Asia - Advice needed on an Asia trip

In an effort to get through a vacationless year at work, I'm looking ahead to the trip to Southeast Asia I'm planning for next November-December. This'll be a second-time trip to Asia, though the first was to Japan.

I'm a single female traveler, mid-30s, not the most athletic, with experience solo traveling around Central and Western Europe, South Africa a bit, New Zealand, and Australia. I'm mostly mid-range on budget, with an occasional low-budget hostel and (more often) a splurge on a high-end hotel. Basically if I don't get CNN and stay in a place that's pretty upscale once every week or so, I start to go into meltdown mode. When I travel it's not for shopping, and more for seeing the history and culture of the land. I don't like package tours, but I do enjoy half-day (or even full-day) guided tours, a couple of hours of a walking tour, and that sort of thing. I'm a 'short attention span' traveler in that I seldom spend more than 3 or 4 days in one city, and sometimes just a day or two. It's my prefered traveling mode. And I just speak English.

Whew. That was just a background about me, mostly for the context of question #1. Now on to my questions.

1. I have about 32 days in the region. I was planning on spending time in Bangkok, Siem Reap, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Hanoi, Luang Prabang, Vienteane, and Singapore. But now I'm wondering if Laos isn't too much trouble, logistics wise, given that I'll be in Cambodia to see wats and such. Any other suggestions of what I could substitute for 5 days, based on my interests?

2. What do I do about money? Everyone says you need to bring US cash, especially for places like Cambodia. I'm guessing my ATM card and a credit card will do me fine in Singapore and Bangkok. I'm not as sure about Vietnam. I definitely know it won't in Cambodia. For 10 days in Cambodia, staying in mid-scale places, I could end up spending $75/day (with drivers for just one person, a guide here and there, Angkor Wat tickets, etc). I'd want to take more to feel safe. But I feel very uncomfortable bringing that amount of cash around with me. Suggestions on those who have been there, done that? I'm not planning on staying anywhere upscale in Cambodia, places that I'm looking at won't accept credit cards. I guess there's traveler's checks? And then there's Vietnam, not sure if I need cash there, how much to bring, how to store it, etc.

3. If I'm staying a mid-range place, budget-wise, am I wise to trust the front desk safe if they have one? Should I just keep my passport there? I'm not sure how to secure money, again.

4. I'm starting off with 4 days in Bangkok, to get over jet lag and acclimate. Should I arrange my plane tickets there? As I go? I'll need a flight from Saigon to Hanoi, and then to Laos (or wherever else I end up) and back to Bangkok, I'll probably do Cambodia and into Vietnam overland. I'm not sure how hard it is to obtain a seat, since it'll be high season, or if it's significantly more expensive.

5. And finally, my most pressing question, as a female: just how hard is it to find a Western toilet around the places I mentioned?

You really plan far ahead in advance!

Generally toilets will be western in Asia Hotels, unless you are staying in the bottom end backpacker places.

Definitely arrance your regional Asia tickets once you arrive in Bangkok. The tickets will be cheaper. However there are some airlines that offer an "All Asia Pass" ticket. Malaysia Airlines, and Cathay Pacific come to mind. Also, airasia.com flies to Vietnam and Phnom Penh from Bangkok with fantastic prices so you can book ahead.

Cambodia is a great trip and very beautiful. Battambang is probably not worth going out of your way for, even though it is a pleasant city by the river.

You should go to Chiang Mai while you are in Thailand.

I have news that there is a bank offering international ATM withdrawls now in Phnom Penh. Anyway if you want money off your cards in PP all you do is go to the Casino boat where they will charge your card as a purchase and give you the money minus 7%. That is what I did. I didn't even gamble with my new cash, but did have a free beer. :D

Singapore is a very nice comfortable country. By the way, Indonesian islands are just a 45 min ferry away, which would enable you to see another country. Pulau Bintan and Pulau Batam are popular weekend spots for Singaporeans wanting beaches, shopping, and cheap food. You can get great deals on the resorts there once you are in Singapore at the travel agencies.

;)

I doubt you are going to have time for all this. You probably should refine your choices.

also you're asking about airfares for some trips that you're may want to take by boat.

For planning purposes:

1. Siem Reap is basically three days and 4 nights minimum because of connection time. the flights from bangkok to siem reap are ridiculous, but you'll probably fly there one way.

