Mondulkiri, one of Cambodia’s northeastern provinces, is famed for its distinctive hilly landscape (‘kiri’ means hill in Khmer), indigenous ethnic minority groups and beautiful, if disappearing, wildlife corridors. With relatively little traffic and smooth, paved roads, the trip from Phnom Penh to Sen Monorom, the capital of Mondulkiri province, is a dream compared to a decade ago when the trip could take more than a day. These days, you can get to Sen Monorom in less than 6 hours. In this post, we’ll cover how to get to from Mondulkiri to Phnom Penh.
Beautiful Mondulkiri is within reach.
Express vans to Mondulkiri
The express vans (aka mini-buses) generally complete the journey to Mondulkiri in 5 to 6 hours depending on traffic, allowing you to get settled in Sen Monorom and see sunset on your first day. We recommend returning to Phnom Penh on the morning vans to avoid congestion in the capital.
Express vans usually seat between 9 and 15 people (four in the back, three in each of the middle two or three rows and one or two in the front with the driver) so it’s a reasonable amount of personal space compared with the local vans that pack passengers in like sardines, although we would suggest avoiding the back row which can be a bit crowded.
If you’d like a window or aisle for legroom or motion sickness issues, you can book your tickets and make a seat reservation in advance with TCT Mondulkiri Express for a small additional fee, usually less than $1 per ticket. (The other companies don’t offer real-time seat selection, but you can make seat requests and have them confirmed in advance.)
Hop on the Mondulkiri Express and head to Sen Monorom. There are three main express bus companies that go from Phnom penh to Mondulkiri: TCT Mondulkiri Express, Kim Seng Express, and Virak Buntham.
TCT Mondulkiri Express and Kim Seng Express have buses that leave Phnom Penh at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Virak Buntham has mini-buses that leave at 7 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The schedule is the same going from Mondulkiri to Phnom Penh.
You may see these companies advertise later morning buses (8 a.m. or 9 a.m.) but be warned that these times are not always running and generally are only available when more than two vans’ worth of people have booked in advance and during high season.
The express van companies are much of a muchness, although Virak Buntham has a poor safety reputation, although primarily on their night buses.
You can book express buses online with advance seat reservations from Phnom Penh to Mondulkiri here, and from Mondulkiri to Phnom Penh here. Tickets cost between $11 and $15 plus a small service charge for using a credit card (or, if you’re in Phnom Penh, you can pay in cash). During high season it’s a good idea to book in advance.
Your chariot, aka one of the express vans to Mondulkiri.
Most of the guesthouses are walking distance from the center of Sen Monorom where all of the vans drop off, although Nature Lodge is about 3 km away, so if you are staying there take them up on their pick-up services. This also makes it convenient if you haven’t booked your bus ticket in advance — if one company’s van is full, you might make it on the van leaving from next door!
The express vans are generally pretty new and in good repair, with Kim Seng’s being distinctive for their violet accents. They do not usually have video capabilities, so the worst case scenario is some mild Cambodian music to keep your driver alert on the way, not a full surround karaoke session.
The express mini-buses stop in Snoul so passengers can load up on countryside snacks.
The rest stop is right around the halfway point, where you can get good curries, fried noodles or rice, and snacks, but almost all of the buses will stop at Snoul first (about 30 minutes into the journey) so that riders can pick up the usual traditional countryside snacks — green mango with chili and salt, grilled eggs (which are mixed with fish sauce, salt and black pepper — delicious!), quail eggs, bamboo filled with beans and sticky rice and of course naem (little tasty packets of fish paste, pickled chili and holy basil or another broad leafed herb).
Taxis to Mondulkiri
It’s also possible to take a taxi from Phnom Penh to Mondulkiri. The cost is between $80 and $100 and the trip takes about 5 hours. Cars are typically Toyota Camrys that can seat five, but the trunk will have limited space because there’s usually a large propane tank in there. You can book a taxi through your hotel or ask a local tuk tuk driver — they usually know, or are related to, a few taxi drivers. For your return taxi back to Phnom Penh, be sure to book at least a day in advance.
