Phnom Penh

[Tim Bone]

It's a year ago since I was there now and I never encountered any problems. But when I went out to hit the bars I actually hired the guy with the tuk-tuk outside Flamingos to take me around for a few hours. It was raining a bit. Negotiated 10 USD. It's worth paying some extra $ for the added safety. And it was quite convenient when I left Sharkeys with my catch to have a transport waiting for me. No need to haggle with the motos outside. Especially if you are two hunting together a tuk-tuk may be a good choice. Also paid one of the motos 10 USD to take me around to all the tourist spots for a whole day at daytime. One evening I took a cyclo back from FCC to the hotel. Nothing happend, but I really felt exposed sitting there in this slow moving mode of transort.

[Member #3443]

Agree, the motos like in front of the Himawari Hotel want repeat customers. They will take care of you. I have used the motodop named Tim who works out front of the Himawari extensively, especially at night. He takes me to all the places I want to go safely and waits for me outside. When I get outside a bar or MP he revs right up and makes sure another moto doesn't get me. He took me on all well lit streets etc.. at night. I have never had a problem because I used him. Another I used was outside of Island Massage on Sisowath Quay. Again, took me where I wanted to go, waited for me and used well lit streets. Get to know one , keep his cell, and call him when you need him.

[Ekspat]

Only last night we were in sophies and a man was being attacked by several girls,it was shocking the things they were doing to him-there should be a law against it.

What the girls do in Sophies is clearly sexual harassment.
I just want to have a beer at the bar and what happens?
Everytime the same......
We should get them to court.

Cheers!

[Prince Harry]

Is it safe,hell no.
Everywhere you go the girls are trying to take your pants off,who knows what may happen next.
Only last night we were in sophies and a man was being attacked by several girls,it was shocking the things they were doing to him-there should be a law against it.

[Montecristo]

Last year seemed perfectly safe, but perhaps i was simply unconscious and lucky, always picking the first motodop available.

Its true , at night with almost no light in the streets, the environment seemed a little bit "strange", but i never felt in danger.

In Brazil i thought about safety everytime, but everything seemed calm in PP.

It will be important to receive more reports from mugging, because PP can become very fast a dangerous place to visit.

[Butt Ugly]

I've lived in PP off and on for the last year and half. Three times I've had incidences occur. The first time a friend and I were walking towards Sharky Bar from Indochine Restaurant and had 6 young males come up behind my friend and try to circle around him. I yelled for him to "watch his back" and we backed up against a wall. They left us alone when they saw we were ready to go at it. The second time I was getting on a moto, and there was a girl already setting on the moto. A street rat reached up to grab her gold chain and I got it first. He walked away like nothing happened. The last time I was ripped off at the beach. The child vendors will take you down in a heartbeat. They were all around us and I saw a local I knew and got up to speak to her. That fast they emptied the pockets of the shorts I had lying on the table. Now, I don't let them close to where I set and I put my stuff up in the spokes of the umbrella when I set on the beach. In PP I try to only use motodops from the neighborhood, I have there numbers in my phone or motos that hang out in front of where ever I need a ride from. Seldom will I use a moto that stops me on the street and asks if I need a ride. The motos in front of places seem to be more traceable if something happens.

At night I try not to travel alone. If I'm out and about I will have a driver I know and usually have him wait for me. Again I use some one that I know and is traceable. It helps if I treat him right, that way he will look out for me.

[Kniom]

During the last 3 years I spent about 15 months in PP. Twice I had problems with attempted muggings. One happened at 3 am when 2 ladyboys approached on a motorbike. Well why did I walk on one of the unpaved side roads near Sharky's at that time. Stupid just to save 2000 riel for the ride to Walkabout. Got out of the situation by making use of the "surprise effect" and knocking out one of them and hit the road immediately afterwards.

Second time was quite more surprisingly. Went to Walkabout at 10pm when one single guy came right towards me and hit me without any warning or hesitation just 20m off Rue Pasteur. Fortunately I stumbled but didn't fell. So I just shouted at him like being a stone-age man facing a mammoth. Maybe he felt intimidated by that but he turned around an ran like being chased by a pack of bull terriers. Never saw him again.

In any other areas (Siem Reap, Battambang, Snooky etc.) luckily nothing like that happened at all.

[Logos]

this is a copy of a report i posted on another board last december and that could be of interest to newbies and expats alike if you take the occasional motodop at night.

