Reddit mentions: The best cambodia travel guides

>About two weeks in to my trip here, I wanted to branch out and try eating at different places every day. There are so many different food options, but I always noticed a Korean restaurant with a peculiar name as I was taken around the city of Phnom Penh.



> Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.



> Well, that's strange, I thought to myself. Maybe it is one of those gimmicky theme restaurants. I put it on my mental list of places to eat at.



> One night I forced Sey and Setha to go with me to the restaurant. Sey had no idea where it was so I was stuck with the strange situation of giving the person who lived in Phnom Penh his whole life directions to this place.



> We parked under a big sign with a smiling Korean lady in a hanbok (traditional Korean dress). There were a fair number of other Korean restaurants in city but none with nearly as interesting a name.



> We were directed to an entrance towards the back, and immediately alarm bells went off in my head. Every single restaurant and store in Cambodia has a door right by the road. In contrast, the path to the entrance to Pyongyang was a dimly lit side path and a little intimidating. However, it was no match for what awaited us inside.



> The doors were opened by two young Korean ladies and immediately the power of 100 florescent lights washed over us. The ladies welcomed us in Korean. I was completely thrown off-guard by what they were wearing: frilly colorful dresses that a little girl in the 50s might have worn. They matched their colorful outfit with shiny white shoes. Inside we could see about 7 waitresses, all between 18-23 years old, and all wearing a different brightly colored dress.



> The restaurant was huge for Cambodian standards, and could easily seat up to 150 people. There were about 6 patrons in there at 7 pm on a weekend night. We were directed to a table and a very cute waitress in a bright yellow dress came over and began to set our table. She asked us what we wanted to drink in Korean.



> Sey tried to talk to them in Khmer but none of the waitresses knew a lick of the local language. They knew a little English, so Sey left the ordering up to me. I flipped through the menu, thinking how bizarre this place was turning out. The walls had large pictures of fierce animals in the middle of a roar.



> It looked like a normal Korean menu with bibimbap, kalbi, bulgogi—when I turned the page and saw four different ways to order dog meat. That was unexpected. I might have been adventurous enough to order it but I was so off balance by the dress and the restaurant that I just ordered regular Korean food. The cute waitress in the yellow dress bounced behind a pair of swinging doors and out of our sight.



> Sey and Setha gave me a look that said what the hell did you get us in to? I tried to remain optimistic since I picked the place. Meanwhile, on the flat screen televisions were a karaoke version of some militaristic North Korean jingo. Karaoke videos are cheesy enough to begin with, but this video was downright strange. It felt like it came out from another era and another planet. I was trying to figure out what the song was about when another beautiful waitress in a pink dress came by to give us hot towels and banchan (side dishes). She was very pretty, but had a look on her face that said she did not tolerate any bullshit. She began to make small talk with me. I responded with my broken Korean.





> The conversation immediately took a weird turn and it started to feel like an interrogation. Sey and Setha were oblivious to her words and had no idea how uncomfortable Pink was making me.



> Pink: How long have you been here in Puh-noom Penh?



> Me: Uhh, about two weeks.



> Pink: Where did you come from?



> Me: Los Angeles.



> Pink: Are you full Korean?



> Me: Yes, as far as I know.



> Pink: Do you come from occupied Korea?



> Me: Huh?



> I was honestly confused by Pink's question. She kindly rephrased it for me.



> Pink: Which Korea do you come from?



> I felt a cold sweat fall from my brow when she asked that. What the hell kind of question was that? Sey and Setha continued to munch on some cucumber kimchee. I pretended that the limits to my Korean were reached and I couldn't understand her question.



> Me: American. I come from America.



> Pink gave me a look like she just stepped in dog shit and walked away without a word. Yellow bounced back to our table and smiled broadly. She tried to ask me some questions too but I so shaken that I just pretended not to understand.



> Me (in broken Korean): Me.. Only a little Korean language I can talk.



> Yellow didn't seem to mind and bounced away again behind the double swinging doors.



> The main entrance doors opened and six downright mean looking Cambodians came in. They all were dressed the same, in dark brown shirts and pants with no other identifying marks on their clothing. They took a quick look around and then wordlessly went through the double swinging doors. Sey finally matched me and looked uncomfortable.



> The men came back and sat at a table about 15 feet away from me. They didn't order anything and no waitresses came by to check up on them. They just sat there.



> Yellow came happily bouncing back with our food at this time. She mixed Setha's bibimbap order and set our kalbi and bulgogi down. And then Yellow just stood there at the edge of our table while we ate. There was complete silence for about a minute while we tried to eat and ignore the pretty Korean girl in the yellow dress just staring at us while we ate.



> Yellow: Is the food good?



> Me: Yes, everything is tasty!