2. The most common way to go from cambodia to vietnam if you have enough time is by boat. Basically it's siem reap boat to phnom peng, boat to mekong delta (over like three days). (you're not on the boat that long, it's boat to land trip to boat to land trip). but there are various sites that describe it and it's done in both directions. even if you don't go to vietnam by boat, you'll almost certainly go from siem reap to phnom peng by boat.

3. There's a lot to see in Vietnam and it takes awhile to do it. but it's also really, easy to sign up for day trips. The most I spent in vietnam on hotels was $55 a night and I stayed in pretty nice places.

4. there are some special tickets that go around southeast asia.

In short since there is also a lot to see in Bangkok (and that number of days may not be enough), I'd probably schedule bangkok, cambodia, vietnam, then decide if you have enough time for laos or anything else. You probably can do a little bit of laos, but it's unlikely you can do that and singapore and more of thailand, and you will want to do more of thailand.

p.s. I've not been to laos, but there are atm's everywhere but cambodia and those were being installed when i was there three years ago. the cash is more to bring small cash. singles

$75/day goes a pretty long way in South-East Asia (except maybe Singapore). I'm not sure what your definition of "mid-scale" for lodging is, but most any establishment calling itself a hotel and charging over US$20/night will accept credit cards, so you don't need a huge pile of cash. ATMs have also recently appeared in both Siem Reap and Vientiane, so of all the places you list I suspect only Battambang and Luang Prabang remain ATM-less.

Doing Laos by land or boat is painful and slow, but you can fly (eg.) Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang-Vientiane and then out to Bangkok via Udon Thani fairly affordably. Alternatively, drop Vientiane from the equation (it's not that exciting) and use the Bangkok Airways airpass to hit Luang Prabang and Siem Reap.

I'd say that 33 days for 8-9 places is actually not entirely unreasonable, but I'm a pretty fast-traveling kinda guy. That said, the 8-9 places you selected span five countries and are pretty widely dispersed geographically...

And as far as toilets go, learn to squat -- it's not that hard and quite often it's a preferable alternative to actually getting in physical contact with the seat :eek:

Let me address the two more important questions:

1. Cash - most countries have ATM machines and you get better rate more often than not. For others, T-checks in US$100 demoninations, cash a couple at major hotel. Never bring cash....just asking for trouble.

2. Toilets - other contributor suggested learning to squat which is actually a good answer. However, unless you're going to out of way locations, there are toilets in all the hotels, restaurants, etc....

Someone suggested Chiang Mai, and I think I might replace Laos with that. In thinking about it, from what I hear about Laos it's nice, but probably similar to Cambodia. I can do cooking school and hill tribe trekking in Chiang Mai, and if I want to spend more time in Vietnam or Cambodia, just skip it. Well, depending on my direction of travel.

I was wondering about traveler's checks. I've heard in Cambodia, they use US dollars a lot, not riel. And that people like being paid in US dollars. But if I cash a $100 traveler check, am I going to get some ridiculously huge amount of riel? I'm nervous about trusting ATMs in Cambodia, I guess, not so much for phishing cards (that too) but in case the network is down, since from what I hear, they're really new. I'm not really used to cashing traveler's checks either, though I suppose those cities must have banks that can do it, since Cambodia and Siem Reap have tons of tourists.

(And part of my elevated budget for Cambodia is $20 for entry visa, and $60 for Angkor Wat sites, and $20-$25/day for driver for around Angkor Wat, etc., etc. More if I want a separate guide.)

As for boats, I'm not a big boat fan. From what I hear, the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is preferred, and if I wanted a boat, probably Siem Reap to Battambang would be a more scenic choice (smaller waterways, as opposed to an open lake). But I hear the roads are better. Not sure about the boat to Vietnam, I was still considering that. Busses sound faster, though, from what I've read.

So hotels in Cambodia will take credit cards? I'm taking two (all I have), one a Visa debit card, one a Mastercard, so they're on different networks (Cirrus and PLUS).

Thanks for the great feedback, suggestions, and advice! It's early to plan, but I'm getting excited because it's almost 330 days out for me to try to get my award ticket. Plus I got all my travel books for Christmas.

