now more actively looking while balancing this with everything else that I have going on. I have set myself the target of publishing a picture everyday on Twitter and I hope soon to publish a blog of the images from each week.

What is the value of these photographs, and why do you think the medium of found photography is so powerful in telling a story about Cambodia?

These images hold so much information. They prompt memories from their owners, although a lot of those memories are hazy. I have no grandiose intentions; I cannot save all these images but I can give them a forum. I am realistic about it; there aren’t so many people that are interested in such images. I am fascinated and that was enough of a drive to do it. I guess if I am interested I thought someone else might be too.

Cambodia studio portrait.

Day to day I work as a photographer, and make pictures every day. That’s a privilege, but I can only make them now. I wanted to know what life was like before this and how it’s seen through the eyes of Cambodians.

It’s a funny process looking through the photos. I am looking for quirks, but some of the best images have been when the story to something visually mundane is really powerful. It does not happen that often but it’s an absolute pleasure when it happens. I will keep going on this project as long as I can keep finding interesting Cambodian photographs.

Check out Charles Fox’s blog to learn more about his found photo project (and to submit photos of your own) and follow him on Twitter to see the daily updates.

Expat kid Q&A: Splish, splash! Pool-time in Phnom Penh

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

In this expat series about raising kids in Cambodia, we talk to parents about the finer points of child rearing in the Kingdom of Wonder.

Beating the heat in Phnom Penh.

American expat Jeff Mudrick has been living in Phnom Penh since 2005, where he runs one of my favorite bars in Phnom Penh, Garage. He’s also the father of a 6-year-old who spends as much of hot season in the pool as possible. I asked Jeff a few questions about expat parenting in Cambodia.

What’s the best part about raising kids in Cambodia?

“You can drag your kid with you most anywhere and be received warmly or at least with tolerance (from Khmers at least). Restaurants, bars (if you have to)… If you want to concentrate on some work or correspondence there will always be someone more than willing to take the kid off your hands while you polish up your blog at Cadillac or wherever.”

What’s the worst part about raising kids in Cambodia?

“Healthcare is a major worry. I’ve never had a problem that couldn’t be taken care of locally at The Provin’ somewhere. Unless your kid never strays from Phnom Penh this is a big deal. If one partner is Khmer the kid will spend time in the countryside, guaranteed.”

What are your favorite activities for kids in Phnom Penh?

“My favorite Phnom Penh activity with my six year old is swimming at Ly La Sport and Recreation Center. Located on street 508 east of Boeung Trabek, Ly La has three pools including two designed for kids.”

Ly La Sport and Recreation Center pool Phnom Penh

The Ly La Lagoon in Phnom Penh.

“The pool for the youngest kids has three areas with different depths, the shallowest good for toddlers. The deeper end features water slides and such. There are always kids there but it’s never overly crowded. There are benches on one one side which are reasonably well shaded for parents to relax while the kids swim. A second kids pool is suitable for older kids or parents wanting to swim a lap or two. There is nominally a pool watcher on staff but not someone you can count on to watch your kids. There is a cafe on site which serves quite decent Khmer dishes, cold drinks, or coffee. Previously Ly La had an inside playground which greatly complemented the pools, that was recently leased and us no more. Use of the pool is $4 per adult or child swimmer.”

If you could give one piece of advice to new expat parents in Cambodia, what would it be?

“Have enough money to cover health care and good schools (and preferably a car). An English teacher’s salary is probably not going to cut it. Which reminds me, I need to renew insurance. Yikes.”

Ly La Sport and Recreation Center

# 36 Street 508, Phsa Doeum Tkov, Chamkamon, Phnom Penh
T: 023 999 947; 023 999 949
lylacenter.com

Expat life in Siem Reap: Thriving in Cambodia’s “Art Town”

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

It wasn’t long ago that the major streets in the northern Cambodian town of Siem Reap were unpaved. There were no shopping malls, no cocktail bar…in short, it was a place only the most intrepid expats would consider living. John McDermott and Narisara Murray, were two of those adventurous expats. We profile these long-term expats to find out what makes living in Siem Reap so wonderful.

John McDermott and Narisara Murray in Siem Reap

“Life here is at a different pace,” says John McDermott about his life in Siem Reap.

