Considering a trip to Cambodia, perhaps in February or March. I am generally an independant traveler, and don't much like tours... however, since I'll be solo, am new to travel in Asia, and want to see more of the country than just temples at Siem Reap, I'm wondering if a tour is the way to go in this case.

Any recommendations of a good company/individual? Don't want to be stuck with a ton of people, but maybe a small (4-5) group would be ok. I'm in my late 30s, want to see the cultural sights, and would want some free time to wander, eat and drink at my leisure. Thoughts?

Ponheary or her brother Dara are great guides. many on this forum have used them both and been very pleased. You can reach them at [email protected]. You might also ask her about a visit to a school.

Jen

What destinations in Cambodia besides the temples are you interested in seeing? What I mean is, will you primarily be visiting inside Siem Reap Province (where most people tour temples) or wanting to go further afield and if so, where?

I'm just in very early stages of thinking about this, but as of now, aside from Siem Reap, I'd like to go to Phnom Penh and probably Sihanoukville to chill for a few days.

The more I think about it, the more I think maybe just doing it on my own is the way to go--maybe grab a guide here and there for specific sites. I really hate being on someone else's schedule. But any advice is welcome.

Jen, I think you're right about going solo and using a guide where you want one. If I were in your shoes, that's what I'd do.

Agree with Kathie. Hire a guide in Siem Reap to take you through the temples and see the local sites. You could also hire a guide in Phnom Penh or at least a driver. If you're going to the genocide museum or S-21 I think a guide is very helpful.

These guides will also be helpful to arrange your onward travel if you want to go overland (no reason why you shouldn't, nice buses from SR to PP and PP to Sihanoukville) and can often get great rates at hotels.

A wonderful guide/arranger of logistics in Phnom Penh is Thary [email protected]

I can't imagine you'd need a guide in Sihanoukville, but Thary can arrange your travel there and make recos about a hotel.

Gpanda gave you Ponheary's contact for Siem Reap.

So easy to travel solo in Cambodia...why bother dragging around with a bunch of other people?

"dragging around with a bunch of other people"

Yes. This was what I was worried about. Not my cup of tea at all, and it does sound like it's fairly easy to do it on your own. Thanks for your comments, I'll nose around a bit and probably be back with questions!

My wife and I have never been very big on groups and tours, but like getting away from tourists areas as much as we like seeing them.

When we went to Cambodia, we visited Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Chhnang (unplanned) and Phnom Penh. We found it generally very easy to get around the country and no shortage of people willing to assist. Even in Kampong Chhnang, not a heavily visited town by tourists, that we found a couple of people who spoke some English.

We'd had a pre-arranged driver in Siem Reap that was very good for the temples. He arranged a friend with a car to take us to Battambang for about the same price as the boat when we found the boat ride could take 14+ hours due to low water. In Battambang, moto drivers were everywhere and it was easy to get a driver through a hotel for one longer trip we wanted to take. The hotel front desk didn't speak much English, so they just went and found someone. We bought bus tickets to Phnom Pehn when we saw a sign there in Battambang. Capital "Tours" - really just a regular bus, no tour involved. Nice bus though for $5. We asked the driver to stop in Kampong Chhnang enroute so we could get off. We'd decided on the bus that that sounded like an interesting place, so we just got off the bus. A couple of moto drivers met us as we did and were nice, so they took us to a guesthouse they knew and came back to show us the town later for a few bucks. The next day, the wife of the guesthouse owner flagged down a local bus for us and for a dollar, we rode the rest of the way into Phnom Pehn. No shortage of tuk tuks to get us to our hotel from there, or out front of the hotel to get us around during our stay. We found that hotel there (FCC) could arrange anything more complicated.

Anyway, the point was that we didn't have a lot planned and it worked out just fine. It's a pretty easy place to be and get by in my opinion without a lot of pre-arranged support.