I would like to share with you a rather detailed account of my recent experience of travelling from the UK to Cambodia, including the preparations before the flight and the first a few days I just spent here in Phnom Penh. I hope this can provide some reference to those who are planning a trip to Cambodia.
My reason for coming to Cambodia is that my visa in the UK was curtailed due to the impact of the pandemic, and thus I had to leave the UK, but because of complicated reasons I failed to find a way to go back to my own country (China). To avoid overstaying in the UK, I thought of coming to Cambodia. I contacted the Embassy of Cambodia in London but they just refused to provide any visa service to Chinese nationals. I mailed my passport to an agency in China, and they obtained a Cambodian visa for me there in China and then mailed the passport back to my home in the UK. I provided the agency with nothing but the passport and some money and they just got that visa from the consulate within four hours. The reference number of the visa begins with EF. Someone from this group tells me that EF is an embassy/consulate issued visa. Later on my flight to Cambodia I found at least three people also holding this kind of EF visa.
Before my flight, I contacted the Embassy of Cambodia in London and was told that although the Cambodian government recently officially requires the incoming travelers to purchase a Forte medical package of Covid-19, this package, which is worth 90 USD, is actually not necessary if you have an alternative insurance policy that covers at least 50,000 USD for the treatment of Covid-19 in Cambodia. As the agency in China provided me with an insurance policy (which meets the requirement) while applying for the visa, I did not waste money buying the Forte one. Although when I called the Embassy of Cambodia in London, the guy who answer the phone (I will call him “Cambodian Embassy guy” afterwards) does not sound very professional and his English proficiency is merely satisfactory, his advice proves to be quite accurate and valuable to me. I strongly suggest you call that embassy as well if you are travelling from UK.
Before the flight, I asked people in this group whether the pre-flight swab test is required to be done within 72 hours before DEPARTURE or 72 hours before ARRIVAL. Answers differed. The Cambodian Embassy guy told me that the airline and the immigration officers of Cambodia may have different criteria and it is safer to make it within 72 hours before arrival. To be safe, I booked an extremely overpriced test in London which guarantees to provide the result the next day. With the information I previously obtained from this group (my gratitude to those who provided the information), I asked the clinic to change the “SARS-COV2 RNA test” into “Covid-19 PCR test” on the certificate that they provided me. This later saved me some time and hassle at the Cambodian border control, where an officer looked for key words of “Covid-19”,”Negative” and “PCR” on my certificate and underlined them, and then gave an authentication stamp on the certificate before I went to the passport control. Those who did not have these key words on their certificates took a lot of time explaining to the officer and the officer had to speak to his superior for confirmation. I think some people having issues with the certificate bribed the officer to get through. BTW my clinic was unable to produce a stamp on that certificate, but maybe because the certificate is letterheaded, signed by a doctor and has all the key words they want, it went through smoothly.
Okay now go back to my preparations before the trip. The Cambodian Embassy guy advised me that the insurance policy and the certificate should be the original paper document issued. I told him that this is impossible. He said that then I should make them “look original” by printing them out in color and on good paper, and so I did.
For the 2,000 USD deposit, although it is officially stated that it is payable by card, the Cambodian Embassy guy strongly suggested me to obtain the cash before the trip, and so I did. I did so also because I read from this group that some people experiencing issues paying that big amount with their card, and I was told by a Chinese person that he paid the 3,000 USD deposit on arrival by a visa card issued by a bank in China, later went to the Cambodian bank to claim the refund, and the Cambodian bank told him that the money was refunded and will be back into his account soon, but until now (almost two months later) the money is still not in his account.
My flight from Heathrow to Phnom Penh was with Singapore Airlines and with a long transit wait in Singapore. I think the price is rather fair in the current situation, with £600 for a return journey.
Heathrow airport did not introduce many special procedures in the face of the pandemic, but it took the airline a very long time (I think almost an hour) to approve of my boarding at the check in. During my wait I saw that other passengers also waited a long time for approval, but none of themed seem to wait as long as I did. My long wait was probably because the second leg of my flight (Singapore to Phnom Penh) was the first flight that was allowed into Cambodia from Singapore in recent months. The airline’s staff was obviously not familiar with the entry requirements of Cambodia at the time, and I think Cambodia’s official entry requirements are not so clear.