“When we came in 1996, Siem Reap was only a tiny little town—charming in its own way, but it was mainly just a place to stay when exploring the nearby temples at Angkor Wat,” says John. “At the time, I was just beginning to look at ancient sites around Asia for my photography. I was interested in finding sites that looked like they belonged to another civilization on some far-off planet. Angkor certainly fit that description.”

The couple originally met in the Thai capital of Bangkok, where John was working as a photographer for a local magazine and Narisara was a freelance journalist. They moved to Siem Reap full time in 2003 to set up a photography gallery showcasing John’s work and that of local artists.

“There’s so much flexibility about what you do here and how you live,” Narisara says. John agrees, saying, “If you have an idea, especially an original idea and want to put it into motion—starting a business, creating an educational organization, or fulfilling a lifetime dream of writing and being an artist—you can do it without difficulty or major expense.” These days Siem Reap is rapidly expanding. French-colonial buildings in the center have been restored. Many of these buildings, along with Chinese shophouses, host businesses that cater to the huge number of tourists who now come to see the Angkor temple complex. Just 15 minutes from town, Angkor is easily the country’s most famous attraction.

Yet, despite the tourism trade, Siem Reap holds onto its small-town charm. “The lifestyle is so stress-free compared to life in the States…life here is at a different pace,” says John, who originally hails from Arkansas.

Narisara says, “Even with all the international travelers and businesses that come here, it’s still a small town. You can get stuck in traffic behind a herd of cows, you can watch the monsoon storms sweep across the rice fields, you can hear the frog chorus in rainy season and roosters every morning. You’re a lot closer to nature than you are in a city like Bangkok or Singapore.

“And you get to pick your projects here. Everything we do is work, but everything we do is play.” In addition to working at the gallery, Narisara, who grew up near Washington, DC, is also writing a novel set in Cambodia and working on several non-fiction projects. The couple has witnessed the growth of an international expat community, many of whom are also involved in the arts in some way. “It’s easy to start a business or find a studio space,” says Narisara. “You can rent a studio space or a small house for around $200 to $250 a month in Siem Reap.”

John elaborates, “In many countries, opening a business is a nightmare of expense and bureaucracy. Here it is simplified and encouraged. As a small business, all you basically have to do is get a business license, rent a space, and hang out your sign. There’s more to it than that, of course, but you don’t have to run an obstacle course to get it going. The bigger the business, the more bureaucracy. But the idea is to get business going here and money changing hands. A storefront business means renting a shophouse for anywhere from $350 to $2,000 a month, depending on location.”

“We couldn’t afford to do this at home,” says John. Back in the U.S., becoming parents might mean the “death of creativity,” as Narisara laughingly puts it. But it’s not so for expats in Cambodia. In Siem Reap, you can hire an experienced nanny for between $90 and $150 per month. “Our son has a nanny whom he loves, which allows us to work on our own projects,” Narisara explains. “I don’t tell my friends in the States about it, because it would sound like I’m bragging.”

You can rent a small house for $250 a month.” Other costs are also much less than back home. A regular maid or gardener charges even less than a nanny. Monthly rent for a two- or three-bedroom villa with a garden ranges from $300 to $600. And food is less expensive in Siem Reap. Several grocery stores in town sell imported Western treats, often for less than they cost at home. Shop locally at the market and you’ll get a week’s worth of fresh produce for around $15. All told, the average monthly budget for a couple is $1,400 a month, including rent.

“You can buy produce at a local open-air market for a few dollars a day, or you can splash out on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and imported lamb at the expat grocery store,” Narisara explains. “You can live in a wooden Khmer-style house on stilts for a couple hundred dollars a month, or you can rent a modern villa with a landscaped garden and pool and sauna for a couple thousand dollars a month.”

John and Narisara have just had their second child. Because medical care in Cambodia is still below Western standards, they go to Bangkok, a short flight or six-hour drive from Siem Reap. But as tourism in Siem Reap continues to grow, all types of services are rapidly improving, from medicine to Internet access. Roads through town that were once unpaved are now lined with international restaurants, galleries, bars, and boutiques, and new businesses pop up every day.

“That’s what’s so exciting about Siem Reap,” John says. “Everything is growing and changing.” After a decade in Cambodia, John and Narisara are still in love with the easy life they’ve created there for their small but growing family.

