Done Right

I thought that i would write my first post on the blog, seeing as T has had all the fun up until now.

When You go somewhere like Cambodia there are a lot of things you try figure out before you leave. One of these things is the whole visa arrangement business. When one arrives at the airport (You can cross the border by land as well, but that will probably include a bribe in the 5-10 dollar bracket) you basically have two options, depending on how long you want to stay. The local currency here is Riel, by the way, but US dollars are used almost exclusively ($1 = approx. 4000 Riel).

The first option is getting a tourist visa, which grants you a 30 day stay from the issue date (not the date you arrive, should you get the visa elsewhere) which will cost you $20 (note: you’ll also need a passport photo for all visa applications). The tourist visa can technically be extended once for another 30 days, but thats a bit of a scam seeing as you need to personally apply for the extenuation in Phnom Penh, and you have to do it 25 days before the visa expires, this means a lot of running around and a lot less enjoying the country.

The second option is getting a business visa which also grants you a 30 day stay in the country and will cost you $25. The good thing about it is that you can then extend it for one, three, six or twelve months at various costs, and the process is much more straight forward. All you need to do here in Snookyville for example is to go visit Mick and Ana’s place downtown, and they will take care of the whole thing for you. Remember to apply for the extension  at least 10 days before the original visa runs out though, and don’t forget your passport photo. They really like photos here for some reason.

Another thing that Mick can help you out with is getting a Khmer drivers license, which will set you back $45. To get a license you need your drivers license from back home, and five (!) passport photos, which you can get in any photoshop for a couple of bucks. If you don´t have a license from back home, you can always buy one in Bangkok Once you give Mick your drivers license, money and photos, he’ll issue you a temporary license, and of driving you go!

There are three different licenses, one for small motos (up to 125cc) one for car (which includes moto) and one separate for heavy motorbike. But do you really need a drivers license? The answer to that question is yes. A lot of things have changed in Cambodia the last couple of years, barrangs (foreigners) now need a local license to drive here, and if you’re driving a moto you need a helmet (note that only the driver of the moto is required to have a helmet, the sometimes five people on the back don’t). This applies to barrang and Khmer alike, and is actually enforced quite heavily, our friend Irish Tom got stopped three times on his first day. The whole driving license thing is really a scam – Cambodia have signed the Geneva convention, which means that they accept european driving licenses, but they seem not to remember this when they stop you, and might take your vehicle if you piss them of, or in any case charge you a fine.

We’re going on a road trip now, and on monday we have a meeting with the real-estate agent, so watch out for more updates and pics soon!

Thats all for now.

- S

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 01:39 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.