Home to fascinating tribes, verdant scenery and some of the world's oldest, grandest and most mysterious monuments, Laos & Cambodia pack a phenomenal punch for such small and thinly populated nations. Whether by boat, car or bicycle, exciting discoveries await around every corner. Enjoy friendly locals, delicious food and wonderful resorts tucked away in the quaint corners of old colonial towns on an unforgettable journey through Laos & Cambodia !
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Food
Lao cuisine is very similar to the food eaten in the north-eastern Isaan region of Thailand, being spicy, more often bitter than sweet and using lots of fresh herbs and vegetables served raw. The staple here is sticky rice, eaten by hand from small baskets called tip khao. Using your right hand, pinch off a bit, roll into a ball, dip and munch away. The national dish is laap, a "salad" of minced meat mixed with herbs, spices, lime juice and, more often than not, blistering amounts of chili. Unlike Thai larb, the Lao version can use raw meat (dip) instead of cooked meat (suk), and if prepared with seafood makes a tasty if spicy carpaccio. Another favourite is tam maak hung, the spicy green papaya salad known as som tam in Thailand, but which the Lao like to dress with fermented crab and a chunky, intense fish sauce called pa daek, resulting in a stronger flavor than the milder, sweeter Thai style. Other popular dishes include ping kai, spicy grilled chicken, and mok pa, fish steamed in a banana leaf. In addition to purely Lao food, culinary imports from other countries are common. Khao jii pat-te, French baguettes stuffed with pâté, and foe (pho) noodles from Vietnam are both ubiquitous snacks particularly popular at breakfast. Note that foe can refer both to thin rice noodles (Vietnamese pho) as well as the wide flat noodles that would be called kuay tiow in Thailand.
Cambodian Khmer food is tasty and cheap and is invariably accompanied by rice (or occasionally noodles). Thai and Vietnamese characteristics can be found in Khmer food, although Cambodians love a stronger sour taste in their dishes, especially through the addition of prahok, the famous Khmer fish paste (although for most foreigners this is most definitely an acquired taste!). In addition to Khmer food, there are large number of Chinese restaurants, especially in Phnom Penh and large provincial centers.
Typical Khmer dishes which are palatable to westerners include:
- Amok - The most popular Cambodian dish with travellers. A coconut milk curry dish less spicy than those found in Thailand. Amok is usually made with chicken, fish, or shrimp, plus some vegetables. It is sometimes served in a hollowed-out coconut with rice on the side. Quite delicious.
- K'tieu (Kuytheav) - A noodle soup generally served for breakfast. Can be made with pork, beef or seafood. Flavorings are added to the customers taste in the form of lime juice, chili powder, sugar and fish sauce.
- Somlah Machou Khmae - A sweet and sour soup made with pineapple, tomatoes and fish.
- Bai Saik Ch'rouk - Another breakfast staple. Rice (bai) with pork meat (sec trouk) often barbequed. Very tasty and served with some pickled vegetables.
- Saik Ch'rouk Cha Kn'yei - Pork fried with ginger. Ginger is relatively commonly used as a vegetable. This tasty dish is available just about everywhere.
- Lok lak - Chopped up beefsteak cooked quickly. Probably a holdover from the days of French colonization. Served with lettuce and onion, and often with chips.
- Mi / Bai Chaa - Fried noodles or rice. Never particularly inspiring, but a good traveller's staple.
- Trey Ch'ien Chou 'Ayme - Trey (fish) fried with a sweet chili sauce and vegetables. Very tasty. Chou 'ayme is the phrase for "sweet and sour".
- K'dam - Crab. Kampot in the south is famous for its crab cooked in pepper. A very tasty meal.
Don't forget Khmer desserts - Pong Aime (sweets). These are available from stalls in most Khmer towns and can be excellent. Choose from a variety of sweetmeats and have them served with ice, condensed milk and sugar water. A must try is the Tuk-a-loc, a blended drink of fruits, raw egg, sweetened condensed milk and ice.
There is also a wide variety of fresh fruit available from markets. The prices vary according to which fruit is in season but mangoes (around Khmer New Year, with up to 9 varieties on sale) and mangosteen (May/June) are both superb.
