AmyNYC

Hi all, I'm heading to Cambodia in a few weeks, we'll be in Siem Reap/Angkor Wat for three days. I was planning on just picking up a guide when we arrive, probably at our hotel (Auberge Mont Royal). Can anyone tell me what would be a good rate for a full day/4 people in an air conditioned car, English speaking guide?
I assume we are free to negotiate the rate that our hotel suggests?

Look forward to your advice!
Amy

Tangata

In 2005 we had Ponheary as a guide; she charged US$40 a day and IMHO was worth every cent. I believe that guides can be had for as little as $25.

We paid $40 per head for entrance tickets for the three days that we were there.

Kathie

Tangata, I assume the $40 you paid was for car and driver together? Standard pricing is $20-25 per day for each a driver and a guide.

eurotraveller

Generally you pay $20 per day for a driver and $20 per day for a guide for a total of $40.

We did this last year and the driver/guide always had cold water in the truck to quench our thirst after walking around the temples.

I think you will like Auberge Mont Royal. We stayed there and really enjoyed it!

Make sure you stop in Dead Fish Tower for a drink or two! It is a unique experience!


I also recommend a day at Tonle Sap Lake!

Cheers!

Tangata

Yes Kathie, that included an air conditioned car and driver.

LeighTravelClub

I would like to second the advice to visit Tonle Sap Lake. It was a real highlight of our trip to Siem Reap.

Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it.

zengeos

I just received a response from ponheary to my email and their rate is $50/day, guide and car.

With gas prices significantly higher, that's not an issue for me I think. Would be nice paying less, to better fit my budget, BUT if this family is as good as the several people who have used them say, I think it might be worth it.

Mark-

rhkkmk

the fee is not negiotiable that i am aware of....6-8 hours for $20-30 is cheap, is it not?? do you negiotiate with guide prices in nyc??

guides and drivers are seperate...i do not know of a guide who is a driver also like in some other places...

we paid each $20 per day about 3 years ago....i would ask for the hotel to arrange NOW for a guide so as to assure the best one possible...

AmyNYC

Hey all, thanks for the well of advice and info. When I email the hotel to reconfirm our rooms I will also ask about reserving a guide.

$40-50 for the day does seem very reasonable...I only asked about negotiating because it seems that nearly everything is negotiable (including hotel rates) and that tourists can often be charged 50-70% more when shopping... so just wanted to see if that applied to tour guides. And yes, I would absolutely negotiate the rate for a private driver or guide in NYC (were I to hire one)!

What about tipping, do you tip above the quoted rate? I'll admit I have a hard time not tipping generously with say, taxis and waiters... the few tours I've taken in my life I have tipped when the service was special. As a former waitress I am just hardwired to tip! I assume no one would turn down some extra bucks but please let me know if this is inappropriate.

Thanks also for the recommendation to visit Tonle Sap... we will definitely do this on day 3. Will we need a guide to do that? Or is it the kind of place we can explore on our own? What should we see/do there?

Thanks! Amy

lcuy

Definitely tip if the guide and driver are good. We paid $20/day for our guide, $35 for driver of van. With four of us it was nice to be in a bigger vehicle.

You could do tonle sap on your own, but having our guide take us there was nice. We were paying by the day and he'd taken us to temples in the morning.
Once at the lake, he negotiated for the boat ($10 pp for us, guide was included) answered questions, and translated with the boat operator. You might check that your boat has life jackets. Most have them on the back of the chairs, but some don't and it is a really big lake.

tatersalad

While in Siem Reap a couple of weeks ago, we hired only a driver to take us to Angkor. We prefer not to use a guide, but would rather explore at our own pace and don’t need to know all of the details.

We got quite lucky with our driver, his English was very good and he was very helpful with advice as to which temples we should visit at which time of the day and what to look for in each of the temples we chose to visit. He also gave us some history of each of the temples. In most cases he would drop us off on one side and be waiting for us on the other side.

