Quote: (12-06-2012 11:55 PM)20Nation Wrote:
I'm in Phnom Penh. The information about 500$ a month I got from a 45 year old Australian guy. He said he gets 800$ every month from his government and that the only place he can 100% live on it is Cambodia. He's been living in Phnom Penh for over 2 years. He also spends over 300$ a month on hookers so I took that out of the equation. When I found out on how little he was living I couldn't believe it. I questioned the hell out of him.
As far as money goes. If you go to normal places (not expensive and not cheap) meals are about $1.50 including drink eating out, beers are $.50, if you speak a small amount of Khmer so you can show you've been here for a while you can get a ride anywhere on the city for $1 on a moto. Khmer's have a "us vs. foreigners mentality" so showing you have been there for a while and speak at least 30 words of their language will really impress them. Overall I've never been to any place nearly this cheap. If you buy a moto, transportation becomes dirt cheap.
As far as how dangerous it is, i think it's a lot more safe than I originally thought. I'd say I feel a lot more safe here than Colombia, and I loved Colombia. However, it's still smart to stay in the right areas at night and don't carry too much cash on you. Still, the law has very little power here in Cambodia, so I would not suggest coming if you are the type that bumps head with people easily. If you bump heads with the wrong person (he has enough money) he can just pull out a gun and shoot you, then pay off the cops. However, I guess they need a lot more money to pay off the cops if they kill a tourist, since it will reflect poorly on the country.
I think the average salary in Cambodia is nearly 1/5 of the average salary in neighboring Thailand. That should help you understand how poor it is here. However, because of that, other than Phnom Penh you won't find much nightlife because people just don't have the money to go out. You will find parents who want to marry you off to their beautiful daughter. Almost anybody here can have the top girls in Cambodia if they are willing to marry them, but with some game they are definitely accessible without marriage.
Second that. I've in in PP for a few months, after living in BKK for a little while. $500 a month is plenty, plenty for somebody who wants to go 'upscale local' (vs. the whole thing of being the confused tourist who must have his diaper changed no matter where he goes in the world). It almost takes an effort actually, to spend 500 bucks.
Bought a motorbike, rented a nicer (but local) apartment for $60 a month, trips to the beach Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, whenver I feel like. Spent a total of $420 for a month in Vietnam, nice hotels, beach town, eating out seafood every meal, transport, visa, etc.
You see the tourists three blocks away paying 5x as much. You see the room prices change dramatically when you bring your local chick to do the negotiating for you.
BKK was similar, but $150 for a nice apartment (in a lively part of town, and away from the expats - bonus!). $500 a month in BKK was totally easy to do. But then I party without buying bottles at the club, spending a minute to learn some Thai instead of getting farang prices for everything.
Vietnam is promising. Budget wise seems just about the same as Cambodia, but the people are a little less poor/all-our-smart-ones-got-wiped-out-by-Pol-Pot. You know ... friendly but sort of vacant, vs. a little edge, like the Vietnamese have. Also, Vietnamese girls were way, way easier (for me, at least). Cambodia is too damn traditional (but then too, you can buy serious hotties for $20 a night, if that's your thing).