Can you survive on $3 a day in Phnom Penh?
I still get the occasional question about the cost of food and eating in Cambodia – but being asked whether one could get by on $3 a day was a new one. It is not an endeavour that I would be at all interested in personally pursuing.
My answer:
Yes, but it would be tough going and repetitive. For a tourist, it would be hardcore. Most Cambodians get by on a $1 a day but in practice, it is an extremely grim way to live; mostly involving cooking your own watery vegetable soup, a little fish paste and rice; and doing so for entire families rather than cooking alone.
It’d be much, much easier if you were cooking for yourself and buying produce from the local markets. While I was living in Phnom Penh, my weekly vegetable bill would come to less than $5 – but this wouldn’t include meat or rice; or the four or five meals out of the house a week. $21 a week would buy a good deal of rice and prahok.
To do it otherwise, you’d have to be eating at the very local joints especially market vendors at Orussei, Olympic Market or other outlying markets where you can generally pick up a decent bowl of noodles or something with rice for around a $1. You’d end up having to have one very light meal a day. My plan would be (if you’re eating outside the home):
Breakfast – Pork and rice; or a hefty bowl of khtieu for around 4000 riel. Coffee.
Lunch – Buy a baguette or two (a few hundred riel), whichever fruit is in season (another few hundred riel), and some pate or cheese to fill the bread. Interchange with ramen whenever you get bored.
Dinner – Pick up a preprepared curry/soup and rice from around Psar Kandal or Psar Chas. Alternate with a small fried fish occasionally.
My big tip (if you’re going to stay in one place/not move around too much) would be to buy a Rabbit-brand water filter (list of retailers(PDF)). You pour in tap water and out comes drinkable, bacteria and virus-free water. It’ll save you a hell of a lot on bottled water.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:23 am
here are some comments on eating for USD 3 per day
http://www.expat-advisory.com/forums/topic9930.html
October 26th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 am
Last year in Cambodia I took my daughter and her friends to a fast food place like McDonalds every day. It is called Family World. Each meal had meat, rice and perhaps something green. Good serving size and soups as well for cheap prices. The average meal cost was $1.
BBQ on the beach with large serving of meat, chips and salad $2.50 - $3.50. This is a tourist spot and expensive by local standards. The fried rice and local dishes were cheaper. Have some rice with stock for supper and bread for breakfast or wait for the food vendors with there trays of rice paper rolls, noodles and what not for 25c - $1: cheap as.
I have found plenty of bargain food places in Cambodia and eaten at them without illness as well. Phnom Penh is more expensive. It also has the best food if you know where to eat. The value in Phnom Penh is not a $1 meal, it is a $5 - $7 meal of the most amazing food ever. Too many great places to eat and not enough time is my problem.
Yeh, you could eat for $3 a day. You just can not drink.