Based on your wanting to splurge once in a while, I recommend the Four Seasons Chiang Mai. It is just outside of the city (about 40min). It is absolutely phenomenal; the best place I have every stayed in! I would write it up here, but it has had much write up in the luxury hotels forum, so you can read it there if you so want. The cooking courses are absolutely phenomenal: they are 150USD/day including lunch, fruit carving, and a market tour. If you want one really phenomenal place, this is where I would do it. Calculate about 450USD/night here.

I reccomend a 3 day sea kyak trip in the south of Thailand with a company called Sea Canoe www.seacanoe.net, it is light active and you have a guide to paddle if you get tierd. I have done this trip three times and love it. About $500 for the 3 days. You stay in these great bungalos. Private message me if you are interested and I will send you some photos.

If you do not have it yet Lonely Planet is the bible for the region.

I took the 5 hour boat from PP to Vietnam last June and it was a highlight of our 3 week trip.

We also did a bus / taxi from Bangkok to Angkor Wat, took all day but it was very interesting, the road was more like a trail, not paved, the worst road I have ever seen. The senery was right out of National Geographic though.

You may be interested in looking at Karabi / Railey Beach in Thailand.

I used ATMS through out Vietnam with no problem, I did not carry much cash with me. Always felt safe except maybe in PP.

Someone suggested Chiang Mai, and I think I might replace Laos with that. In thinking about it, from what I hear about Laos it's nice, but probably similar to Cambodia. I can do cooking school and hill tribe trekking in Chiang Mai, and if I want to spend more time in Vietnam or Cambodia, just skip it. Well, depending on my direction of travel.

Thanks for the great feedback, suggestions, and advice! It's early to plan, but I'm getting excited because it's almost 330 days out for me to try to get my award ticket. Plus I got all my travel books for Christmas.

I agree totally, if u got the Lonely Planets - read them, they're the Bible and extremely accurate. At least for Indonesia, Thailand and rest of SE Asia. Used them back in the early '80s when first traveling in Asia.

We just came back from a trip thru SE Asia and have a few things in common with you in terms of outlook on travel. In particular, I note that you say you like to sample places and then move on. If that is the case, I would really discount the advice you're going to get from people that you're trying to hit too many places in too short a period of time. SE Asia is actually quite condensed in size and if you fly, you can have brunch in Siem Reap and be on the beach in Thailand later that same afternoon or have lunch at the pool in Bangkok and evening drinks at the beach in Langkawi. I wouldn't advise trying to do this with kids in tow, but for one or two people it's actually lots of fun. We did lots of this and it was a BLAST! And sure, you could spend a week in Siem Reap, but you can also have a perfectly good time spending two days there, even a single day is an experience you will not forget. We visitied Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Siem Reap, Pattaya, Bangkok and Langkawi during out trip which was just about three weeks. Of course we could have spent more time in each place, but we had a great time in each place and have a better sense of where we would go back and spend more time. I regret that we didnt extend our stay a few days and swing thru Laos.

I would also say that splurging a bit on hotel rooms is worth it, especially because you will want to have a nice place to relax and recover from the heat and humidity. Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap and the Park Hyatt in Saigon were incredible 5 star experiences that we would recommend.

As far as air tickets, we found a couple of interesting things. For starters, we flew business class/ first class and we never had a problem finding a seat even at the last minute. We looked back into coach and there always seemed to be seats there too, even for Siem Reap to Bangkok which was supposed to be such a busy route in December. Additionally, I dont think you will save much money buying airline tickets in country, we really didnt save much, nothing near what people had predicted. In Vietnam, our tickets issued at the Vietnam Airlines office in Saigon were the same price as listed on Expedia that morning, just minus some fees and taxes. Same thing for ex-BKK departures, we were able to find roughly the same price on Expedia and the best price was found on the airlines' web site. In fact, for Bangkok airways, I think you have to buy the "airpass" before you arrive.

Stephem flew mainly F and C within Asia. This is the key to the statement that not much was saved. Y fares bought on web-sites for LCCs and regular airlines are often cheaper than Expedia or other booking engines. The only country that I have really experienced that in-country booking of coach seats being much less is Vietnam. Most of the cheap fares advertised in the Straits Times, Bangkok Post and other English language papers in SE Asia can be found by diligent searching. The cheaper fares between BKK&SIN, for example, on "real airlines" not LCCs are to be found on their web-sites. Often one must go to the web-site of the country of origination to find the good deals.