You can see John’s photographs of Cambodia at asiaphotos.net

by Lina Goldberg

Review: Petit Temple Suite & Spa, Siem Reap

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Steven Halcrow

Petit Temple Suite & Spa, the sister hotel of Petit Villa Boutique & Spa, is located in the Wat Damnak area of Siem Reap, about a ten minute walk from the Old Market and town center. The location offers nighttime peace and quiet and a needed respite from noisy Pub Street. We just spend four days here, and can say with confidence that Petit Temple’s boutique-style accommodation is an ideal place to stick your feet up and relax after a long day trawling the temples of Angkor Wat.

A day at the temples deserves an afternoon at the pool.

The two-story hotel surrounds an infinity pool which is flanked by tropical plants and sun loungers and offers great place to kick back with a cocktail and work on your tan. If sunbathing is not your thing, then you also have the option of sitting outdoors under the shade of the mango trees whilst catching up on your email via the surprisingly reliable WiFi.

Petit Temple is designed to put one in mind of Angkorian temples (as if it’s possible to forget them while in Siem Reap) and the staff wear traditional Khmer dress. Breakfast is included with the rooms, and have several Western and Khmer selections. Breakfast doesn’t require an early-morning wake up and is served from 7 a.m. til 11 a.m. This is a nice change from most of the Siem Reap hotels that stop serving breakfast at 10 at the latest. The extra hour allows breakfast to be a more leisurely affair, as it should be when you are on holiday, instead of the mad scramble downstairs to make it to the dining area before the last dish of cold fried eggs gets tossed in the bin. All bases are covered here; eggs, fresh tropical fruit, muesli, yoghurt, noodle soup, pork and rice, croissants as well as various teas and a very good cup of coffee that seems to have no bottom.

Rooms at Petit Temple are tastefully Angkorian.

The rooms have old-fashioned tile floors and are very well outfitted, and come with hot shower, bathtubs (sometimes in the room) cable TV, bathrobes, tea and coffee, fresh fruit, locking safe and all the other extras you would expect from an upper, mid-range hotel. Rooms are cleaned daily with daily turn-down service and each room has either a balcony or a small porch area that looks over the pool.

Happily, the staff are very attentive and not too overbearing. They also speak very good English which certainly helps if you are trying to find out a bit more about the surrounding area or arrange a tour of Angkor Wat. Guests are also offered a free one-hour massage, and the massage rooms are open until 9 p.m. It’s hard to overstate how exhausting temple viewing is, especially in the hot weather, so a massage and dip in the pool is a great way to wind down from a long day of traversing the temples. They also offer other spa treatments such as facials and scrubs.

Rack rates and prices on the website start at $95, and most desk staff seem unwilling to negotiate (others will, so try your luck). Book on Agoda, however, and rooms start at $31, even in high season. They will not offer the Agoda price in person, even if you are already staying at the hotel. We booked through Agoda and when we wanted to extend our stay, had to make another Agoda booking. So be prepared! Book a room at Petit Temple Suite & Spa on Agoda now!

Petit Temple Suite & Spa

Wat Damnak, Salakomrouk Commune, Siem Reap
Tel: 063 764 234; Mobile: 088 857 5389
petittemple.com

Locally-owned places to stay on Koh Rong

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

Last week we covered some of our favorite places to stay on Koh Rong and reviewed Paradise Bungalows and Monkey Island, two island old-timers that have been there there for a while. But if you’d prefer to stay in the village or support a locally owned business, we’ve sussed out some of the newer accommodation offerings.

Support local businesses while you are lazing away on Koh Rong.

The guesthouses in Koh Toch village don’t have any frills, but are some of the cheapest and friendliest places to stay on Koh Rong. Koh Rong has had a lot of development recently, but the booming business hasn’t really trickled down to the local families in Koh Toch village. Visitors supporting the village businesses are very appreciated (but please put a cover-up on in the village on the way to the beach, bare torsos and bikinis are a no-no). At the end of this post, we also review a Cambodian-owned business that is further down the beach and offers more luxurious digs.

White Rose Guesthouse

The Khmer-owned guesthouse White Rose is a popular choice in Koh Toch village.