2 nights ago after a romp with the gf she fell asleep and i went out for a quick bite at martinis (why is it you're often famished after sex in the middle of the night). i hailed a motodop on str 63 to go north towards mao tse toung. it was late at night, about 1 am.

i was tired after a gruesome day and didn't notice it fast enough -more accurately i noticed something was awry but didn't react fast enough- when he swerved right then left and took street 95, that runs parallel to monivong.

that long street was pitch dark and totally deserted.

when he slowed down after another lone motodop came from the opposite direction i was fully awake. i jumped off and tried to walk away fast in the opposite direction but it was too late, we were too far out from the lights.

they followed me slowly and shouted something in khmer so i then turned around and walked back towards the guy handing out his fare - take your fucking 2000 riel - but by that time 2 other motos had arrived in my back with 3 guys on them.

shit, was that for real ? was i going to be beaten to a pulp, stabbed to death, gang-raped and left out bleeding ?

i could and probably would have taken 1 against 2 but against 5 the odds didn't seem too good. at least one of them was also carrying some kind of baton. so i just stood still and made no sudden moves while they were circling me then nervously going through my pockets. they deftly relieved me of the day's change, around $50-60. left me my keys. stole the brand new watch i'd bought in china last week, a magnificent omega with a real leather brown bracelet. bastards, i was down another 5 buck.

even showed khmer compassion when they handed me back the 2000 riel for a ride back to the appartment. i thought i heard the words in khmer "be careful on the way home" and muffled laughter. then they were gone.

the whole episode must have lasted 2-3 minutes, but it felt like slow motion.

no amount of pepper spray or weapon, short of a subcompact machine gun, would have changed anything, actually not carrying anything probably avoided a bad beating or more. i had never been mugged before in my life (except once in pre-giuliani nyc when it was a routine event so that doesn't count) so i consider myself lucky to have lost just a small amount of money. for once i didn't carry either cellphone nor camera, which would have amplified my loss tenfold.

will i avoid motodops in the future?

no, but i'll certainly be cautious and alert at all times and jump off much faster at the first hint of foul play.

does that make pp or cambo an unsafe place?

not more than your average 3rd world city. just keep your eyes open, play it as safe as possible, and direct your motodops rather than being led by them.

editor's note: i certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the reports of distinction thread. please click here for more information.

[BananaNl]

What is the deal on LCC now without beds?

- matresses like Sophies
- to your hotelroom
- to the hotel which you use for Mikado's ($?)
- Other

[Stew2]

Business as usual, less the bedframes.. same thing as LCC, Mikados wasn't affected.

To be accurate the usual going rate at the bar is $1/head (litteraly:-) but as 4 or 5 of them take turns, your rate is right on.

well, it's $1/head as a tip for samples.... but the whole deed is as Jamito said - $5 - or at least it was last tme I was there (admttedly a while ago).

More importantly, it's good news that Sophie's is open!

[Logos]

So I take it that Sophie's has reopened? $10 is the price if you get a room, or $5 if you let them just blow you at the bar.

Business as usual, less the bedframes.. same thing as LCC, Mikados wasn't affected.

To be accurate the usual going rate at the bar is $1/head (litteraly:-) but as 4 or 5 of them take turns, your rate is right on.

[Jaimito Cartero]

As a newbie in town I had to try Sophies. No beds only matresses on the floor. Had to pay $10 to have the job done but I made it last for ever.

So I take it that Sophie's has reopened? $10 is the price if you get a room, or $5 if you let them just blow you at the bar.

[El Greco]

Just seen the flamingos van disgorge a record nine customers fighting over a few rooms.A couple of chaps complained that they had booked but never received the return email,sorry that's not a booking then.
One pommy bloke was muttering that he would never stay here again...
Can't say that he'll be missed,occupancy here is 90% plus all year round now.
Don't just assume that you can turn up and get a room even at this time of year,things change.
This is another community service announcement on behalf of mr kim.
PS don't worry about having riel,riel is given as change for small amounts.The ATMs do NOT dispense riel.

Got instand reservation last Tuesday for Wednesday morning which I changed on Wednesday morning for the same evening with no problem.
Checked out today early morning.

As a newbie in town I had to try Sophies. No beds only matresses on the floor. Had to pay $10 to have the job done but I made it last for ever.

Didn't liked the girls at Shangai. They all looked like kids to me. Monkey kids to be precise. Not my cup of tea. It seems that I am spoiled too much from the latinas.

Thanks

El Greco

[Prince Harry]

Just seen the flamingos van disgorge a record nine customers fighting over a few rooms.A couple of chaps complained that they had booked but never received the return email,sorry that's not a booking then.
One pommy bloke was muttering that he would never stay here again...
Can't say that he'll be missed,occupancy here is 90% plus all year round now.
Don't just assume that you can turn up and get a room even at this time of year,things change.
This is another community service announcement on behalf of mr kim.
PS don't worry about having riel,riel is given as change for small amounts.The ATMs do NOT dispense riel.

[Dinghy]

Pretty much you need 1s and 5s with of course a 20 if you fly in. Myself, I go with a thick pile of bills (but all 1's - maybe 300 of them, a few 5's and that all important 20) new if you can get them, otherwise with no tears or worn too much.

10 or 20 in real is enough - and the restaurant prices are not quoted in $ anyway, so you will be spending it

The reason you might have not been charged is because the machine dispensed $$ (you American by any chance? - most US banks that have free withdrawals from ATMs don't charge if the currency is dispensed in $$)

Beds at Mikado aren't on premises anyway - how could they make them stop? It's a hotel with a separate payment