During my first term in Cambodia it look months for mail to arrive from the United States. At that time mail was directed through Thailand and then – eventually – made it’s way to Cambodia. If there was civil unrest in Thailand the mail would take even longer to arrive.

While Crystal was in Phnom Penh a MCCer asked her about resources on vicarious trauma and I decided to mail over a book on the subject that I had found helpful. This was silly for a few reasons…

• We may well arrive in Phnom Penh before the book.
• The MCCer is going on home leave shortly after we arrive.
• Sending mail to Phnom Penh is ថ្លៃ​ណាស់ (very expensive).
• We could have just given the MCCer the ebook version.

But I wanted to use this as an opportunity to test how the postal system has changed over the last ten years. I also wanted to write a blog post on sending mail to Cambodia.

The Customs Declaration Form looks more intimidating than it is. Incidentally, the following may not be mailed to Cambodia:

• Coins
• Banknotes
• Currency notes (paper money)
• Securities payable to bearer
• Traveler’s checks
• Manufactured and unmanufactured platinum, gold, silver
• Precious stones
• Jewels
• Expensive jewelry
• Other valuable articles
• Radioactive materials

The postage ended up being more expensive than the book! This is why it’s better to send packages with visitors (or save up your money so you can be one of those visitors!!!).

In any case, the race is on to see if our family or the book arrives in Cambodia first. I’ll update this post with the winner when the package arrives!