Avis has a fairly new presence in Cambodia, with offices in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. I recently had the pleasure of renting a Ford Everest for four days in Siem Reap. Until recently, self-drive car rental in Cambodia was not possible without a business visa, and I believe only Avis has a self-drive option anyhow. Everyone else I contacted required that I have a driver. This is my report on my experience.

Reservation:
You can reserve either on avis.com or on avis.com.kh. The Khmer site requires prepayment in order to confirm a reservation, but it was also offering much better rates (VAT included in the price, plus a further 25% discount), so, after an email exchange, I went ahead and prepaid.

Customer Service:
I had a number of email exchanges with Ms. Kansocheat and Ms. Sovanarith, who have excellent English and ensured that everything went flawlessly.

Legal Considerations:
Technically, I believe that you can drive in Cambodia with only your US drivers license and a valid International Driving Permit (AAA, $15), but Avis wanted me to have a Cambodian drivers license, so I got one. I think you can get it for $60 on the ground in Phnom Penh, but for $80 Avis will take care of everything for you and have it waiting on arrival:



No test was required, and rightly so. After all, most of the Cambodian Land Traffic Law is self-explanatory. Here's Article 4, for instance:

Not sure what the first sentence has to do with the second, nor whether they really have such animus towards Google cars.

Pickup procedure:

At Siem Reap, there isn't really much of an arrival terminal (quite literally, when you exit customs, you are deposited outside on the curb). Avis arranged a meet-and-greet, emailing me the name of the driver who would meet us with a sign and the vehicle and drive us to the (offsite) Avis office.

The driver was there, sign in hand, to meet and greet me and my two friends. He took us to the Avis office, which is about halfway to the river on the north side of Route 6, adjacent to the Ford dealership.

The Avis office is actually half a room or so, with the other half devoted to Kärcher Shop-Vacs and other random machinery. The setup delighted one of my friends who is big into foreign investment.

We sat on a couch and were served tea and water as I completed the paperwork -- in Cambodia, you sign and place a thumbprint over your signature. I had paid $297 including taxes for the four-day rental ($99/day pre-discount). I paid an additional $40 for unlimited mileage ($10/day), $80 for the drivers license, and $20 ($5/day) to reduce my liability from $5000 to $500. (Note, if you don't pay for the liability waiver, you'll have to leave a $5000 deposit by cash or card; I left only $500 by credit card, which was cancelled upon my return.)

We thoroughly checked the car, which was thoroughly covered in light scratches, the polite woman gave me my Cambodian drivers license, and that was that. The license was actually a temporary, but it takes a little while for Phnom Penh to issue a hard copy, so I'll have to wait until next time to get a permanent one. Avis said they'd hold onto it for me.

Car:

I rented (and heartily recommend renting) a Ford Everest, the largest available vehicle:



Of course, driving in Cambodia is not for the faint-of-heart, so if you've never driven outside the western world, Cambodia wouldn't be where I recommend you start. That said, there is a well-accepted pecking order for vehicles on Cambodian roads:

-trucks/full-size buses
-large black SUVs
-other SUVs
-minivans/minibuses/large cars
-cars
-motorcycles
-scooters
-tuk-tuks
-bicycles
-pedestrians

Literally everyone made way. I didn't have to signal, or flash lights, or honk my horn (in fact, we all remarked continuously that unlike in India, Indonesia, and so many third-world countries, there was almost no horn use in Cambodia). I could drive in my lane, or on the other side of the street. The light could be green or it could be red. I could have the right of way or not. Wherever I drove, others didn't.

Road conditions were generally fine. The road to Banteay Srei (route 67) was a much better road than others but was full of dog-deep potholes. We only got stuck in mud once, and it was expected (we parked when it was dry, but monsoon hit when we were out of the car). A little 4WDing and maneuvering around got us out, with the greatest mud streaks adorning the car for the rest of the trip.

Driving reasonably seemed much more important than adhering to bright-line rules: sometimes there are children or obstacles or dogs, and you must dodge them nimbly; other times, there is bright blue sky and open road and you must fly like the wind, windows down, blasting all the jams.

Parking:

I primarily parked in front of signs that read "no parking here," often as directed by tuk-tuk drivers or policemen. I never had to pay for parking, other than at the Siem Reap Airport, when I parked at the domestic terminal on day three to take a day trip to Phnom Penh (I think it was 30,000 riels for the day, which was kinda high, but I literally parked in front of the terminal door). I also tipped the guy 200 riels (about US $0.05) at the Upper Market for helping me back out. He gave the usual ar-kun and a clasped-hands half-bow.

Around Pub Street, I just parked wherever. By the end of the trip, it was as though I was famous in Siem Reap: nearly every tuk-tuk driver knew treated me with a bizarre sense of reverence, offering me cocaine instead of the usual girls, rides, and marijuana. (Of course, much of this was on account of my antics: whenever a tuk-tuk driver would ask me whether I wanted a ride, I would make a long charade of feigning confusion, then asking the tuk-tuk driver whether he needed a ride, then pulling out my car key and smiling, resulting in the tuk-tuk driver laughing and perhaps clapping for having been bested. Sometimes instead, I would pretend to interpret the offer of a ride as an offer to sell the tuk-tuk, which equally amused the drivers.)

At Angkor Wat, I parked in front of the west gate, right in the middle of a slew of tuk-tuks. They made way when I parked and again when I left, again with the usual amusing-as-hell charades.

At Banteay Srei, some kid wanted me to pay 3000 riels, but I insistently refused and it was fine. Later, I was told that the 3000 riel charge was legitimate, but since literally everything but the ruins in Cambodia are counterfeit, I had no way to know, and no one had any way to care.

Return:

I emailed the day before to let Avis know that (1) I had not in fact gotten a Cambodian phone number as I'd told them I would, and (2) I'd be flying out at 10:10 a.m. the next day to HCMC. They advised me to return the car at 8:30 at the office, and the same driver would drop us at the airport after we completed the paperwork.

We filled up at a nearby gas station (looked like about a buck a liter, so much less than my $11/gallon from the previous rental in central Hong Kong) and brought the car back.

Returning the car was fine. Just water, no tea this time. They weren't too thrilled about the mud, but $5 to our meet-and-greet driver had that taken care of (otherwise, the cleaning fee is $40).

Bottom Line:

For most people, driving in Cambodia is a fool's errand. But if you love the thrill of hitting the open road in a land with so much to explore; if you love the cheap pleasure of driving your 73-inch-wide vehicle down a 79-inch-wide alley, side-view mirrors pulled in; if you have nothing in common with "defensive drivers" -- then perhaps driving in Cambodia is for you. Dealing with Avis was great, although you should abandon any notion that renting a car in Cambodia is like renting a car in Omaha. I soaked up every minute, every kilometer, and I cannot wait to return.