I found a great looking itinerary for 5 nights in Cambodia that does Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Tonle Sao, and Phnom Penh (and travels from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh by boat rather than by plane). It is offered by Royal Exclusive Travel. I am wondering if anyone has ever used them and what your experience has been.

I booked my stay on Phi Phi with them. Just the hotel. Will let you know how it goes if you'd like. I will be staying there next week.

However, you should just do this on your own. It's very easy and you don't need to pay an agency for this. Also, the boat travel between PP and SM is not recommended. It's overpriced and crowded. Most people recommend the bus, which takes 5.5 hrs and costs only $6-10 one way. In 5 days, you also don't have time to do 3 places. You need 3 days in Siem Reap just to see the major temples. That only leaves 2 days in PP, plus you have to subtract the 5.5 hr travel time between the two. You can easily hire a guide in each city. It's only $20 for the driver and another $20 for the guide per day.

Thanks for the advice. I was beginning to wonder if the itinerary made sense. I was also starting to wonder about the boat travel since they actually ahd some warnings about it on their website. Sounded like it might not be as relaxing and enjoyable as it initially sounded. Fortunately, we still have plenty of time to figure things out and my brother-in-law is going to be in Siem Reap next month so he can scope things out for us.

As promised, just wanted to confirm that this company is legit. Had no issues checking into the hotel (which was great btw). And their price was cheaper than going directly through the hotel.

Thanks for confirming that. I'll check and see what they can do for hotel prices for us. We have decided to arrange our own trip in Cambodia as you suggested and have hired Ponheary as a guide for several days. We decided to skip Phnom Penh altogether since what we really want to see is Angkor Wat and with the extra time we can have Ponheary take us out into the countryside and to Tonle Sap.

Ponheary can get you better hotel prices than a travel agency can. Contact her first.

We stayed at Auberge Mont Royal in Siem Reap and loved it. You may want to consider it. It has a pool, free breakfast, and pickup from the airport. They have standard $30 rooms and deluxe $50 rooms. See their website for pictures: www.auberge-mont-royal.com

Thanks for the suggestions. I did contact Ponheary (we will be touring with her for three days) and also checked several different hotels. Based on several recommendations and price, we are going to stay at the Bopha Angkor. Now we just have to wait until July ! Not an easy task when I see all of the wonderful pictures people post and hear from my brother-in-law who just returned from there.