A real example was a BKK-SGN-BKK fare booked in September, 2005. Search of Expedia yielded over $350 on AF. AF Thailand had it for slightly more than $200. A telephone call to AF in North America yield $181.00. All this was for the exact same flights, exact days.

Oh! I should have specified that 'splurging on a hotel' for me means something entirely different from some of the suggestions received, which sound really great, but are out of my budget range. Looking at what people have paid for various hotels in Asia mid-range, for me, is the $30-$60 a night places. Budget places are the $20-$30 range. And splurging would be $100/night -- which ends up being about mid-range in the US, but I was looking more in lines of Priceline for Bangkok, where I can get a 4- or 5-star hotel. Or in Vietnam, it looks like that would be a splurge place. So not a luxury hotel, but a 4-star equivalent.

Based on what I've heard I'm taking Laos off my itinerary. There's connecting flight to worry about, and if I go to Cambodia and Chiang Mai I can probably see similar things. I might take Vietnam off my list and just stick to Cambodia and Thailand, and then do Vietnam another trip, as it's a pretty big country. Though I am interested in it, so I'm not sure. Still deciding. Logistically I'm not sure how to plot out Chiang Mai, Bangkok, a few Cambodian cities, Saigon and Hanoi. Lot of east-west spread. Though now I want to boat from Phnom Penh into Vietnam. :)

Paddling about sounds like lots of fun, but I probably would only want to do it for half a day, thinking realistically. I'm lazy. :) I was thinking of Halong Bay. Then I was thinking that Halong Bay, in December, in a kayak, would probably mean freezing my butt off. Do people really kayak the bay in January? And not freeze? Southern Thailand sounds like it'd be more amenable.

I'm still a little confused on money. So I bring traveler's checks in somewhere like Cambodia, and I cash one -- am I going to get a huge sack full of riel notes? Or a smaller collection of US dollars?

And then on planes, I'm thinking of booking in country just so I can decide, on the ground, what I want to do. I'm traveling by myself, and prone to be somewhat spontaneous. My only worry is that I'll get stuck somewhere with no transport, but it seems like if I can pay I should be able to get back to where I need to go home, somehow. If it's not significantly more expensive, or hard to find availability in high season, buying them as I go would be preferable.

Halong gets rather cool in winter - probably not the right climate for a paddle.

You can do a boat tour of Halong Bay. If you spend any time in Hanoi, you will see many companies offering this kind of tour and it's hard to understand from the descriptions how they differ other than in price - My advice is to avoid the cheapest. When you are there, you will see that some of the cheaper tours try to cram far too many people onto the boats.

IME Handpsan is a pretty good company to go with for this tour:
http://www.handspantours.com/

They also offer various other tours in the North of Vietnam (hiking / etc.). I didn't try those, but this seems to be a reputable company.

I'm still a little confused on money. So I bring traveler's checks in somewhere like Cambodia, and I cash one -- am I going to get a huge sack full of riel notes? Or a smaller collection of US dollars?
Ask for dollars, get dollars. A huge sack of riel notes is useless.

And then on planes, I'm thinking of booking in country just so I can decide, on the ground, what I want to do. I'm traveling by myself, and prone to be somewhat spontaneous. My only worry is that I'll get stuck somewhere with no transport, but it seems like if I can pay I should be able to get back to where I need to go home, somehow. If it's not significantly more expensive, or hard to find availability in high season, buying them as I go would be preferable.
This is entirely possible for major routes like Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Singapore etc, but not practical (or at least advisable) more off the beaten track, eg. Cambodia or Laos.

As a Cambodian, that just visited Cambodia for a month this past summer, I can help answer any of your questions to the best of my abilities.

As for money, go with the advice that the majority has said - US Dollars, honestly, you dont need anything bigger than $20's. Make sure you have a lot of dollar bills, a dollar tip goes a long way there. (Considering that approx 4000 riels = 1 dollar). Dont rely on ATMS. Oh, make sure you are always holding on to your money/wallet/passport and anything important, there may be pickpocketers - believe me when I say this.