We had very good conversations with him over the three days we used him and he told us much about his family.

He asked us only once if we wanted to “go shopping” and we said “no”. He then told us that guides and drivers get a commission on sales at “shopping” stops (which we already knew).

He also asked us if we would like to go and see traditional dance and music; something that was on our list of things to do; the place he recommended would give him a free meal for bringing us. I never caught the name of the place, but it was a large restaurant just south of the post office that had a very good buffet dinner and the very best music and dance show. The dinner and show cost us $12 each and the driver got a free meal; a good deal for all of us. The honesty of the man was remarkable.

It was somewhat sad to say good bye to him as he left us at the airport. The fee for his services was $20 per day and we gave him an extra twenty.

rhkkmk

from what i understand most of the drivers do not speak much english at all, so i would check this out...

i was overloaded with info from the guide and had to ask him to back down a bit on the info---the stories, etc...

he did however provide tons of good angles for pictures and know just where to stand for the best pics....he also guides us away from the minor things to observe in deference to the major sites....this alone is worth the money...

MichaelBKK

Now that I've done Angkor both ways, I would highly recommend having a guide.

No matter how much studying you do before hand, anything you read (especially a printed guide) is going to be out of date. Plus, most books just give you an over-view of each temple. There are so many, that's about all they can do. They won't tell you about the statue of the 'queen' hidden in the dark recesses of Preah Khan, or that the best views of Banteay Kdei are from the outside of the moat.

Of course, a lot depends on getting the right guide, for you. I found Dara perfect for me. He had information handy but wasn't pushy about it, and he was in absolutely no rush at all. He was happy to wait as long as it took me to get my shots and look at things.

zengeos

MichaelBKK,

It looks like we'll be having Dara be our guide as well, and will be saying with their family while in Siem Reap....similar prices to staying in one of the many guesthouses. I thought that miht be a nice touch, and they suggested that as a possibility to us.

Mark-

snowboarder

I'd say if your interest is history, get a guide.
If it's more visual, get a driver only.
I can highy recommend Sak: cheasinak2500 (at)yahoo.com
He's great, speaks English, knows the place well enough to be a guide... A guide will slow you down.
Remember, it's very important to get up very early and enjoy at least a couple of temples before other tourists
show up... You can find some tips about it om
my website (visited Angkor in Dec '06):

http://www.wildlifeland.com/Angkor/

Andrew

ddf200

We just returned from SE Asia and used John Teng as our guide. He was excellent!

He charged us $25 for the car + driver and $25 for his services ($50 total per day). He went far beyond giving us a standard tour and provided us with personal services such as setting up a tuk tuk ride and negotiating (I know, readily available and not hard to do but he made sure we were using the "right" one&quot, airport transfers ($7), show tickets and just about anything else we wanted.

His English is very good and he has a great understanding of the temples and history.

His website is at http://www.angkorservice.com/ or contact him directly at [email protected].

He'll customize an itinerary that meets your needs/time. Amazing person to get to know, especially when you learn how he is so interested in helping the local people.

Great trip made better by John and his attention to details.

JerryS

Another recommendation for John Teng. He is a wonderful gide and a fantastic person.

sallyho

In Dec. 2006 we had Dara for 2 days at $55.00 per day. He was wonderful.

If you are planning to go further afield we had Ponheary for Kbal Spean and Banteay Srei for $85.00 for one day and $130.00 for Koh Ker and Beng Mealea.
They were both very long and extremly rewarding days. We stopped at lots of other small temples and did village visits.

AmyNYC

Hi all,
Just wanted to say thanks again for all the advice. We are booked with a guide named Kachhel, referred by a friend of a friend. 45$ guide and driver (van). Will let you know how he is when we get back.

Amy

Sarvowinner

Hi
If you buy the 3 day pass, I was wondering if people hire a guide for the full three days or hire one for a day and then go back by yourselves for the other days?