This Khmer-owned guesthouse and cafe is one of the most popular spots in the village. Located just in front of the first pier across from the Friends of Koh Rong, White Rose is known for its friendly, laid-back atmosphere. The proprietor, Lymoon (known as “Lee” around the guesthouse), is a Cambodian who has brought his Phnom Penh business experience to Koh Rong, which is home to some of his family, including family members who run TyTy Family Guesthouse. White Rose also employs a couple of Western staff, people who came as visitors and quickly decided they never wanted to leave. Their influence is felt in the downstairs cafe’s menu, which features foreigner favorites like pancakes, burgers, and sandwiches. Breakfast at White Rose is a popular affair—we tried the muesli with fresh tropical fruit and yogurt, which was good value at $3.25 for a heaping bowl. They also claim to have the best vegetarian food on the island, which is probably true, because there aren’t a lot of other options.

As with all of the guesthouse options in Koh Toch Village, rooms at White Rose are simple, with wood walls, mosquito nets, and a fan that is powered only when the electricity is on between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to midnight. (There are LED lights from solar power the rest of the time.) There are two WiFi connections, one downstairs and one upstairs, that run when the electricity is on. There are also security bars on the windows to protect from possible break-ins and we were pleasantly surprised to see fire extinguishers, a rarity on the island. Upstairs features a balcony with tables and hammocks where guests can hang out and enjoy the views of the village and the sea. All rooms have a shared bathroom that was very clean when we saw it. Double and twin rooms go for $14 to $26 in the high season, but can dip as low as $10 in the low season. Dorm rooms in the mixed dorm go for around $7, depending on demand.

TyTy Family Guesthouse

The balcony at TyTy Family Guesthouse gives a great view of village life.

Located in the village just off the first pier and run by the extended family of Lee of White Rose, TyTy offers a more Cambodian experience. When we visited there weren’t any English-speakers around, but some friendly villagers were happy to help translate. The simple wooden rooms are outfitted with either one or two double beds, each with a fan and mosquito net, and have access to a shared bathroom. Simple and clean, TyTy is a no-frills place to stay and get a village experience. Upstairs there’s a balcony to hang out on and watch daily Cambodian village life in Koh Toch village.

At the height of high season a room with a double bed goes for $15 and a room with two double beds goes for $25. In the low season, rooms can go for as low as $8. Rooms have security bars on the windows for added safety.

Para Guesthouse

For the full Koh Toch village experience, check out Para Guesthouse.

If you’re looking for the most village-y of all of Koh Toch’s village guesthouses, Para is definitely the one. Located behind Western-owned Bong’s, Para is off the beach and sandwiched between villagers’ homes. It is essentially a Cambodian wooden house that rents rooms to foreigners. Rooms have a double bed, mosquito net, and security bars on the windows to prevent break-ins. All rooms share a bathroom and shower. There’s also a balcony with table and chairs and a lovely sea view. Rooms are as low as $8 in low season, but can go up to $15 or even $20 when the island is fully booked.

Happy Bungalows

The happiest thing about Koh Rong’s Happy Bungalows is the short walk to the hammock.

These high-end Koh Rong bungalows are located directly on the beach, on what used to be Monkey Island’s property (land disputes are one of the less exotic features of Koh Rong). They’re Khmer-owned, although the manager was not there when we stopped by. However, his presence was signaled by the sign that states, “9 a.m. checkout time.” It seems that Cambodians have a different idea of what constitutes a reasonable time to wake up in paradise.

The bungalows are some of the newest on the island and are thus in very good condition. They’ve been made with treated wood so they shouldn’t deteriorate as quickly as the more cheaply built places. Each of the 12 bungalows has two beds with mosquito nets and a fan. They are naturally lit and have glass windows (most of the other bungalows on the island are quite dark inside). The nicest part of the bungalows are the balconies; each one has benches and if you’re lucky enough to be in a bungalow directly facing the water, you’ve got an unimpeded view of the sea. During the high season bungalows go for $65. Prices will be lower during low season, but when we visited the staff couldn’t tell us how low, so it’s worth calling ahead.

White Rose Guesthouse

Koh Toch Village, across from Friends of Koh Rong pier, Koh Rong
T: 010 758 767, 096 916 9267
facebook.com/WhiteRoseKohRong

TyTy Family Guesthouse

Koh Toch Village
T: 016 880 953

Para Guesthouse

Koh Toch Village, behind Bong’s Guesthouse, Koh Rong
T: 087 643 470

Happy Bungalows

Koh Toch Beach, Koh Rong
T: 015 769 659; 087 707 788

Learning Khmer: Khmer for Foreigners at RUPP

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

If you’re looking to learn Khmer, one of the most well regarded courses is at Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute of Foreign Languages. The course, ‘Khmer for Foreigners’ teaches reading, writing, and speaking. Most teachers and Cambodian learning classes focus only on speaking, and most expats never learn to read or write the language. The successful completion of Khmer for Foreigners, on the other hand, will have you reading, writing and speaking the language at a high level after a year.

