Costs in Siem Reap

Costs in Siem Reap

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So I put a post on The Wrong Way Home’s Facebook page about what people would like to hear about more on this blog. I’ve been neglecting it a little bit – trying to find a work/life balance (which I’ll blog about soon) but one of my goals for this year is to be a lot more active on here. One of my awesome readers suggested that I do more frequent posts on what it actually costs to be in the places I am in – which always helps with budgetting and planning. So here’s my first guide to the costs in Siem Reap! 

At the moment I’m in Siem Reap, in Cambodia and I would say this prices are fairly standard for Cambodia, although Phnom Penh tends to run a little more expensive for accommodation in my experience. Let me introduce to you my humble abode that costs around $8USD a night. It’s a private room, so if I was traveling with someone my accommodation expenses would be $4 a day or $28 a week. You can find dorms in Siem Reap starting from $1, private basic rooms from $5 and you can pay as much as you want for high-end accommodation. My room rates include a towel, a simple breakfast (fried eggs and toast or noodle soup) and some bottles of water. 

Eating out is really inexpensive here and you can enjoy a sit down meal in a restaurant for as little as $2 and local street food can be had for around $1. I am really enjoying Viva Restaurant which is a Mexican place and I ordered these delicious enchiladas for $5.50.Cocktails are a tempting $2.50 in most places, local beers are from $0.50-$1.50 in restaurants and bars, coffees range from $1-2.75 in most places depending on style and a small bottle of water in a restaurant is $0.60.

Considering my breakfast is free I can easily keep my food costs under $10 a day – eating well – assuming there’s no drinking. 

I decided to rent a bicycle because I need the exercise and it’s less hassle than dealing with tuk tuks. Siem Reap has changed a lot over the past two years. It seems that Siem Reap is the New York of Cambodia and every second Cambodian has moved here to be a tuk tuk driver. I rented my bicycle out for $1 a day and my guesthouse offers free tuk tuks during the evenings, so my transport costs here have been really low. You can rent a tuk tuk for the entire day for $12 or $15 if you plan to cover substantial distances (like the far between temples). Or single trips around the city are usually $1 on the back of a motorbike, or $1-2 dollars for a tuk tuk depending on distance and number of people. 

 

Other costs in Siem Reap: 
I had a punctured tyre, so took it to the local bike repair shop. He worked on my bike for about twenty minutes repairing the inner tube and charged me 1000 reil which is $0.25
$4-6 an hour for a foot or body massage. I think the Cambodians are rougher than the Thais – you’ve been warned. 
$1 for a Sim Card and $10 for 5 GB mobile data so I can work wirelessly
Angkor Wat is relatively expensive if you plan to visit $20 for a day and $40 for a three day pass
 

As my work is location independent, it’s a lot cheaper for me to travel around Asia than it is to live at home. Soon I’ll be heading to Takeo to volunteer where my costs will drop, but I’d say it’s very easy to get by on $20 a day, or $140 a week in Siem Reap assuming you don’t go out drinking all the time. If you stay in the cheapest hostels and eat at the cheapest places you can keep things under $10. This doesn’t factor in the costs for Angkor Wat, as I’ve been three times before. 

 

Please let me know if you found this post helpful and if you think I missed out anything important!
If you’ve been to Siem Reap before I’d love to hear your highlights for this city – I’m here for another few days. 

 

19 Comments

  • Tim Dickinson says:

    Very helpful thanks Izy!! Because of your last trip to Cambodia and the posts etc you put on here it is on the top of my travel list which I will hopefully begin to tick off next year! I would love to go and do some volunteering. Like many others I am jealous of your travels but at the same time they are very inspiring. So thanks!

    • Izy Berry says:

      Thanks for your kind words, Tim. Cambodia’s a great destination that provides a lot of value. I’ll be updating a few posts while I’m here at the orphanage, so keep an eye out 🙂

  • This is a great cost breakdown for Siem Reap. In my opinion few countries in SE Asia offer better value that Cambodia. Nearby, Battambang offers even better value with slightly reduced prices compared to SR. A couple of years ago I was spending $15 a day there.

    • Izy Berry says:

      Thanks Sam! Yeah I think $15-20 a day is totally reasonable in Cambodia. I feel that Thailand has become really expensive, especially in comparison. Thanks for dropping by.

  • Wil says:

    I’m excited to visit Cambodia. I’ll be there for at least a month starting this May. I can’t wait!

  • I spend quite a bit more living in Siem Reap than you do – though I will admit I’m a spoiled brat expat and like to live in a big apartment (which costs about 3 times your room rate). But I agree it’s a cheap place to live no matter how you slice it. I bought my bike but like you I blew up the tyre (I still haven’t had it fixed but I do have two identical bikes…) apparently it’s a very, very common issue here given the gunk people chuck on the roads. Anyway great blog, sorry for rambling on.