In terms of places to visit in Cambodia... my first choice would be Siem Reap, make sure you check out the temples, there are tons of them, that requires a few days to cover it all. Considering bying the three day pass, it is much cheaper than a one day pass. They have many hotels there, from luxary, to mid price, to low budget. I stayed at this place called "Angkor Davy", its a mid ranged small hotel that jsut opened this summer. They have western style bathrooms, and hot/cold water and a bathtub and toilet/sink. And, A/C! The manager charged us about $15 a night, which is a steal! The manager was very welcoming. And, make sure you eat at the restaurant called "Banteay Srey", its delcious, cheap, and pretty clean compared to other restaurants. We ate there everday for B,L,D for the time we were in Siem Reap, because all the other places were horrible.

Then, in Phnom Penh, I suggest the Lucky Star Hotel, has pretty much everything you need for a decent price. And especially here, make sure you hold on to your belongings! Theres not much to do in Battambang if its not along the way, so you can probably skip it, but if it is, then what the heck, your there already! Another great city to visit if its on your way is Sihanoukville, there are also alot of tourists there because the beach is there.

And for transportation from city to city, you can take the buses, or fly, Cambodia has some new domestic airlines flying in the country and outside. Try checking out Siem Reap Airways and President Airlines. They have some decent fares. But I am not sure of their service or anything, while we were in Cambodia, we just rented a whole bus and a driver for the month while we were there considering there was about 25 of us that went. It was much more economical that way, just under $1000 for the month.

Sorry this sounds more like a trip report, if you, or anyone has any other questions, please feel free to PM me.

I'm not Cambodian, but I've lived here for a little over four years. And while I agree with much that previous posters have said, I'd like to offer some additional information / different views:

As for money, go with the advice that the majority has said - US Dollars, honestly, you dont need anything bigger than $20's.
Yes, dollars are the way to go. For Cambodia, I would take cash, as it's a hassle changing travelers checks. At many of the places (hotels, restaurants, shops) that you're likely to frequent, they should have no problem changing bigger bills ($50, $100)...and since $100s take up a lot less room, I would carry mostly those, together with some smaller bills, and get change as you go. Note also that if you're changing US dollars (cash) in neighboring countries (Thailand, and I think Vietnam), you will get a better rate for larger bills.

Siem Reap is a great place to stay, with a wide range of hotels to suit all budgets. Search the forums for suggestions from many posters. Re: food, I disagree with the previous poster: there are also a number of good restaurants in Siem Reap, from simple local joints to very upscale (i.e., foreigner-oriented) places. Again, search the forums; you may also want to check out restaurant suggestions at chowhound.com, which I have found to be a great resource when traveling.

For flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Siem Reap Airways (an affiliate of Bangkok Airways, a very good regional carrier) is the most reliable; tickets are currently around $65-70 o/w and $115-120 r/t. I believe that President Airlines has not resumed operations, and thus is still effectively out of business. Other flight options are considered by many to be riskier. That said, the bus is an easy and cheap ride for 5-6 hours on a decent road.

As for Chiang Mai, sure it's an OK place, but I would replace it with Luang Prabang in a heartbeat. Chiang Mai is, in the end, a city -- with all the traffic, 7-11s, McDonalds, etc., that being a city implies these days. Luang Prabang is a wonderful place; even if you see no other place in Laos, I think it's worth going to Luang Prabang. IMHO, it's what Chiang Mai would like to be -- and maybe what it once was, but hasn't been for a very very long time. It's a little more out of the way, so if your time is limited, I would fly to and from Luang Prabang.

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with more specific questions.

Enjoy the planning and the trip,
Michael

...but I figured I'd try posting my Cambodia-related question here. I'm planning a honeymoon trip for early October, and we're trying to do Hong Kong, Angkor Wat and Beijing in our two week trip.

I'm getting a award open jaw ticket for ORD-HKG and PEK-ORD, but need to get from HKG to REP (Siem Reap) and then on to PEK...and I'm not quite sure the best way to do so.

The prices I've seen for HKG-REP are like $500 per person, which seems high. I've seen in other threads sites like ctrip.com mentioned (although that seems to only be for flights within China), and didn't know if any wise soul here might have a site/TA to recommend.

I've read that the tickets bought over there are cheaper - should I wait to get to HKG? Being a big trip for us, I'd feel better having everything up front, of course...

at any rate, sorry for the rambling and thanks much in advance! :)

Halong gets rather cool in winter - probably not the right climate for a paddle.

