In 2018 I did travel for 6 days in Cambodia, this is part 1 of my Just Back Report. The all idea of this trip was to follow my friend from Malaysia on his Cambodia Countryman music tour in Phnom Penh and Kampot. Although Phnom Penh is only a bit more as 2 hours flying it took me almost a full day to get there from my home town in North Thailand.
First 1 hour drive to the airport and then a 1 hour flight with Air Asia to Don Muang Domestic Airport. Then at Don Muang Airport I had a 4 hours stop-over so I had time to exit the Domestic terminal, walk to the International terminal, go thru customs & immigration and walk to the gate. Along the way I even had time for an healthy lunch at McDonalds and change some Thai baht for US$ for using in Cambodia. It all went very easy, going thru customs & immigration took less as 30min. And as I was traveling with hand-luggage only I did not have to go to the check-in counter. Then a 1hr10min flight to Phnom Penh.
Arriving at Phnom Penh Airport was a breeze, it is never busy there. I did not get a E-Visum before so I had to apply for an Visum at the airport. Applying, getting the visa and going thru immigration & customs took me about 30min. Quite good, fast and friendly service.
From Phnom Penh Airport I took the train to the city center. Yes the train! Since April 2018 there is a train going from the airport to the main train station in town. It was a great experience but not very time efficient. But more about that in a following posting. So stay tuned!
Flying back from Cambodia was just as easy as flying to Cambodia. There is however 1 thing to remember. I had checked-in via Air Asia website. And before entering the customs & immigration you will have to show your boarding card. Now comes the tricky part ..... the airport official does not accept the print-out boarding card. So you will first have to go to the web-check-in counter and get a boarding card. A bit confusing.
When arriving at Don Muang Airport I had a 2 hours overlay to get my flight home. And this was enough but .... I had only hand-luggage, there was no long cue at immigration and I did walk fast from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. I had about 10min to relax & rest at the gate.
Travel Tips :
- Do web check-in before flying.
- If possible travel with hand-luggage only.
- If you have to go from Domestic Terminal to International Terminal then allow 2 - 3 hours between flights.
- Get US$ before you are flying to Cambodia to pay for your Cambodian Visum.
- Have a pass-photo with you for applying for your Cambodian Visum.
- If you are in a hurry do not take the train from Phnom Penh Airport to the city. There are always taxi's and TukTuk's.
- During busy hours it could take you by taxi about 1 hour to get from Phnom Penh riverside to the the airport. But in the early morning of 6:00am it took me just 20min.
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| Lunch at Don Muang Airport, Thailand |
Disclaimer : All information is created in good faith and is an expression of fair comment.