Siem Reap guides
 

Hi.
We will be visiting Siem Reap next month. Can't wait!!
We have a few questions about tour guides.

1) What is the approximate going rate for a good guide? For someone like Ponheary its apparently $60.

2) Are the rates negotiable?

3) Is tipping normal?

4) Roughly how many hours do they typically spend with you on a given day?

Thanks for your time.

$60 is Ponheary's price for a driver and a guide. ($35 guide, $25 driver) It's the going rate for the more experienced guides. You can find less experienced guides for cheaper ($25), but you get what you pay for.

The price is not negotiable. You can negotiate with a tuk tuk driver if you self tour, but the prices for guides are controlled by the government.

Tipping is not expected but certainly appreciated if you find services valuable, and is widely done.

You will go out early in the am, stay out till lunch time, break during the mid day heat until around 2 or 3, then stay out again until sunset. If you want to stay out through the mid-day heat, let your guide know; they may upcharge you a bit, maybe not but let them be aware. Personally I think that's too brutal, but some people do it.

I was in Siem Reap in April and we had a pheomenal guide through our hotel (hotel de la paix -which claims that it gives some of the proceeds to local causes. i.e. schools, etc.). his name is Bunk Hak and reachable via email if you want to ask him for costs ([email protected]) It cost us approximately $70 a day through the hotel for guide and a car with AC. It was more the second day for the sunrise at Ankor Wat (5am departure). The itentiary was pack with a few hours of break in the afternoon for heat. Our guide was wonderful and altered our itenitary to what we had asked.

Day 1
*City of Agkor Thom
*temple of Bayon
*Ta Phrom
*terrace of the Leper King
*And instead of more temples, he took us to the floating village in the late afternoon. (note we had to pay additional for the boat ride...well worth it)

Day 2
*sunrise at Angor Wat
*Banteay Srei
*a few more indistinguishable temples
*we asked Bun to take us to an Orphange (we brought them books and school supplies we had brought with us)

Enjoy your trip!

My wife and I highly and enthusiastically recommend John Teng. He is a fine young man and a wonderful guide and companion. He is a joy to be with and is extremely knowledgeable. What more can I say?
His website is www.angkorservice.com.

Ponheary is special and going with her to a school to make a donation makes your trip memorable. My grandchildren did just that three years ago and it is still the most memorable travel experience they have had. Temples are great but doing "good" is even better.

Hi,
We also spent 4 days in Siam Reap at the end of August and early September. We had a wonderful, fabulous tuk-tuk driver named Lyga. His email address is [email protected]

He was pretty much our tuk-tuk driver our entire time. His prices are very very fair and his personality is wonderful. In addition to taking us to and from our hotel and a day at the temples, he took us on what he calls his tour of "The Real Cambodia". His village is about a 45 minute ride outside of Siam Reap. We went to his home, met his very large extended family, ate a meal with them. After that he took us to a few school and on a boat ride to a floating village. It was truly a memorable time. By the end, we were having him join us for dinner. He was also very useful in helping us buy things for much less than the tourist markets.
We still keep in constant contact and hope to go back again in 2009. If you have any questions or want me to send some photos from our time with him just email me at [email protected]

I like Hotel Tara Angkor. Service is very good.