A Country of Temples, Sun and Good Food - Visiting Cambodia Within A Budget!
Cambodia is a country that is straight out of your school's history book! Beautiful heritage temples, stunning architecture and amazing food make it one of the popular destinations in South-East Asia. But what makes it even better is it is super affordable! Here is an account of our budget travel to Cambodia!
Counting On...Flights:
Our budget travel to Cambodia started with the major share of the money spend on flights.
We flew to Phnom Penh via Bangkok. We flew with Indigo Airlines from Kolkata to Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi Airport) and took a cab to reach Don Mueang Airport. From DMK, we flew Air Asia to Phnom Penh. While flying back, we again took the same route. You can also fly Air Asia from Kolkata to Phnom Penh (via DMK/ Kuala Lumpur).
Flights: INR 16,000/-
(CCU - PNH - CCU: INR 14,000/- + 2,000/- for additional luggage)
Visa: USD 30
Phnom Penh:
The major expense in Phnom penh would be accommodation and sight-seeings. While there are plenty of hotels to select from, we chose to stay at a small boutique hotel and hired the tuktuk for sight-seeing from the hotel itself. Here's a breakdown of the cost:
Hotel: Standard Room: USD 20 x 2 Nights = USD 40 ( this includes breakfast!)
Sightseeing: Day 1: (Day 2 in Phnom Penh: We lazed around the city on Day 1 of arrival and did some pub crawling and bar hopping)
Entry Fee - USD 6 ( includes audio tour)
S-21 prison: USD 8 ( Entrance Fee: USD 5 + Audio Tour - USD 3)
Tuktuk Cost: USD 18 ( For Hotel - Choeung Ek - S-21 - Russian Market)
Day 2:
Royal Palace: Entrance Fee - USD 10
National Museum: Entrance Fee - USD 10
Tuktuk Cost: USD 4
Food Cost: USD 20 ( 5 per meal x 4 meals)
Siem Reap:
From Phnom Penh, we boarded a luxury bus to Siem Reap.
Giant Ibis: Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - USD 16
The main expenses in Siem Reap are Angkor wat passes and hotel. We stayed at a mid-range boutique hotel. Here's a breakup of the cost:
Hotel: Standard Single Room - USD 80 (USD 20 x 4 Nights)
Day 3: Kbal Spean + Banteay Srei - USD 25
Food Cost: USD 7 x 8 meals = USD 56
Miscellaneous Cost: USD 35 (USD 5 x 7 days)
Angkor Archaological Park: Pass for 3 Days - USD 62
Tuktuk Cost:
Total Cost:
Flights - 16,000 + Visa - 2100 + Hotels - 8400 + Sightseeing - 6,800 + Tuktuk - 6,000 + Food - 5,300 + Bus - 1150
= 45, 750/-
So, this was how we traveled to Cambodia within a budget of INR 45,000.
(P.S: Calculation has been done on the currency exchange rate of 1 USD = INR 70) N.B: Though you can experience Cambodia at a much lower cost, I would like to point out the fact that I am a mid-range traveler, who prefers a little bit of luxury than complete budget travelling)
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