Drink
The national drink of Laos is the ubiquitous and tasty Beerlao, made with Laotian jasmine rice and one of the few Lao exports.It maintains an almost mythical status amongst travellers and world beer afficionados. The yellow logo with its tiger-head silhouette can be seen everywhere, and a large 640 ml bottle shouldn't cost more than 10,000 to 12,000 kip in restaurants. It's available in three versions: original (5%), Dark (6.5%) and Light (2.9%). The brewery claims they have 99% market share, yet you can get Carlsberg and Heineken. Rice whiskey, known as lao-lao, is widely available and at less than US$0.30 per 750 ml bottle.
Lao coffee (kaafeh) is widely reckoned to be among the best in the world. It's grown on the Bolaven Plateau in the south; the best brand is Lao Mountain Coffee. Unlike Thai coffees, Lao coffee is not adulterated with ground tamarind seed. To make sure you aren't fed overpriced Nescafé instead, be sure to ask for kaafeh thung. By default, kaafeh lao comes with sugar and condensed milk; black coffee is kaafeh dam, coffee with milk (often, however, you'll get non-dairy creamer) is kaafeh nom.
Tap water is not drinkable, but bottled water is cheap and widely available.
There is not much nightlife outside of Vientiane and Vang Vieng. To have a beer in some places, simply visit a restaurant.
Cambodians are not what could be described as casual drinkers: the main objective is to get drunk as quickly as possible. Know your limits if invited to join in!
The two domestic Cambodian beers are Anchor and Angkor. Beer Lao and Tiger are popular beers with foreigners. A plethora of other beers include ABC Stout, which is dark and not so bad, in addition to the standard Heineken and Carlsberg. Many of the cheaper beers are not especially nice, such as Crown or Leo, and only drunk by the locals.
Palm wine and rice wine are available in villages and can be OK at 500-1000 riel for 1 litre bottle. However, some safety concerns have been raised with regard to sanitation, so the local wines may be best avoided. Bottled water is readily available at 500 riel for a cheap 1L bottle, or double that for a screw-cap. In Phnom Penh tap water is theoretically clean, though most travellers still buy bottles.
Tap water is not potable. Bottled water is ubiquitous and cheap Khmer brands in blue plastic bottles sell for 1000 riels or less.
Iced coffee is made Vietnamese style, freshly brewed and mixed with sweetened condensed milk. Iced tea made with lemon and sugar is also refreshing.
Visas & Permits
Most ASEAN nationalities as well as a few others like Russians can enter Laos "visa free"; all other tourists need a visa in the form of a tourist visa (for one or possibly two months) issued by a Lao embassy or consulate, or a visa on arrival now available at all ports of entry with the exception of overland crossings from Cambodia. Virtually all nationalities are issued a 30 day entry permit stamp. When applying for a tourist visa or to obtain a visa on arrival, one passport photo is required. Prices range from US$30 to US$42 depending on nationality - Australians pay $30, Canadians US$42, Belgians US$30, British, Dutch US$35.
Visas can be obtained in advance from Lao embassies/consulates. The fee varies by nationality/embassy; US$20 is common. Processing times also vary; 2-3 days is typical, though you may be able to pay an extra small amount to receive the visa in as little as one hour. In Phnom Penh the travel agencies can arrange the visa the same day (but may charge as much as US$58) while getting it from the embassy takes a few days. Getting a visa from the embassy in Bangkok costs around 1400B for most nationalities, plus 200B more for "same day" processing. It's cheaper and quicker to get one at the border. There are Visa-on-Arrival facilities at the international airports in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Pakse, and at all border crossings with the exception when entering overland from Cambodia. The cost varies between US$30 and $42 (if paid with US$ notes; paying with Thai baht will cost considerably more and border officials will not accept Lao kip at all). A US$1 "out of office hours" surcharge, and a small (possibly 10 baht) entry stamp fee, might also be charged.
Entry permit extensions (sometimes referred to as "visa extensions") are available from the Immigration Department in Vientiane (US$2 per day) and via agencies elsewhere in Laos (who will courier your passport to Vientiane and back again, around US$3 per day minimum of 7 days).
All visitors, except (as of February 2009) citizens of Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Laos and Vietnam need a visa to enter Cambodia. The official price for a tourist visa is US$20, and US$25 for a business visa - but expect much higher prices (US$30 or more for the tourist visa) to be demanded at land border crossings.
Visas can be obtained at any Cambodian embassy or consulate overseas. Visas are also available "on arrival" at both international airports, all six international border crossings with Thailand, some international border crossings with Vietnam, and at the main border crossing with Laos.
