Tips and Tricks from Cambodia

Showing posts with label How To. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How To. Show all posts

September 24, 2016

There are a lot of options for travelers to choose when it comes to traveling from Phnom Penh to Bangkok. I myself experienced in travelling both by air and road to Bangkok. When it comes to travelling on the road, I have to be aware because different means will lead to high or low range of comfort and time spent for travelling. Now let’s say bus is your option, and here I am going to tell you one of the best bus options that you should consider.
Nattakan is a Thai bus company that cooperates with Rith Muny transportation company in Cambodia. Thus, when you choose this bus, you will have to buy its ticket at Rith Muny office which is nearby Gloria Jeans riverside. It costs $25 per ticket if you buy in Phnom Penh; and it costs 750 Baht when you buy 1 ticket at Mo Chit bus station.
PP to BKK:
  • 06:00 to 09:30 – Leave Phnom Penh and arrive Pursat.
  • 09:30 to 10:00 – Have breakfast at Pursat Cambodia-Japan friendship restaurant.
  • 10:00 to 14:00 – Arrive Poi Pet
  • 14:00 to 14:40 – Take 40 minutes at the immigration office
  • 14:40 to 16:00 – Travelling on the road to Bangkok
  • 16:00 to 16:30 – Thai bus driver stopped for dinner (It won’t happen all the time)
  • 16:30 to 19:30 – Arrive Bangkok at Mo Chit bus station
BKK to PP
  • 05:00 – Leave Mo Chit bus station
  • 07:00 PM – Arrive Phnom Penh
Pros:
- 1 stop only at Pursat for brunch
- Only 1 direct bus, no transit
- There is a toilet in the bus. Pee pee poo poo is not a problem.
- Short distance to walk from immigration office to find this bus
- Save time (about 1 to 2 hours) and energy (not cramped) as you will arrive at 7:30.
- Comfortable to sleep
- It’s more spacious, easy to sit, and better behaved people prefer it, so eventually the feeling is better too.
- There is no need to walk and find another van at the border and pay extra 250 Baht.
- It provides free evening meal and drink on the bus. So, we could save lots of time without stop from Aranyaprathet to Bangkok.
- Free snack and beverage in the morning, packed fried rice (EzyGo) to be delivered in the afternoon. It is included when you pay the $25 bus ticket.
- Thai drivers tend not to stop for picking up passengers. They are ready to go at 06:00 even with 3 passengers.
- No need to wait for bus to be filled to go on from the border because only those who bought in Phnom Penh could continue going from the border.
Cons:
Bad point is the bus stop is at Mo Chit Bus Station. You will have to take taxi or BTS to the central. It cost my family 130 Baht to get from Mo Chit Bus Station to Asoke area. Probably, you can take Uber for cheaper transport.
- On your way back, the bus leaves Bangkok at 05:00 in the morning. Not at 06:00 in the morning like when you travel from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.
- Khmer drivers tend to stop quite often to pick up more passengers, but it is not too bad. I managed to arrive Phnom Penh at 07:00 PM.
- Spend about 150 Baht more on taxi from Mo Chit to your hotel.
- Not easy to travel for some Khmer as they need to be dropped at DD House.
Below is some photos:
This is a picture of the Nattakan bus from Phnom Penh to Bangkok.
Cambodia-Japan Friendship restaurant in Pursat

After purchasing the ticket, you have to find Platform 106 and wait there. 
Inside Nattakan bus on my way from Bangkok to Phnom Penh
Bus ticket bought at Mo Chit bus station



Mo Chit bus station, where you can buy the ticket
Cambodia-Japan Friendship restaurant in Pursat

July 29, 2016

Here we we go again with translation technique. If you have not read my first post about this, you will have to read the Part 1 first: Translation Technique Part 1

Here I would like to address Google Translate since it's a bit mature now. Everybody knows about Google Translate, but this post is going to give you more confident in using Google Translate. In the event that we don't know the meanings of many words in a paragraph, we will have to spend a lot of time translating those words. With Google Translate, we save times. Since we copy and paste the whole paragraph, and double check if the translation is correct. It is important to stay cautious when we copy and paste from Google Translate.

After copy-paste from Google Translate, I list down the Translation under the English paragraph. I compare sentence by sentence to see the errors. After fixing all of the errors, I deleted the English paragraph, leaving only the Khmer paragraph.

April 1, 2015

Today I would like to introduce you to a special Kuyteav restaurant, located in the centre of Phnom Penh, and that is Kuyteav Psar Chas.

This street restaurant actually started long time ago and has been popular for decades. Normally, it is hard to find parking space if you happen to drive a car there. 

This kuyteav restaurant is located on a corner opposite to Psar Chas (Old market).

What is special about this Kuyteav? 
What comes to my mind when going to this kuyteav restaurant is the taste of its soup and also its meatball. Because its meatball was made by the restaurant itself. They did not buy it from the market. They made it perfect meatball and healthy soup. 


I like kuyteav itself and plus, my girlfriend made the yummy sauce. 

Have you ever seen such kuyteav elsewhere? 

The cost of this kuyteav is quite reasonable. 




March 29, 2015

I have always loved Bonsai tree since my first time to see it on the internet. Unluckily, it is not easy to find in Cambodia. On the internet, I learned that I could find Bonsai tree in Vietnam. However, I never had a chance to go to Vietnam since I have become fond of Bonsai.

How it looks on the internet. Don't you love it?
In March 2015, I went to Bangkok and did not mean to go to Jatujak plant market. It was when I and my friends Mamiao and Chanutr did not know where to go at night around 9:00 PM. Then, we agreed to go to plant market.

If you wish to shop at the market. You may do so as well. Jatujak market is a weekend market where people come to sell many different kinds of products, creative products. On Wednesday evenings, they open shops to sell plants.

There, Chanutr shopped many small plants. She loved them. So did I, but I did not have a clue on how to deliver it home.

After walking for a while in the market, I saw my lovely Bonsai trees! They were so lovely. It was so hard for me to choose because there were varieties! And the price varied a lot too. I tended to choose the small one so that I could carry home.

I bought my first Bonsai tree for 400 Baht ($13). It came with a vase.

My Bonsai tree at hotel in Bangkok


Since I traveled back to Phnom Penh by plane, I requested for help from my colleague who return from Bangkok by van to help deliver my Bonsai to the office. Because after talking with AirAsia staff, they told me that I cannot bring any kinds of plants on plane.

However, all was done and my Bonsai tree is now safe at home in Phnom Penh. I forgot to tell you, my Bonsai tree will have red fruit too :D

My Bonsai tree at home and is healthy



I have noticed that my car's tires had been producing lots of noise even there was nothing seemed to be wrong. When I got home, I noticed that many small stones got stuck with tires, even a small battery was attached there too. 

I did try to get most of them out of the tires with a sharp key. It did make less noise, and I guess when we remove these stones, we also make the tires last longer and the stones won't go too deep, and the stones won't at the same time with tires and there of course will be less noisy.

I'll probably start looking at this once in 1 or 2 months because Cambodia has a lot of roads under construction.