    • Izy Berry says:

      Haha yeah I did live cheaply while I was in Siem Reap, but I really needed to as I was low on funds and sometimes I find that staying in flash hotels and eating at expensive restaurants doesn’t really enhance my trip that much anyway. Haha I love that you ride around Siem Reap – it really is a great city to ride around 🙂

  • Haniah Patankar says:

    Great post! I’ve just been reading a few of your Cambodia posts again as I’m heading over to Takeo this summer and I’m ridiculously excited! I’ll be heading to Siem Reap (for the first time- pretty bad considering I’ve been to Cambodia twice) and just wanted to try and work out prices! I’d forgotten how cheap it is out there! Thanks for the post.

    • Izy Berry says:

      Yay. Yay. YAY! I am so happy for you. It’s probably much cheaper than you remember, and just as magical <3 wish I could be there with you!

  • Rebecca Kurland says:

    Hi Izy,

    I am a casting producer for an American television show about people moving abroad. I came across your blog and wanted to reach out to see if you might be interested in participating in an episode of our show.

    House Hunters International tells the story of people who have picked up their lives and moved to a new country to pursue a new life abroad. Being on our show is a lot of fun for our participants and is a great way for them to document their search for a new home.

    We are casting people who have already bought/rented a home or are currently searching for a home in their new country. If you or anyone you know meet these qualifications please let me know. I would love to tell you more about our program and hear about your experiences in Cambodia.

    I look forward to hearing from you soon!

    Best,

    Rebecca

  • Neil says:

    First off, I’d like to say that this is a great post. You seem to be living well in SR and your photo of mexican food just made me hungry lol.

    I am currently in chiang mai and leaving for siem reap soon to escape the burning season. My question is, how fast can mobile data go? Would it be good enough for someone who does web development? I’ll appreciate your advice. Thanks!

    • Izy Berry says:

      Hi Neil,

      Thanks so much for your comment. Unfortunately it got eaten up by my spam checker. Bummer. How did you get on in SR?

  • Linda McMillan says:

    Hi Izy,

    Great blog. I’ll be moving to Siem Reap in about a week so I’m clicking around the internet for blogs just like yours. I’ll probably spend a little more than you on accommodation, but I was there for a visit a few years ago and I kept to a budget very similar to yours. It’s so easy to have a good time in Siem Reap without spending a ton. I’ve been trying to get back there ever since my visit, and now I’m doing it.

    What I was wondering is whether or not you considered getting a small motorbike? Do you know what kinds of licensing or registration i’d have? I tried to get a motorbike license in China but it took over a year (!) and I was about to leave when it finally came through so I contented myself with an electrical bicycle. Anyway, any advice about a motorbike would be appreciated.

    Thanks.

    Lindy

  • Darren says:

    what was the name of the guesthouse and how far from the mexican place

    • Izy Berry says:

      Hi Darren,
      Thank you for your message. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the guest house, next time I am there I will certainly take note. Have a great stay in Siem Reap and sorry I can’t be more help.

  • kim says:

    I was there for four days. Every tuk tuk driver we hired for the day brought us to meal places that cost us 5-6 US dollars a meal. Be it lunch near temple or dinner near town. And these drivers were attached to the guest house. So be forewarned. Cheaper meals at 2.50 can be had at the Old Market which they never brought us to – I reckon they don’t want us to be distracted by the market and delay the end of the day.

  • kim says:

    Real tuk tuk cost – for angkor wat $15, extra for ride into town $5 at an expensive restaurant near the river,
    $25 per day for banter srei(Ladies’ temple). For the first day, we invited the driver to join us for the meals. I wasn’t sure if we are supposed to pay for their meals or not.

    About tuk tuk. When I casually asked a tuk tuk driver at angkor wat, he quoted $6 for one way to guesthouse. Hence we thought tuk tuk driver for each day was the cheaper option. Later we had a quote for US 3 dollars for trip to angkor wat from guesthouse near le meriden which is 2 km away.

    The next day, we negotiated that the driver we had not join us for the meals as we wanted to be by ourselves but we changed our mind as we didn’t want to starve the driver of his dinner. For lunch, I noticed they had free lunch from the restaurant.

    I find the cost of transport more expensive than our US18 per night guesthouse. And expensive meals too (us 5-7 dlr. a dish) – on account of being misled by the tuk tuk drivers we had.

  • Did you try hosteling in Cambodia? I loved the hostel I stayed in! And honestly, Cambodia turned out to be cheaper than I expected. Here is what I spent…
    http://www.tickingthebucketlist.com/2016/05/angkor-wat-costs-and-budget.html