Five Things You Need To Know Before Visiting Cambodia

The ancient temple of Angkor Wat remains a majestic symbol of Cambodian national pride and vivid reminder of the glorious days of Khmer civilization. Cambodia is known for its richness in culture, customs, arts as well as munificent historical architectures. Since the genocide and prolonged civil wars came to an end, the kingdom has enjoyed a fast pace of economic growth and received millions of tourists visiting every year.

As Cambodia has become an increasingly known travel destination, there are 5 things that one must know before visiting the kingdom.

1/ Greeting

Cambodian people greet each other by placing both palms together in front of their bodies and bowing. This official way of greeting is called “Sampeah”. Doing Sampeah might seem unusual to foreigners who greet each other by shaking hands or waving. Usually Sampeah is initiated by a younger or lower-ranking person to show respect to the elder or higher-ranking person.

2/ People Follow Buddhism Rules

Buddhism has been declared the state religion of Cambodia. Though there are other forms of Buddhism, the majority of Cambodians follow Theravada Buddhism, which was originated from India and subsequently spread to the rest of Southeast Asia. Because Buddhism dominates the country, Cambodians are known as gentle and modest people. So, it is inappropriate that tourists sport a bikini or go topless when walking in public, wear short shorts or leaving their shoulders uncovered when visiting pagodas.

3/ Temples

Cambodia is home to thousands of temples nationwide with many hidden in the thick forests and others being undiscovered. When it comes to visiting temples, the most popular tourism spot is in Siem Reap located in the northwest of the kingdom where it is home to majestic temples of Angkor built during the pinnacle of Khmer civilization.

4/ Transaction

The official currency of Cambodia is Riel, with 4000 riel is approximately equivalent to 1 UD dollar. The value of Riel compared to US dollar does not considerably change as the National Bank of Cambodia, Cambodia’s Central Bank, tries to maintain stable exchange rate.

Most transactions in Cambodia can be done in US dollar while Cambodian Riel is used to buy inexpensive items since a small change is given in Cambodian Riel. However, in Cambodia anyone hardly accepts credit cards or cheques, so tourists had better have cash in the pocket.

5. Learn Necessary Words in Khmer

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. It is not a must to master the language before visiting the country as foreigners can communicate in English with Cambodians, especially in the tourist areas. However, it would be better that tourists can use some essential words in Khmer and those are fairly easy to pronounce. Here are three essential words:

• “Sou sdei” means Hello.
• “Orkun” means Thank you.
• “Somtous” means Sorry.