There were very few passengers on my flight from London to Singapore. All other seats in my row were empty, so I could just lie on them to get some comfy sleep. A travelling kit was provided on the plane, with a face mask, a small bottle of sanitizer and some sanitized tissues.
My transit experience in Singapore Changi airport was just as good as my previous ones in this airport. I was a bit worried before I landed in the airport because I failed to book a transit hotel before the flight (I was told that due to the influence of the pandemic, I cannot make on-spot booking of the hotel when I landed in the airport). However, there are plenty of free-to-use recliners (shown in the picture) in the designated transit area. The staff were polite, helpful, and efficient. Our transfer was smooth, well guided and organized. Our comfort and well-being were insured, and I could literally give every good word I have to my transit experience there.
The flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh was PACKED with passengers. Maybe because it is the first flight that was allowed into Cambodia from Singapore in recent months? I was a bit worried of being infected with COVID-19 in that environment, so I put on my protective goggles. It was just two hours but the goggles were really giving me a hard time.
I did not really enjoy it when we landed in Phnom Penh. It was very hot because there was no air-conditioning. The whole procedure was not that organized and with little guidance in English. When I asked a question, no one could answer in intelligible English/Chinese. In some steps I (as well as some other passengers I believe) had no idea what we were waiting or queuing for. Any I decided that I could just look at what other people are doing and imitate them and follow the moving of the crowd and all.
After filling out the arrival card, we Non-Cambodians (I think) stood in line to have our Covid-free certificate and insurance policy checked and approved by two officers. It was a long and hard wait in the muggy room for me. Some people had issues with their documents (as I mentioned earlier) and the two officers, who were apparently not very efficient, had to check with their superior for decision, which further slowed down the process. However, unless I am much mistaken, EVERYONE managed to get through despite the hassle.
After the document check, the next step is to choose a bank to deposit the 2000 USD. The two choices on that day were CAB and Canadia Bank. Because I heard terrible stories of Canadia Bank, I chose to deposit the money in CAB. A blue slip was given back to me, indicating that I could get back my money with the slip after I took the second test on the 14thday. I could get the refund from any of their branches in Phnom Penh. The cost for the first test that I was about to take (100 USD), transportation to the designated quarantine hotel (5 USD), the food and accommodation cost of the quarantine hotel (mine is 90 USD per night including meals) and a commission fee of 30 USD should be deducted from the deposit. I was also told that if one or more person was tested positive on my flight, I need to spend 14 days in that designated hotel. If nobody were tested positive, I could leave that hotel after one or two nights and self-quarantine at home.
The next step was the official entry at the passport control. Because the documents had been authenticated earlier, the process was fast and easy, except that the officer looked around and asked me for a tip. I gave him two dollars. He said more, so I gave him five dollars and he was happy. I later asked two barangs from the same flight whether they had the same experience. Their answer is no. I guess it might be some kind of taxation for my Chinese passport. The passport was taken away by the officer and he told me it will be returned to me when I checked out at the quarantine hotel.
Next was the swab test. It was much, much better than I had thought. The doctor/nurse stuck that swab really deep into my nose, but it was extremely quick and the swab was pulled out before I could even feel anything.
Then we just waited for the shuttle bus to come to lift us to the quarantine hotel. Some barangs and I had some conversation there and obviously neither they nor I had any clue where we were going or when the bus will come. It was again a long and unpleasant wait in the hot weather, and we had been mostly standing for 2 hours. Some Cambodians keep walking past us and board the bus that comes, while no one tell us that we can board that bus or not.
In all, the entrance procedures at the airport is not that organized and pleasant as I said, but I think if a person just follows the crowd, they probably will not get things wrong.
