Hiring an Angkor Guide

A guide can greatly enrich your appreciation of Angkor's temples, which are full of details you might miss on your own. English-speaking guides can be hired through the tourism office on Pokambor Avenue, across from the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor. But the best way to find a guide is through your hotel or guesthouse. Ask around. Most guides who work for tour companies (and the tourism office) are freelancers, and often when you book through a tour company, you'll pay a higher price. Find a young staffer at your hotel or guesthouse and tell him or her what you want—the type of tour, what you hope to learn from your guide, your particular interests in the temples.

Prices usually run around $20 a day, not including transportation, for a very well-informed, English-speaking guide. That said, if you still feel more comfortable booking through a travel company, Hanuman Tourism Voyages (12 St. 310, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Phnom Penh. 023/218356 or 012/807657. marketing@hanumantourism.com) is an excellent choice. The company, which works throughout Indochina, has established a foundation to help eradicate poverty in Cambodia's hinterlands. Your tourist dollars will go toward wells, water filters, mosquito nets, and other items that can greatly improve a rural family's life. Neak Krorhorm Travel (127 St. 108, Phnom Penh. 023/219496) also arranges Angkor guides.