Budget Travel to Vietnam and Cambodia

My recent trip abroad taught me a whole new experience in budget traveling. Despite visiting two countries simultaneously, I did not go overboard with my budget limit, I even managed to save.

Budget limit: Php12,000 Actual amount spent: Php9,678.00

Budget Travel is always possible if you stay focus with your budget plan, just prepare your itinerary concisely and set your limit, and, yes, don't cheat with your budget plan. When you create a budget, put an estimated amount for each item so that you have an idea how much amount to prepare and how to work things out while waiting for the schedule of your trip.

Saigon (one night): Lan Lan 2 Hotel

Address: Ben Thanh, Quan 1, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Phone: +84-8-3822-7926

 The room we occupied at Lan Lan 2 Hotel

Each bed can accommodate two persons

Php720.00 for each per person, per night

Lan Lan 2 is a 3-star hotel and located just across Ben Thanh market and closer to the best attractions around Saigon: Notre Dame cathedral, Central post office, Independence palace. Amenities and freebies include cable television, electric kettle, hair blower, refrigerator, free wifi, telephone, pair of slippers, bath towel, face towel, bottled water for each person, free breakfast, toiletries: shampoo, toothbrush kit, bath soap and shower gel. Very clean and elegant room and accommodating staff.

For below expenses, I used the conversion rate of .0025 Vietnamese dong (VD) per one Philippine peso. If you want to convert VD into US dollar, selling price of dollar currency in Vietnam and Cambodia is Php50.00

VISIT AGODA SITE HERE TO SCORE HOTEL DEALS LIKE WE DID.

	VD	Php
DAY 1-Saigon
Travel from airport to Ben Thanh	5,000	12.50
Hotel accommodation-1 night		720.00
Lunch-full meal	61,000	152.50
Snacks at the Independence Palace	10,000	25.00
Entrance fee to Independence Palace	30,000	75.00
Siklo ride from Ind.palace to hotel	150,000	375.00
Grocery (toiletries, food, drinks)	45,000	112.50
Total expenses for Day 1		1,472.50

For the above itemized expenses, you might notice I did not include my breakfast and dinner, it's because I brought food from Manila, good for breakfast on the day of our arrival and dinner, but if you don't want to bring packed meals, you may allocate budget for your breakfast and dinner for day 1. Take note also that there's no item for a city ride except for siklo, it's because we just walked on foot while visiting attractions. 

Important reminder: In Saigon, siklo ride is a lot expensive and if you want to try this ride for an experience make sure you make a clear arrangement with the siklo driver to come up with a reasonable fare, we were not able to negotiate clearly with the 3 drivers (I guess, the right term is---there was a miscommunication) because we're extremely tired to think about arrangement. If you hate walking around the unfamiliar streets, choose taxi instead, flag down rate in Vietnam is only VD12,000 - Php30.00, there's an additional VD3,000 (Php7.50) per kilometer.

Important Tip: When crossing the border or when traveling to another town/province in Vietnam or Cambodia, make an arrangement with the hotel receptionist to buy you a bus ticket, this is more convenient because the arrangement includes free pick up at the hotel with no additional charges.

Phnom Penh city (two nights): Hotel Luxury world

Address: #35 Street 200, Sangkat Boeung Rang, Khan Daun,

Phnom Penh city, Cambodia

The actual room we occupied at Hotel Luxury world

Php720.00 each person per night

Hotel Luxury world is 3-star hotel with freebies and amenities similar to Lan Lan 2 hotel (minus electric kettle). They have nice and accommodating staff, the location is just within the city. For travelers who may want to buy dollar currency or Cambodian currency, there's a western union nearby, around two blocks. Unlike in Lan Lan 2 hotel, at Hotel luxury world, you are required to present a meal coupon when availing the free breakfast, you can get it from the receptionist.

	US$	Php
DAY 2-Phnom Penh City
Bus fare (Capitol Tours bus)		825.00
Hotel accommodation-1 night		740.00
Tuktuk ride from bus stop to hotel	1.5	75.00
Dinner – along the city road	1.5	75.00
Total expenses for Day 1		1,715.00

We crossed the border without any Cambodian currency nor dollar so we were not able to buy for our lunch, we just consumed biscuits which we brought from Manila.

