Cambodia in 9 Days: Route, Prices and Budget from a Fresh Travel Feature
The magazine Вокруг света has published a travel feature by Karina Naumkina about a nine-day trip to Cambodia. The author lives in Thailand, and the trip took place in April 2025. I pulled out the parts that are most useful for anyone thinking about this route.
She kept the first day free: checking into the hotel, a walk around, and buying a local SIM card. Most of the time was spent in Siem Reap. In Angkor Park, which covers about 400 square kilometres according to UNESCO, they booked a private tour with a Russian-speaking guide. Two tickets and a driver for the day came to about $170. Places that stayed with her include Ta Prohm, where trees have grown through the walls, Theam's Gallery (entry $5), and the APOPO centre, where African giant pouched rats sniff out explosives. The APOPO tour lasts about an hour and costs $10.
In the evening in Siem Reap you can go to the Phare circus, which has no animals (tickets $18–38, daily at 20:00; part of the proceeds goes to an art school for children from vulnerable families), or to the Apsara show with dinner for $30–35. Then comes a bus to Phnom Penh, about five hours, with tickets for two at roughly $48. In the capital she visited the Independence Monument and the Tuol Sleng Museum (entry $5, audio guide another $5), where, in her advice, you should plan plenty of time.
On food: lok lak, marinated beef with rice and vegetables, and amok, a spiced fish or seafood dish steamed in a banana-leaf bowl. Lunch cost $5–10, and she recommends small cafés where many locals eat. Central hotels with breakfast came to about 30,000 rubles, and the total budget for two was about 135,000 rubles.
Two of her tips stood out to me: start preparing about six months ahead, and don't give money to begging children, but support charities instead. Practical, and humane.
Source: Вокруг света
She kept the first day free: checking into the hotel, a walk around, and buying a local SIM card. Most of the time was spent in Siem Reap. In Angkor Park, which covers about 400 square kilometres according to UNESCO, they booked a private tour with a Russian-speaking guide. Two tickets and a driver for the day came to about $170. Places that stayed with her include Ta Prohm, where trees have grown through the walls, Theam's Gallery (entry $5), and the APOPO centre, where African giant pouched rats sniff out explosives. The APOPO tour lasts about an hour and costs $10.
In the evening in Siem Reap you can go to the Phare circus, which has no animals (tickets $18–38, daily at 20:00; part of the proceeds goes to an art school for children from vulnerable families), or to the Apsara show with dinner for $30–35. Then comes a bus to Phnom Penh, about five hours, with tickets for two at roughly $48. In the capital she visited the Independence Monument and the Tuol Sleng Museum (entry $5, audio guide another $5), where, in her advice, you should plan plenty of time.
On food: lok lak, marinated beef with rice and vegetables, and amok, a spiced fish or seafood dish steamed in a banana-leaf bowl. Lunch cost $5–10, and she recommends small cafés where many locals eat. Central hotels with breakfast came to about 30,000 rubles, and the total budget for two was about 135,000 rubles.
Two of her tips stood out to me: start preparing about six months ahead, and don't give money to begging children, but support charities instead. Practical, and humane.
Source: Вокруг света
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