What to pack
A short list built around three realities: it is hot, temples have a dress code, and almost everything else can be bought here for a dollar.
4 min read
Pack light. The climate rules out most of what people bring, laundry costs about a dollar a kilo and comes back the same day, and anything you forget is on sale within walking distance. The only items genuinely worth carrying from home are the ones that are hard to find in your size or that you would not want a cheap version of.
Clothes
Loose cotton and linen, light colours, and enough of it that you are not washing every night. One set of long, light trousers and a shirt with sleeves covering the shoulders is not optional: it is the minimum to enter Angkor and any working temple, and it is also what stops you burning on a long temple day.
A light rain shell earns its place from May to October. A warm layer earns its place nowhere except an overnight bus, where the air conditioning is set to arctic as a point of pride.
Feet
Sandals you can walk kilometres in and slip off at a doorway, plus one pair of trainers for temple stones and any trekking. Angkor involves a lot of uneven sandstone and steep steps; flip-flops turn that into an ankle injury.
The small things that matter
High-factor sunscreen and a repellent with DEET or picaridin — both are sold locally but at tourist prices and variable quality. A refillable water bottle, ideally insulated. A power bank, because a phone doing maps, translation and photos in the heat will not last the day. A universal adapter, though most sockets accept European and American plugs.
A scarf or krama, the checked Cambodian cotton cloth sold in every market for a couple of dollars, does the work of five things: shoulder cover at a temple, sun shade, towel, dust mask on a tuk-tuk and pillow on a bus.
Medicine cabinet
Any prescription medication in its original packaging with the prescription, plus rehydration salts, an anti-diarrhoeal, painkillers, plasters and antiseptic. Pharmacies in the cities are well stocked and cheap, but rural ones are not, and the islands have almost nothing.
Common questions
Is there a dress code at Angkor?
Yes, and it is enforced: shoulders and knees covered to enter the upper level of Angkor Wat and many other sanctuaries.
Can I drink the tap water?
No. Use filtered or bottled water, which most hotels refill for free or for a token amount if you bring a bottle.
បន្តអាន
Cambodia in a nutshell
A small country with an enormous history: what Cambodia actually feels like once you land, and how long you really need.
Visas and entry
e-Visa, visa on arrival or nothing at all: which one applies to you, what it costs, and the paperwork worth doing before you fly.
The best time to visit
Dry season, green season and the shoulder weeks nobody talks about — what each one actually looks like on the ground.