The bus took us to Tian Yi hotel. We were told that unless we had no choice and this is the hotel that we must stay. This is a typical Chinese-run hotel where I generally had an awful quarantine experience. Everything is so Chinese—in a ridiculous way that even I as a Chinese felt disagreeable. I think some westerners would find it more uncomfortable. One example is when I asked the reception what time should I check out to avoid being charged for another night, the girl, apparently from China, told me in Chinese that it is 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and then she added, “Beijing time”. Later in their lift I found the time on the screen was also shown with GMT+8 (Beijing time), instead of the local GMT+7. Upon arrival at the hotel, they took us to rest in their canteen adjacent to the lobby, without providing food if not we do not ask, despite the fact that many of us were hungry. Although nearly all the staff in the hotel speak Chinese, at the time we arrived only one of their staff serving us speaks fluent English, and the girl was consequently very busy, so many westerners just sat there without knowing what’s next, without their questions answered and without food served. The English speaking girl then gave us some form to fill out before we were invited in small groups to the reception to check in. When checking in, they took away my blue slip for the 2000 USD deposit and promised to return it when I checked out.
My room appears to be clean and stylish, but I found more than one long hairs from the bed. The drainage of the shower was stuck with hair, so I could only take a very quick shower to avoid flooding. The Wifi was terribly slow. They only provided two small bottles of mineral water per day and there is no refrigerator in the room. They did provide a kettle though, which is based on a common theory and belief among us Chinese that inedible water will become edible once it is boiled. This is not always true, especially when the tap water to be boiled has a strange smell. We were not supposed to leave the room. Meals were put outside of my room and a ring of the doorbell gave me the notice to pick them up. They were Chinese-style boxed meals, not at all catered to western or local taste, but I if they try to sell these shit in China, I bet just no one will buy them because they are simply not cooked in the right, authentic Chinese way (example: some meat needs to be marinated for at least 8 hours in a typical Chinese dish, while they serve that dish but the meat is not marinated at all). The worst news is that the meal is not served with a cold drink. They only come with a bowl of very hot salty water with some bits of food in it. We Chinese call this shit “soup”. Yes most Chinese are used to drinking this soup thing while eating, but not me. And with only two bottles of mineral water per day, I had to order some coke from their canteen. Diet cokes were not available so I could just make do with regular cokes, and a can of coke was 3 USD plus 2 USD delivery fee each time. Sheer Robbery. Oh and they only provide chopsticks with their meals, just taking it for granted that every guest is able to use the chopsticks. I spent the two whole days in the hotel worrying that I might have to stay in this place for 14 days if someone is tested positive.
The worst thing during the stay was that NO ONE called me to remind me that all people were tested negative and we were free to go, despite they had promised doing so. I tried to call the reception from the room but always no answer. So about ten o’clock in the morning of the third day of my arrival in the country, I went downstairs to the reception (no one stopped me), and when I gave the flight number to the reception, they said that no one tested positive and I could go, and that they should have informed me before by phone. I complained that I had not received any phone call. Then the Chinese girl at the reception was like, “Oh I didn’t call you because I thought you should have known it. You are CHINESE.” This was appalling. How could I know this when I was not supposed to leave the room, the reception did not answer my calls and I did not have contacts with any other people on my flight? Just because I am CHINESE? I was charged for two nights stay in the hotel, which is 180 USD. Plus the cokes and chilled drinks I bought from them, this Tian Yi (天艺) Hotel managed to steal 200 USD from me. Anyway, I managed to get back my passport and the blue deposit slip upon check out.
I went to a branch of CAB yesterday to try to withdraw my deposit. They confirmed that I have to come back after the second test on the 14th day and get the refund with a Covid-free certificate.
Remind you that things are changing rapidly and there is a lot of arbitrariness in this country. So some of my personal experience may not apply to you when you come.
I have some questions for those who took back their deposits.
1. Can the refund be given in notes in smaller denominations than $100?
2. Is there a bank where I can open an account with a one-month EF visa?
Thank you very much.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 5:44 pm

Doc67 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:59 am Well. it's nice to know that if I decide to leave in a hurry I now have a sensible flight back to London via Singapore thus avoiding the 5 hour flight to Korea and a 6 hour layover. And it's much cheaper.

What price is the flight Doc and how often.