Cambodia by bus: Mekong Express and Giant Ibis Bus Review
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We took two big bus trips in Cambodia: Siem Reap to Phnom Penh on a Mekong Express bus and Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on a Giant Ibis bus. Here’s my Mekong Express and Giant Ibis Bus Review: how they compare, and how to book each of them. Spoiler: My vote goes to Giant Ibis. And as our trip is now quite some time ago, I also asked two fellow traveler bloggers who just traveled through Cambodia recently to share their experience and tell me about the current state of the road and how long the bus takes from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap in 2018. The basics – ticket prices, booking details including online booking, schedule etc. are at the end of this post.
Nội Dung Chính
Mekong Express Bus Review
Until the arrival of Giant Ibis a few years ago, Mekong Express was considered by most foreigners as the best bus company in Cambodia. And compared to many of the other companies out there, it does have a few things going for it: they sell tickets with numbered seats, and you’re guaranteed a whole seat to yourself (yes, in Cambodia this is a little luxury that not every bus offers, especially not the minibuses). The Mekong Express bus will also take you directly to your destination city rather than making random stops in between to pick up additional passengers or packages.
Traveling to Cambodia? Check out my 3 week Cambodia itinerary for ideas on where to go and what to do!
That being said, we still weren’t very impressed. Our bus was old – ancient, even – and considering the state of the road from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, that made the trip a bit more dangerous than it needed to be. I also killed about fifteen mosquitoes on this trip, and I’m guessing everyone else on this bus killed their fair share too, so you might want to bring some mosquito spray to cover yourself in to avoid being bitten.
Our driver was ok, while he did spend more time overtaking other vehicles than staying on his side of the road, he did do a good job to avoid the most dangerous parts of the road (the road was partially under construction during our trip) and I definitely had more confidence in him than in his rusty old bus.
Mekong Express advertised with little luxuries like a breakfast snack, a toilet on the bus and free wifi. The snack was okay, a mini pizza of some sort with a ton of onions on it and a muffin that was actually quite tasty (when it gets to cakes & stuff like that, I’ll eat almost anything though). The toilet was indeed there and working, however, considering the extremely bumpy trip, whatever was in that toilet was splashing all over the place. Not really Mekong Express’ fault, but you wouldn’t want to use the toilet on this bus unless you had a real emergency. And as for the wifi, I tried that about ten times and it never once worked, so don’t get your hopes up on that one. Your entertainment will be limited to ancient reruns of Mr. Bean and Cambodian Karaoke videos.
Giant Ibis Bus Review: The newer option for traveling through Cambodia
Being a bit disappointed with Mekong Express, we tried Giant Ibis for our trip from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville a few days later. Their buses are actually as new and nice as promised on their website, ours was a small 25 seater with nice clean seats and comfortable, with air conditioning at a comfortable level (not your traditional ice box that so many other buses here seem to opt for). No toilet on this bus, but they all stop on the way for a lunch & bathroom break. The flatscreen tv played English movies (Ice Age, Night in the Museum 2, pretty family friendly stuff), however the sound was a bit low to really watch. I’ve heard that their bigger buses have individual outlets on each seat so you can plug in your headphones for the movies, but ours didn’t.
The promised wifi on Giant Ibis was only marginally better than that on the Mekong Express, out of twelve times I tried it, it worked once – at the bus stop in Phnom Penh before departure. I’ve read that they just turn their 3g signal into a hotspot. With twenty to fifty people on a bus all trying to connect at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that would ever work in remote areas with generally bad mobile coverage. Your best bet, regardless of which company you go with, is probably to assume there won’t be wifi and plan accordingly.
Another piece of advice that goes for both bus companies, make sure your luggage makes it onto the bus, and when you arrive at your destination, try to get off the bus early to be there when it’s taken out of the luggage compartment. Mekong Express gave us luggage tags, but nobody checked those as people were retrieving their bags, and Giant Ibis did not give us luggage tags at all (from what I heard they do give them if you’re on one of their big busses, but no guarantee on that).
Giant Ibis is a bit more expensive than Mekong Express, but the difference isn’t much. Mekong Express is 11$ from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (we paid 13$ in total including hotel commission plus pickup from our hotel, probably not the cheapest deal!), Giant Ibis would have been $15 for that same trip. Conclusion – if you can go with Giant Ibis, invest the extra $ for your comfort and safety.
2018 Giant Ibis Review & Update on the State of the Road
As this post was first published in 2014 when we traveled to Cambodia, I asked two fellow travel bloggers, Sarah and Jen, about their recent experiences. Sarah Rothrie from TripGourmets traveled with Giant Ibis through Cambodia and told me:
“Our journey between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap at the end of 2017 could not have gone more smoothly. We took the 0845 Giant Ibis bus from the Night Market in Phnom Penh, which was scheduled to arrive at 1545 but actually got there around 45 minutes early, and with no kamikaze-style racing efforts by the driver involved (both unexpected delights when travelling by bus in South-East Asia!)