Khmer studies schoolwork and flashcards.

Learning the alphabet in Khmer for Foreigners.

The course is five days a week, 90 minutes a day for eight to 10 weeks per term. There are four levels each running four times per year and it’s possible to do the entire course in a year. Khmer for Foreigners costs $800 for a year, or $200 per level. Those who’ve successfully completed the course say that learning to read Khmer script is integral to learning to speak the language, as understanding how each character is pronounced results in overall better pronunciation, thus making it possible to make oneself understood.

While it’s generally thought to be the best Khmer language learning program around, I had mixed feelings about it. The class taught me an awful lot about the Cambodian educational system, far more, in fact, than I learned about the Khmer language in a month of class. The material, which uses a book called We Learn Khmer, is taught entirely by rote. The teacher was an accomplished linguist with a degree in Cambodian literature, but our classes generally followed the same format: he would hand out a worksheet with a list of Khmer characters on it. He would read it aloud once, then he would read it aloud a second time. This time, we would all repeat back what he said. Finally, he would go around the classroom asking each student to read the worksheet aloud one by one (and there were 18 of us). Most of us had written down the phonetics for the sound of each character and were just reading what we had written down, rather than actually recognizing the character. All of the actual learning I did was outside of the classroom, and the time in the classroom felt sort of pointless. Having a Khmer partner, friend, or colleague around that can correct your pronunciation when you are studying is invaluable as pronunciation is key.

That said, I have met others who had a very different experience in the Khmer for Foreigners classroom (and had a different teacher). The beginning weeks are difficult, they say, but once you learn to recognize the characters —no small feat because the language has one of the largest alphabets in the world — the class becomes more rewarding.

Even after a month I was able to recognize some of the alphabet and try and sound out words on business fronts (all businesses need to have Khmer signage, and many Western businesses just spell out their business name phonetically in Khmer, making for good reading practice.) Those who manage to stick it out actually learn to read, write and eventually speak Khmer, unlike the great majority of expats in Cambodia. As we wrote last week, there are a lot of good reasons to learn Khmer, even if it’s not strictly necessary to live as an expat in Cambodia.

For me, the last straw was the time and location. Right around the school there is bumper to bumper traffic every day in the early evening, so getting from Toul Kork back into town took an hour by car or tuk tuk every day. The 90 minute class took approximately 3.5 hours door to door, plus at least an hour or two of studying every night, which was more of a commitment than I was ready for. I’ve been told that the morning classes have lighter traffic, or that taking a moto allows you to beat the crowds. Overall, this is still considered one of the best courses in town and at about $3 an hour, is also the best value.

The upcoming terms run from April 1-June 27, July 1-September 12, and Sept 15-December 27.

Level 1 meets from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. or 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Level 2 meets at 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Level 3 meets at 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m or 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Level 4 meets at 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m or 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP)
Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL)

Russian Federation Boulevard, Toul Kork, Phnom Penh
T: 012 866 826; 012 827 284
rupp.edu.kh

Expat Q&A: “I literally tore up my return ticket back to England”

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Lina Goldberg

In this series we talk to Cambodia expats about what they know now that they wish they had known when they first moved to Cambodia. This week we talk with British expat Scotty Davis.

Scotty, appreciating a moment on the floor in Phnom Penh.

Scotty Davis is originally from Liverpool and decided to make Cambodia home five years ago. He spends most of his time doing stand-up comedy (look for Scotty Muldoon on the comedy club lineups) and fronting the indie rock band, the Teaner Terners — “the city ain’t gonna entertain itself,” he says. In terms of gainful employment, he also teaches English to young learners in Phnom Penh.

MTC: Scotty, how did you end up an expat and what do you wish you had known before you moved to Cambodia?