You can do a boat tour of Halong Bay. If you spend any time in Hanoi, you will see many companies offering this kind of tour and it's hard to understand from the descriptions how they differ other than in price - My advice is to avoid the cheapest. When you are there, you will see that some of the cheaper tours try to cram far too many people onto the boats.


I have to respectfully disagree on a couple of accounts.

I was in HaLong Bay last January. The weather is overcast then, but certainly comfortable temperature-wise for swimming and kyacking. Summer will be VERY hot, muggy, and rainy.

Speaking of Handspan and similar tour companies, they are more of a tour broker than a tour operator. In other words, my fellow boat mates on our Ha Long Bay tour were all booked by different companies, at different prices FOR THE EXACT SAME TOUR. There is no reason to book in-Vietnam tours from home; Ha Long Bay tours are easy to book on short notice right from Hanoi. The Ha Long Bay tour boats all basically the same; the only difference is the number of days and the activities. All of these are specified when you book the tour.

Ha Long is well worth it; count on three days/two nights, no less.

the budget forum has a list of cheap asian airlines, but jetstarasia flies from hong kong to singapore and from singapore to siem reap and while it will take time, my suscipion is that is the cheap alternative.

tiger airways flies from machau to singapore

I just noticed this thread, and was a bit surprised that there was not more discussion of the low-cost airlines that are now flying to Siem Reap.... I went to Angkor about six months ago, and did the overland route from Bangkok.

(By the way, for a very authoritative view of that, please see www.talesofasia.com.)

When I went, it was dry season, and it was not that terrible a drive, and it made a good story.... but now that several of the low-cost airlines fly there, I would definitely check that out. As a previous poster has said, jetstarasia might be a choice. Also, AirAsia flies to Siem Reap. The budget forum has a whole discussion of Asian low-cost carriers.

About Cambodia and money... Before I went, I was a bit skeptical about the use of US dollars... But, yes, US dollars are the real currency (at least in the cities). The only time you see local riel is for change less than US$1. I have been other places (e.g. Brazil 15 years ago during hyperinflation) where people "preferred" dollars, but in Cambodian cities, the USD is the currency. I imagine some of the hotels might change US$100 bills, but I felt more comfortable with a lot of $1 bills.

This is a terrific trip, and well worth spending the year thinking about! Good luck!

There are a couple of other things not mentioned about Cambodia. In Phnom Penh there are banks that do cash advance and atms for reasonable fees. Pick up a copy of the phnom penh post or the cambodia daily news. These are both written in english and have info for western ex-pats. They can be bought at any of the star mart gas stations. You mentioned the $20 visa, there is also a $25 intl airport departure fee. For a mid priced hotel check out the Phnom Penh Hotel its only about 2 years old, its full service, the staff is nice, and its priced somewhere between $50-$70 a night with a decent breakfast.

The economy is run on US dollars. I recommend getting a bunch of 500 and 1000 riel bills as these are more useful when tipping. You will find yourself tipping quite a bit and if your using US dollars youll spend quite a bit. Dont pull out cash in the tourist areas such as the riverfront you will barraged with children hammering you for $.

Make sure you have good travel insurance, you dont want to be hurt in Cambodia and not have good back up.

Also, I think you mentioned kayaking in your earlier post. I would do some research about the river water there as I believe there are some nasty parasites in S.E. Asia, but I could be mistaken.

Anyways have a nice trip, you will find the Khmer people to be generally warm and kind

thanks much to all for the advice - much appreciated! :)

To touch on points raised by other posters --

Re: getting to Siem Reap from HK, note that Siem Reap Airways (code FT! ..and effectively a subsidiary of Bangkok Airways) now flies four times a week from HK to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh (via Siem Reap, I believe). I'm not sure of the fare, but I would check with HK-based budget travel agents. JetStar Asia is another possibility, though their fares (once you add taxes and fees) are not super-cheap.

Re: tipping and small change in Cambodia - tipping is in fact not required, though it is appreciated. The tipping rate is much less than in the US -- 5% is considered generous. (Many people do not tip at all, or just round up the bill to the nearest dollar.) You can easily get change in 1000 or 500 riel notes -- money changers are everywhere, and most shops will change a dollar or two upon request.

Enjoy your trip,
Michael