Tourist visa: when applied for in advance, these are valid for 90 days (ie must be used within 3 months), and good for a 30 day entry permit stamp which can be extended once only for a further 30 days in Phnom Penh (or elsewhere via agencies) at a cost of US$15.
Business visa: the best choice for stays over two months and/or multiple entries, as they can be extended indefinitely (approx US$140 per 6 month extension) and have multiple entry status when extended. Most Phnom Penh travel agencies process the extensions.
To apply for a visa, you will need one or two (depending on where you apply) passport-size photo(s) (although when applying on arrival, the fee for not having one is usually only US$1-2), a passport which is valid for at least 6 months and has at least one completely blank visa page remaining, passport photocopies when applying at some embassies/consulates (not needed if applying on arrival), and clean US$ notes with which to pay the fee (expect to pay a substantially higher price if paying in a local currency).
Alternatively, citizens of most nations can now apply for an e-Visa online. The cost is US$25 (US$20 + US$5 processing charge) instead of the normal US$20, and you get the visa by e-mail in 3 business days. For the e-visa you will need one photograph of yourself. You can scan your passport photo (into .jpg format) or take a passport photograph of yourself with a digital camera. With the e-visa you will breeze through immigration. The e-visa will come back as a PDF file. You will then need to print out two copies (one for the entry and one for the exit). After printing out your two copies, cut out the e-visa part and put both copies into your passport.
For those entering by air, the e-Visa is valid at both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports. It's cheaper to get your visa on arrival at either airport. However if you get a visa in advance (online or from an embassy/consulate) you do get to skip two lines at the airport: the line to apply for the visa, and the line at the cashier to pay the fee. Of course, if you checked luggage, you'll probably have to spend the saved time waiting for your bag.
For those entering overland, do note that overland e-Visa entries are restricted to just three border crossings: Bavet (Svay Rieng) from Moc Bai (Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam); Koh Kong (from Hat Lek / Trat, Thailand); and Poipet (from Aranyaprathet, Thailand). However getting a visa in advance (online or from an embassy/consulate) is definitely the way to go in order to avoid the common scam of visa overpricing at border crossings.
If you are a foreign national, be aware that you will have to pay an airport departure tax when you leave Cambodia through the airports, about $25 for international flights, it is about $4-6 for internal flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.Etiquette
Dress respectfully (long trousers, sleeved shirts) when visiting temples and take your shoes off before entering temple buildings and private houses. As with other Buddhist countries, showing the soles of your feet is very poor manners.
Never touch any person on the head.
Despite prevelant cheap alcohol, being drunk is considered disrespectful and a loss of face.
Things in Laos happen slowly and rarely as scheduled. Keep your cool, as the natives will find humor in any tourist showing anger. They will remain calm, and venting your anger will make everybody involved lose face and is certainly not going to expedite things, particularly if dealing with government bureaucracy.
Respect for monks is part of Laotian life, and the monks take their duties seriously. Remember that monks are forbidden to touch women. Some undertake a vow of silence, and will not answer you even if they can understand and speak English. It is best not to compel them to stand next to you for a photograph, or start a conversation, if they seem reluctant.
Cambodia is a country at a crossroads. While the more heavily touristed places like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap are well adjusted to tourist behaviour, people in places such as Stung Treng or Banlung are less so. Always ask permission before you take somebody's picture, as many in the more remote areas do not like to be photographed, and some in the urban areas will ask for payment.
Dress for women is more conservative in Cambodia. While shorts are now acceptable in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, it is more respectful to wear knee length shorts or trousers when outside of these areas.
Groups of young children can be found everywhere in Cambodia and many travellers feel 'pestered' by them to purchase their friendship bracelets and other wares. However, it's often the case that children enjoy the chance to practice their English on you- and by asking them their names and ages a conversation is likely to develop where the 'hard sell' is forgotten. It's useful to carry pencils and other tokens to give to kids, particularly in more rural areas but refrain from handing out sweets. Children and adults alike enjoy looking at photographs of your family and home country.
The Khmer Rouge issue is a very delicate one, and one which Cambodians generally prefer not to talk about. However, if you approach it with politeness, they'll gladly respond. People, in general, hold no qualms when talking about the Vietnamese; in fact, they have been widely perceived as liberators when they intervened in Cambodia in 1979 to overthrow the aforementioned brutal regime. The pro-Vietnamese regime gradually rebuilt all the infrastructure that was severely damaged by the Khmer Rouge's policy of de-urbanising the country leading to economic prosperity in the 1980s, with sporadic uprisings.