Siem Reap city (one night): Rithy Rine Angkor Hotel

Address: #0509, Wat bo village, Siem Reap city, Cambodia

Phone: +85-5-12-237-456

The actual room we occupied. 

We paid Php550.00 each for one night. Pretty cheap rate isn't it? You can avail this rate too, just make your reservation at AGODA SITE through this LINK

Rithy Rine Angkor hotel is also a 3-star hotel located at Wat bo village, this area is closer to Koulen II restaurant and souvenir shops. It has wonderful staff, I was so touched with their kindness, very pleasant! We spent dinner at Koulen II restaurant, Rithy Rine staff recommended it to us, they also arranged our reservation at the restaurant.

	US$	Php
DAY 3-Siem Reap City
Bus fare (Sorya bus)	10.00	500.00
Hotel accommodation-1 night		520.00
I bought pinipig on the road	1.00	50.00
Tuktuk ride from bus stop to hotel	1.5	75.00
Dinner – Koulen II restaurant	13.00	650.00
Tuktuk ride at night	1.33	66.50
Total expenses for Day 1		1,861.50

	US$	Php
DAY 4-Siem Reap, Angkor, Phnom Penh
Tuktuk ride to Angkor complex – One day	10.00	500.00
Angkor Pass for one day tour	20.00	1,000.00
Bus fare going back to Phnom Penh	8.00	400.00
Stop over meal – Sieam Reap province	1.00	50.00
Tuktuk ride from bus stop to hotel	1.40	70.00
Hotel accommodation – 1 night		740.00
Dinner	1.00	50.00
Total expenses for Day 1		2,810.00

	US$	VD	Php
DAY 5- Phnom Penh and Saigon
Bus fare going back to Saigon	10.00		500.00
Taxi to Ben Thanh market		30,000	75.00
Dinner in front of Ben Thanh market		50,000	125.00
Taxi to airport from Ben Thanh market		45,000	112.50
Total expenses for Day 1			812.00

	VD	Php
Souvenir Items shopping
Saigon	584,000	1,460.00
With this amount, I already bought: 1 embroidered casual bag 4 embroidered cloth pouches 1 mini sling pouch with embroidery 2 cloth coin purses 2 T-shirts with nice embroidery 3 metal key chains 3 magnetic holders 2 ceramic figurines
Siem Reap city	$5.00	250.00
With this amount, I already bought: 1 T-shirt 2 magnetic holders 1 glass miniature
Total amount I spent in shopping		1,710.00

Expenses in both Vietnam and Cambodia	Php
Hotel accommodation (4 nights)	2,750.00
Food, transportation, entrance fees, others	5,138.50
Shopping	1,710.00
Tips – hotel service staff (carrying bags)	80.00
Total expenses for this adventure	9,678.00

Airfare/transpo/requirements	Php
Round Trip airfare (Manila-Saigon-Manila)	8,575.00
Travel Tax	5,138.50
Terminal Fee (NAIA only)	1,710.00
Departure - Fare from the city to airport	153.00
Arrival – Fare from airport to Taft (bus)	20.00
Taft to Mandaluyong (MRT)	20.00
TOTAL	15,616.50
Grand Total for this 5-day foreign trip	25,294.50

IMPORTANT TIPS/GUIDE/REMINDERS: 

When visiting Vietnam and Cambodia:

• Do research online what attractions you prefer to visit.
• Learn from other travelers' experience by reading reviews/sharing online
• Prepare your itinerary ahead of time
• English is not widely spoken in both Cambodia and Vietnam, so write the address of each destination and hotels in a piece of paper and show it to the locals.
• If you want to cross the border and need to buy a bus ticket, just tell the receptionist of your hotel, they will be the one to make an arrangement with the bus company, there’s no additional fee with this as this is part of their service. What made this arrangement very comfortable is that it includes free pick up at your hotel without additional payment.
• Bus companies going to and from Cambodia and Vietnam provide free bottled water for each passenger and one wet tissue. All bus facilities have comfort room and television. Other bus companies have free wifi on board.
• When visiting Cambodia, make sure you bring US dollar instead of Cambodian currency, most stores and establishments there prefer US dollar than their local currency.
• Siklo (similar to a trisikad in the Philippines) is very expensive, if you want to experience this ride in Vietnam, make sure you make a clear negotiation with the driver how much you will going to pay before embarking on a ride.
• In Cambodia, means of transportation is Tuktuk (similar to tricycle in the Philippines), normally the fare is only $3.00 for a single ride within the city, this rate is not per head, it’s the total payment for a single ride, so you can divide the amount among yourselves if you're with a group. If the destination is far, they will collect $5.00 for the ride.