The road is now smooth and paved, with little to no construction work meaning we could actually enjoy the countryside views during the trip. The bus made two stops on the way, one of which allowed time for a quick meal. The bus was clean, and the staff very polite with good English. We were given a bottle of water and a pastry at the start of the ride. All seats had seatbelts, and the bus also had WiFi.”
Tip from a local: Share a taxi instead
When I spoke to Jen from Two Can Travel, who lives in Phnom Penh with her husband Stevo and is a total Cambodia expert, she mentioned another alternative to Giant Ibis, which still seems to be the best bus option:
“Another option to consider to travel between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is taking a taxi or private car. You’ll see Cambodia’s beautiful countryside along the way, and it’s great having the option to stop whenever you need to. It’s also cheaper than you might think! Split between 3-4 people, the cost is about the same as taking a bus, especially since you save on transport to and from the bus stations. You can book private cars and taxis through CamboTicket, or check ride sharing options in the Facebook group Taxi Share Cambodia.” She shares a lot more tips on getting around Cambodia on her blog – definitely worth a look.
Side note here: I also spoke to Jen about PSD Xpress, another bus company that had been rivalling Giant Ibis in recent times, but we’ve found out that they’ve just stopped their regular bus routes and are now operating on a charter basis, so anything you read in older articles about them is likely outdated information.
Giant Ibis bus schedule
I recommend checking either the Giant Ibis website or something like 12goAsia or CamboTicket before your trip as they will have the most up to date schedules for all routes, but here is the schedule as of May 2018 for the main route between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh round trip:
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh:
Buses leave Siem Reap at 9.45am, 12.30pm, 11pm (semi sleeping bus), 11.30pm (lie flat sleeping bus)
Note on the night buses: They have two different types of sleeping buses, and if you’re like me and can only sleep curled up on your side, you may find the 11pm type bus notoriously uncomfortable as they’re angled seats, similar to the one pictured in my post one traveling Vietnam’s Mekong Delta without a tour.
Phnom Penh to Siem Reap:
Buses leave Phnom Penh at 8.45am, 9.45am, 12.30pm, 11pm (sleeping bus)
Travel time: approximately 6 hours
Ticket price: $15
Keep in mind that this is the time the bus is scheduled to leave the bus station. If you have arranged a pick up from your hotel, it will pick you up earlier!
Boarding point / Location of bus stop in Siem Reap: Giant Ibis, Sivatha Blvd, Near Central Market, Krong Siem Reap
Boarding point / Location of bus stop in Phnom Penh: Phnom Penh Bus Station & Bus Terminal, Street 90, Phnom Penh (Behind National Library)
Mekong Express bus schedule
Again, check the Mekong Express or an online booking website for the most up to date version, but here is the schedule as of May 2018:
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh:
Buses leave Siem Reap at 7.30am, 8.30am, 9.45am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm
Phnom Penh to Siem Reap:
Buses leave Phnom Penh at 7.30am, 8.30am, 12.30pm, 2.25pm, 11pm (sleeping bus), 11.30pm (sleeping bus)
Travel time: approximately 6 hours
Ticket price: $12
Keep in mind that this is the time the bus is scheduled to leave the bus station. If you have arranged a pick up from your hotel, it will pick you up earlier!
Boarding point / Location of bus stop in Siem Reap: Mekong Express, Street 63, Sangkat Sala Kamreuk, Krong Siem Reap
Boarding point / Location of bus stop in Phnom Penh: Mekong Express, Street Oknha Tep Phan (182) Corner St.111, In front of Orussey Market, Phnom Penh
How to get bus tickets for Giant Ibis and Mekong Express busses
From your hotel: Your guest house or hotel will usually be able to book you tickets for all of these companies. This is definitely the most convenient option. However, keep in mind that they may go through a travel agency and you may be paying a fee to both, increasing the price of your trip. Also, the guy sitting next to us on the Mekong Express bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh had requested Giant Ibis tickets from his hotel and ended up being booked onto a Mekong Express bus, so be careful and make sure to check your ticket and confirm it’s what you asked for.
From the bus company’s booking office: These companies also have booking offices in most big cities, this has become our preferred option for bus travel now since you’re getting the tickets directly from the source without any middle men, avoiding extra charges as well as confusion and the risk of being rebooked on other buses. Ask for a free hotel pickup, if your hotel isn’t too far from their office or bus stop this is often included!
The Giant Ibis office in Phnom Penh is at 3E0, Road 106. See their website for other office locations.
The Mekong Express office in Phnom Penh is at 2020, Road 5 (according to their website). See their website for other office locations.
Online: Probably the most convenient option, both Giant Ibis and Mekong Express offer online booking.
Both can also be booked via online booking providers like 12goAsia or CamboTicket, which are also convenient sites to check up to date timetables.
More on Cambodia
Traveling to Siem Reap? Check out my Guide to Angkor Wat as well!
Check out the Cambodia archives for our Cambodian adventures, including a full guide to Angkor Wat and off the beaten track options like the Kep crab market!
This post was first published in January 2014 and received a major research update in May 2018. If you find the information useful, or have updates to share, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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