Money in Siem Reap: Dollars, Riel, and What a Day Really Costs

Cambodia runs on US dollars. Prices are quoted in dollars, ATMs dispense dollars, hotels and tours bill in dollars, and you can complete an entire trip without handling riel deliberately.

Riel is the change. The exchange rate sits around 4,000 riel to the dollar and it is deliberately stable, so a 1,000-riel note is a quarter and a 2,000 is fifty cents. Buy something for $1.50 with a $2 note and you get 2,000 riel back. That is the whole system and it works smoothly once you stop being surprised by it.

There are no US coins in circulation. Anything under a dollar comes back in riel, which is the single thing to internalise.

⚠️ Torn, marked or heavily worn dollar notes are routinely refused - by shops, by hotels, sometimes by banks. This catches almost every visitor once. Bring clean notes, check what an ATM or a money changer hands you before you walk away, and do not accept a damaged note as change.

Small denominations matter. Tuk-tuks, temple drink sellers, market stalls and tips all want ones and fives. Break a fifty at a hotel or a supermarket early and keep a stock of singles.

ATMs are everywhere in Siem Reap and dispense US dollars. Most charge a fee of around USD 4-6 per withdrawal on top of whatever your own bank takes, so take out larger amounts less often. Some machines let you choose the denomination; ask for smaller notes where you can.

Check the withdrawal limit before you queue - it varies by bank and some cap low enough to make the fee hurt.

Cards are accepted at hotels, the better restaurants and larger tour operators. Many add a 2-3% surcharge and say so. Small guesthouses, tuk-tuks, markets and temple sellers are cash only.

You do not need to change money before you arrive. Dollars are the local currency; bringing dollars from home is the simplest route if your bank gives a decent rate.

Money changers in town give reasonable rates for major currencies and are worth using over an airport counter.

The Angkor Pass is bought at the Angkor Enterprise office and takes card or cash. That is USD 62 for the three-day, and the pass guide explains why that is the ticket to buy.

Sleeping. Hostel dorm USD 6-12. Guesthouse double USD 15-30, often with a pool at USD 25. Good mid-range hotel with pool and breakfast USD 40-80. Boutique USD 90-200. See where to stay.

Eating. Street plate or noodle bowl USD 1.50-3. A proper Khmer meal in a local restaurant USD 5-8 a head. Kandal Village independents USD 8-15. The ambitious modern-Khmer kitchens USD 25-50.

Beer from USD 0.50 for Pub Street draught, USD 1.50-3 elsewhere. A decent cocktail USD 4-7.

Getting around. Tuk-tuk across town a couple of dollars. A full temple day by tuk-tuk USD 18-25 - hired by the day, because your driver waits at each temple. Private car with driver USD 35-55, more for the far temples. Airport transfer from about USD 30 for the 45-kilometre run.

Guides. A licensed guide USD 35-45 a day on top of transport.

Tickets. Angkor Pass USD 37 / 62 / 72. Phnom Kulen a separate USD 20. Koh Ker and Preah Vihear their own. Phare circus from about USD 18-38 depending on seat.

A comfortable day, mid-range room included, lands at USD 60-110 per person. A backpacker day is USD 25-40. Peak season, 20 December to 5 January, moves the room part sharply.

Tipping is not obligatory and is normal in tourist-facing work. Ten percent in a restaurant that has looked after you. For a tuk-tuk driver who has sat in the heat for eight hours waiting at temple car parks, a few dollars at the end of the day is standard and appreciated - that wait is most of his working day. Same for a guide.

Bargaining is expected in markets and good-humoured, not adversarial. Ask the price, offer somewhat less, settle. What is not good: grinding a weaver down over a piece that took a fortnight, or treating a two-dollar gap as a contest. The gap is trivial to you.

Fixed-price applies to the Angkor Pass, restaurants, and most hotels. Tuk-tuk fares are agreed before you get in, not after.

Where the money actually lands. Cambodia has a large number of Cambodian-run social enterprises - training restaurants teaching hospitality to young people from hard backgrounds, the Phare circus funding its Battambang arts school, weavers selling at the loom on Koh Dach. Several of the training restaurants cook as well as anywhere in town, which makes it an easy choice rather than a worthy one.

Where it should not go: begging children, which keeps them out of school by making them earning assets, and orphanage visits, which reputable operators stopped offering years ago. Give to an organisation instead.