SD: “I’ve been living overseas as a British national for 11 years now. The vast majority of which have been spent in Asia. Kanchanaburi, Thailand, was the first port of call that I chose to drop anchor and embark upon a life of expattery. The cognitive rationale—or, to be more accurate, the flimsy excuse—that drove my decision to make the initial leap into an unknown cocktail of existence that, in those early days, consisted of, but was not limited to: sweating profusely, listening to pretentious expats trying to out-knowledge each other on obscure local geography, the unremitting confusion of all external stimuli, not to mention the frustrating mental burnout brought on by the ever shifting immigration laws, fees, and paperwork related to procuring visas and work permits, was, I swear, to save money on airfare.

I returned to Liverpool after each of my backpacking adventures around Southeast Asia and knew that I would keep flitting back and forth between the two regions, such was my attraction to these newly encountered and fantastical lands I’d discovered. It was like an entirely new reality with different freedoms to explore; a reality without the narrow-minded social narrative that seemed to sully peoples’ opinions. And so, during one of my travels, I made the decision to stay put in Thailand and literally tore up my return ticket back to England.

A number of years later, after relocating to Hong Kong, I visited Cambodia on a short trip and couldn’t help but immediately identify with its gritty personality and no-nonsense nonsense (I realise that sentence doesn’t make sense but that’s my point!). I only spent 10 days in country and knew I wanted to return some day. Eventually, circumstances dictated that I was in a position where I was able to make a choice of where to move to following on from Hong Kong. It was a no brainer, really. Within hours my ticket to Phnom Penh was booked. That was almost five years ago.

Because of my time spent living in Asia, coupled with the fact that I had already visited Cambodia, when I eventually made the permanent move to reside in Phnom Penh there was no difficult period of adjustment or unexpected culture shock on my part. Plus, I also had a couple of friends who were living here already when I arrived, and, being a gregarious person, it didn’t take long to feel like a part of the social fabric of the city.

11 years on from my decision to turn my back on my homeland and I still sweat profusely. The confusion of external stimuli reached a plateau and then tailed off, not unlike the tuning out of white noise after a prolonged period, and also because I became a more confusing, complex person myself, thus I must have met it somewhere in the middle of the chaos scale. Obtaining visas became easier over time through practice and patience. Here in Cambodia, though, you don’t even need practice at visa applications or, surprisingly, patience. Just currency. And now, true to form, I have discovered through the self-reflection of writing this summary of my time here that I am indeed now one of those pretentious expats trying to out-knowledge other expats on obscure local geography.

So, back to things I wish I’d known when I first moved to Cambodia that I know now:

Major Sports Results

I’m not a gambler but back in 2009, if I knew the major sports results that have happened in the interim, I would have placed bets on all those games I could remember the results of, cashing in like Biff in Back To The Future II. Only without a DeLorean.

Never Get 3 Month Visa Extensions

During the first couple of years here I exclusively only got 3-month visa extensions. I hugely regret this. My advice is only get 12-month extensions—six months minimum—even if it puts you out of pocket for a short time. All those 3-month visas rapidly take up space in your passport and renewing a British passport in Phnom Penh is very costly. Not only that, 3-month visas are not multiple-entry, which effectively self-imprisons you within the Kingdom’s borders whilst your friends go on holidays to Thailand/Vietnam/Laos while you remain at home, too proud to renege on the 2.5 weeks you have left on your visa. But then of course you end up going with them anyway, invalidating those 2.5 remaining weeks and then have to buy a new visa on re-entry. If you want to follow in my footsteps and still not learn a single thing from this futile exercise, do what I did and extend that reluctant visa by only 3 months again.

And again.
And again.
And again.

Trust me. It’s cheaper in the long run and more convenient to extend your visa as long as possible.

Freshie Boys

Had I known, when I first moved here, about these annoying little sh*ts that needlessly weave in and out of traffic on their Scoopys/Finos, putting peoples lives at risk whilst simultaneously trying to fix their Rod Stewart-esque hairdos in their wing mirrors at 80kph, I would have immediately gone out and bought an old, clapped-out, run-down, disgustingly cheap motorbike, taped myself up in foam padding and bubble wrap and rode around the streets of Phnom Penh hunting down Freshie Boys.

As soon as I’d have spotted a Scoopy/Fino with the obligatory two or three Freshie Boys mounted upon their motorized steed, I’d have tailed them until they inevitably committed an act of gross stupidity, rode up alongside them, let them laugh at my regalia and rusty motorbike for a second and then… BAM, jumped off of my speeding vehicle and taken the lot of them out with a double clothesline. I’d have walked away unscathed, dusted of my dented, old motorbike and got back to work finding another gaggle of Freshie Boys to educate on traffic etiquette. You know what? I still might do that. Just wish I’d have started earlier.”