> Yellow continued to stand there. I tried eating as Yellow looked at me with her huge pretty eyes, while feeling six pairs of eyes bore a hole in to my back, with a Korean military jingle was playing in the background. I couldn't taste the food, but I kept eating anyway. Yellow mercifully gave up in making conversation and walked away. I felt myself exhale.



> The kalbi and bulgogi were pretty bad but the bibimbap was tasty. I decided to get out of there as quickly as possible so I ate everything at lightning speed. I asked for the check, and after what felt like an eternity, Yellow brought it.



> $46. I paid with a $50 bill and was confronted with my next problem: What the hell do I tip? If it was a Cambodian restaurant I would have tipped $1 or $2 if I was extra generous. Sey, who thinks I over tip if I give anyone a dollar, told me to leave the $50 and just go. I suddenly felt like a $4 tip was inadequate, but I didn't want to freeze in indecision so I started to bolt out the door. Sey and Setha quickly followed me.



> I ignored the six pairs of eyes on me and saw a white couple coming in as we were leaving. I resisted the urge to yell, "RUN, BITCH, RUN! CALL FOR HELP!"

> We got to car without further incident and Sai almost ran over the parking attendant as we left in to the Phnom Penh night.



> Later, I learned that the former king of Cambodia, Sihanouk, was a huge friend to North Korea and Kim Il-Sung in particular. In fact, Kim Il-Sung built a huge mansion for Sihanouk to vacation in whenever he wanted. Sihanouk was even assigned North Korean bodyguards, which he kept for over 40 years. He only recently released them from duty in his current exile in Shanghai to return home to their families in North Korea.



> In return, he allowed North Korea to build a couple of restaurants in Cambodia.



And there's a link to his book.

I didn't want to open a debate about where some publisher is located. I just wanted to find new publishers so I have a wider selection.

I'm actually interested in buying two guides for an upcoming trip: Laos & Indonesia. I was expecting to find different publishers, so I could take a look at the most updated guide.

Here's the result of my little investigation (I don't think it's going to be too useful to anyone else, but anyway).

To be honest, it seems like there are only two good sources for both countries:

Lonely Planet
----------------
Country of origin: Australia

Headquarters: Melbourne or Tenesse (who knows)

Laos guide: Mar 2014

Indo guide: May 2013

Rough Guides
----------------
Country of origin: UK

Headquarters: London (owned by Penguin)

Laos guide: Nov 2014

Indo guide: Oct 2014

DK Eyewitness
----------------
Country of origin: UK

Headquarters: UK

Laos guide: Jan 2016

Indo guide: Feb 2010 (only Bali & Lombok)

Fodor's
----------------
Country of origin: USA

Headquarters: New York, NY

Laos guide: May 2016 (several countries)

Indo guide: They have a 2001 version (seems too old)

Let's Go
--------
Country of origin: USA

Headquarters: Cambridge, MA

Laos guide: They have a 2000 Southeast Asia guide (seems too old)

Indo guide: They have a 2000 Southeast Asia guide (seems too old)

Le Routard
----------
Country of origin: France

Headquarters: Paris

Laos guide: Aug 2015 (only in French)

Indo guide: Couldn't find it.

El País-Aguilar
---------------
(I think these are the same as DK Eyewitness but translated to Spanish (maps & drawings seem to be the same))

Country of origin: Spain

Headquarters: Madrid (owned by Penguin)

Laos guide: Feb 2012 (only in Spanish)

Indo guide: Couldn't find it.

If you have the time, read Dos and Don'ts in Cambodia. It's a great answer to your question.

1. Cambodian adults dress more conservatively than adults in the west. Shorts are not common dress. Wear pants if you want to fit in.
   
2. Don't point at or touch others with your feet. This is very disrespectful. You probably won't be in a position to, but it could be easy to do by accident at dinner time because it's customary to take off your shoes and sit on the floor together for meals.
   
3. Don't pat or rub people's heads, especially elder people. This is considered rude. not as rude as pointing with your feet, but close.
   
4. Age is important in Cambodia. If someone's older then you, even by a year or two, it's customary to show respect.
   
5. How you address a person depends their age. E.G. For males, if someone is your peer your call them bong (brother). If they're ~10+ years older than you, call them "poo" (uncle). If they can be your dad or your dad's dad there's another name you should address them as, but I forget.
   
6. In general Cambodia is conservative country. When in public (outside of the nighclub areas) act like you're walking around downtown in a bible belt city, not like you're in Vegas. Don't express anger, be vulgar, drunk, or loud in public.
   
7. Saving face is important in Cambodian culture. Smile, be polite, and don't start conflicts.
   
   All that being said, Cambodia is changing rapidly. These traditions are not as strict as they were in the past, especially in Phnom Penh. Just don't be a jackass and you'll be fine.

http://www.amazon.com/Khmer-Empire-Cities-Sactuaries-Century/dp/9749863305