I have only one regret with this trip, we're not able to cross Thailand when it is just 7 hours away from Siem Reap city. Actually, when we first created our itinerary we never thought of visiting Cambodia because our initial plan was to visit Da Lat in Central Vietnam and Hoi An in the North but travel time to these places is the same as crossing Cambodia, thus we revised our itinerary and decided to include Angkor Wat, too late we already booked a round-trip ticket.

For a smooth trip and to make most of your time visiting Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, you may either choose to enter Saigon then cross to Cambodia via Phnom Penh then to Siem Reap and exit in Bangkok or vice versa.

WANT TO GET THE PRICE RATE SIMILAR TO THESE HOTEL DEALS FOR YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE? VISIT AGODA SITE HERE TO AVAIL HUGE DISCOUNT!

READ THE REST OF OUR ADVENTURE HERE

To give you an idea how we prepared our itinerary for this trip, here's the actual time table:

Plan/Date	Destination/Place	Time	Transportation
DAY 1 – Jan.2, Friday	SAIGON, VIETNAM
Arrival from Manila	Tan Son Nhat airport	12:30am
Rest	Airport	1:00-7:00am
Breakfast	Airport	7:00am
Travel from airport to Ben Thanh	Ben Thanh market	7:30am	Bus #152
Lan Lan 2 Hotel	Across Ben Thanh
City leisure around Saigon
(we were not able to visit all the attractions listed in our original itinerary: History Museum, Jade Emperor pagoda, War remnants museum and Suo Tien amusement park)	Public parks Notre dame cathedral Central post office Lunch – Diamond Plaza Independence Palace Back to hotel Dinner	9:30am 10:30am 11:30am 1:00pm 3:00pm 6:30pm	Stroll, walk, siklo ride
DAY 2 – Jan.3, Saturday	PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
Breakfast – Lan Lan 2 hotel - free		7:00am
Free pick up at the hotel		8:30am	Bus shuttle
Depart for Phnom Penh		9:00am	Bus
Arrival	Phnom Penh city	5:30pm
Travel to hotel luxury world		5:30pm	Tuktuk
Check-in hotel		5:45pm
Dinner		7:30pm
DAY 3 – Jan.4, Sunday	SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA
Breakfast – Hotel - free		7:00am
Free pick up at the hotel		8:30am	Bus shuttle
Depart for Siem Reap		9:00am	Bus
Arrival	Siem Reap city	5:30pm
Travel to Rithy Rine Angkor hotel		5:30pm	Tuktuk
Check-in hotel		5:45pm
Dinner	Koulen II restaurant	7:30pm	Tuktuk
Back to the hotel		9:30pm	Tuktuk
DAY 4 – Jan.5, Monday	SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA
Depart for Angkor complex		5:10am	Tuktuk
Destination 1:	Apsara ticketing	5:20am	Tuktuk
Destination 2:	Angkor Wat	5:30am	Tuktuk
Destination 3:	Angkor Thom	7:40am	Tuktuk
Destination 4:	Ta Phrom Temple	9:30am	Tuktuk
Back to hotel	Rhity Rine hotel	11:00am	Tuktuk
Free pick up		11:30am	Pick up shuttle
Depart for Phnom Penh		12:30pm	Bus
Arrival	Phnom Penh city	8:00am
Travel from bus stop to hotel	Hotel luxury world	8:10pm	Tuktuk
Check-in hotel		8:25pm
DAY 5 – Jan.6, Tuesday	SAIGON, VIETNAM
Breakfast – hotel free		7:00am
Free pick up shuttle bus		8:30am	Shuttle bus
Depart for Saigon		9:00am	Bus
Arrival	Saigon	4:00pm
Travel to Ben Thanh market	Ben Thanh market	4:10pm	Taxi
Shopping	Ben Thanh market	4:25pm
Dinner	Around Ben Thanh market	7:00pm
Travel to airport		8:00pm	Taxi
January 7, Wednesday	Fly back home