TCT Mondulkiri Express
168E Street 169, Phnom Penh
Opposite Sen Monorom Market, near Prasac Bank, Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri
T: 017 73 78 78; 081 65 96 66; 097 90 07 878
Kim Seng Express
1 Street 336 (behind the Sokimex), Phnom Penh
Road 76, Near Acleda Bank, Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri
T: 012 78 60 00 (Phnom Penh); 097 57 86 00 (Sen Monorom)
Virak Buntham Mondulkiri Express
Street 199, Olympic Market, Phnom Penh
Street 76, next to Peace Cafe, Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri
T: 017 333 594
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Hi guys,
is there anybody traveling from Phnom Penh to Modulkiri on 6th September and back one day later?? Would be great to share the car. We would take 2 days trek, which starts on 6th early morning and ends 7th in the afternoon.
Thanks, Jiri
Sen Monorom Express on St.336 (11.55795N, 104.9077E) across from Kim Seng and Rithya Express on Czechoslovakia Blvd (11.56585N, 104.9118E) also have vans to Mondulkiri. Sen Monorom Express is my preferred company with most affordable price and comfortable ride.
Also, I think you mean ‘Snuol’ and not ‘Snoul’, it is ស្នួល, which sounds like SNOO-uhl, the name of this district in Kracheh (Kratie) Province.
As for driving, it is to cross the Chroy Changvar Bridge (Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge), and go straight 23.5km until there is a bridge on the right with signs for ‘Prey Veng’, turn right and go straight on NH8 for 125km until Ponhea Kraek District (end of NH8), from which you turn right, straight for 81.5km on NH7 until the right turn for NH74 in Snuol District. Now, there is a turn-off to the left onto NH76 after 6.3km which can be easily missed. Then it is just 118km on the NH76 until Sen Monorom City, enjoy :) For those driving, the district you enter when you first cross into Mondulkiri from Kracheh (Kratie) is called Kaew Seima (KAH-eh-oo Suh-ee-MAH), which has a lot of Cham ethnic people (and so you will see a lot of mosques along the way). Eventually you will arrive at Ou Reang (OH REH-aang) District, which is where most of the hikes you will take from Sen Monorom will bring you. There are many waterfalls and a couple villages you can visit, including Leng Ranak (Rah-NAHK) waterfall (12.3851N, 107.1639E) [which means ‘Family Waterfall’ in the local Pnong language] where the locals take the elephants to wash (otherwise you can find the elephants grazing southeast of there around the N’hong Ter Creek), and then there’s the Putang Village (12.414N, 107.165E) [from where most of the aboriginal guides will be from], where you can meet some Pnong people. Great them with a friendly “Wehh-lang”.
TCT is located on street 169 nr. # 168E. The address on their homepage is wrong.
Thanks! I’ve updated the address in the post.
Hello,
My wife and I are travelling from Phnom Penh to Mondulkiri tomorrow, March 14th on the TCT Express. We thought we could get a taxi back the next evening after the Mondulkiri Project tour for roughly $100-150 but we’re coming up short at the current time. Does anyone have a suggestion for this situation? Thanks in advance for any advice!
-Ryan
Try asking your guesthouse in Mondulkiri.
maybe you could put dates on your pages.
Trying to figure the visa system is good on your site but then when I check with the embassy they say “oh but that was before “.
It is difficult to know what to do when 2 years ago Lufthansa did not want to let us on the plane from Europe because we didn’t have visas even though the Visa on arrival existed.
The issue is not that my visa information is incorrect, it’s that your airline didn’t have the correct information. That’s completely unrelated to information on my page (which is up to date). On this post, specifically, that you’ve left a comment on, there’s a date on it.
You should also talk about driving yourself there, as there are expats in Phnom Penh and elsewhere that also search for information and may want to drive themselves.
Feel free to share any info you have about driving to Mondulkiri, Michael!
Hi Lina,
Yes I will make sure to pass on any updates.
It is wonderful you are promoting Mondulkiri as a destination.
Would you please change my user name to ‘Mondulkiri Project’ rather than ‘Mndulkiri Project’
THANK YOU!
Done! We have a few upcoming posts about Mondulkiri, so look out for them. :)
A good summary.
Local Sorya buses no longer do the route.
VIrak Buntham large buses and night buses might have a poor safety record. There express minivans that travel between Phnom Penh and Mondulkiri do not
Thanks! I’ve removed Sorya from the blog post. If you have any other updates, please let us know. I’m sure you know this route better than we do. :)