6 reasons to bother learning Khmer

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Steven Halcrow

It’s true that one of the appealing things about moving to Cambodia is the expat’s ability to survive in-country without learning much of the local language. But just because you can get by without learning to speak Khmer, does that mean you should? Here are six reasons you should bite the bullet and start learning Khmer the minute you arrive.

Learning Khmer in fabric market in Phnom Penh

Nothing puts an anxious mind at ease like understanding what people are saying about you.

1. You’ll save money

Tuk tuks and food are two staples of life in Cambodia (although not to be confused with one another). If you learn even basic Khmer you will find that both will cost slightly less in the short term, and add up to a considerable saving in the long term. At the market, it will help to find a stall owner that patiently waits as you try and decipher what she has said, instead of shouting her friends over to gather round and laugh in your face as they watch you struggle with your own feeble grasp of Khmer numbers. Of course you don’t need to learn Khmer–tuk tuk drivers are happy to speak English, especially if they say ‘ten dollars?’ and you agree. A few basic phrases lets the driver know that you’ve been here long enough to know a fair price.

2. It will make you look less stupid

Standing in the street speaking loudly in broken English will not get you very far unless your goal in life is to have passers-by pause to take note of how ridiculous you sound. Your English may even deteriorate to the point where it doesn’t even make any sense in English as you repeatedly fail to adhere to even the most basic of grammatical rules. This attempt to over simplify what you are trying (badly) to say is a tell tale sign of a breakdown in communication. You will look and sound considerably less ridiculous if you are trying to speak in rudimentary Khmer as opposed to speaking with confidence in unbelievably poor English.
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3. It will make you feel more intelligent

Khmer is not widely spoken outside of Cambodia, but being the native tongue, it certainly comes in handy when you’re here. Your communication skills will become sharper and you will generally feel more in tune with your environment, allowing you to get so much more out of your experience here. The UN may not be knocking down your door as a result of your heightened sense of communicative awareness, but you will find a definite sense of intellectual satisfaction the first time you are able to conduct a fair negotiation with a tuk tuk. This is in addition to the elevated sense of pride as you watch all the other expats filing out of Lucky supermarket with cornflakes and cheese as you head to Kandal to haggle over the price of a pig’s ass.

4. It will not be expensive

Teaching methods in Cambodia still leave a little to be desired, but at least it’s cheap. Some Khmer lessons involve simply turning up and listening to the teacher speak only Khmer the whole time. The idea is that you listen and observe, and even though a lesson may be as little as $5, you can get a similar experience sitting in a crowded noodle shop where you will only be charged a dollar for soup. You can start to pick up words from just listening and the language may start to sound familiar as you identify commonly used words, but a proper lesson holds a far greater value and good teachers are out there. If you find one it still won’t cost more than $6 or $7 per hour.

5. To better understand when you’re being insulted

They say that ignorance is bliss, but sometimes it helps when you are surrounded by a group of Cambodians all laughing at your overwhelmingly foreign attributes—such as your sweatiness or your hopeless attempts to communicate—to be able to understand a few specifics about what exactly they find so funny. Merely standing there with a slightly imbecilic grin on your face as the comments bounce off you will not cause you any long lasting damage, but if you are able to offer a basic short rebuttal indicating how rude they are being, they will, most of the time keep their comments to themselves and maybe even wait until you are out of earshot before they go back to ridiculing you.

6. Because you are not at home any more

Some would argue that moving to a foreign country and not even attempting the language is just plain rude. Try whenever you can to speak the lingo, the locals are certainly not under any obligation to speak English. You don’t have to go and hang out with every Khmer that you exchange words with but after a while you may find that smiling incessantly and mumbling barely coherent Khmer/English noises under your breath when getting change for a $100 bill at the Panda Mart (oh, the guilt), tends to wear a bit thin. Kids working in marts are always keen to exchange a few words in English and this can give you a vague feeling of self worth (if you’re not already working as an English teacher) but wouldn’t you get a far greater kick out of forcing a laugh from the ancient woman who spends all day at the market selling pieces of a chopped-up pig? With a little bit of basic Khmer, she may even give you the local price.

Move to Cambodia

Cambodia found photographs