Traveling in Cambodia on the beaten track is safe and very exciting, and I can recommend Dok Chenda, a good taxi driver (driving a nice spacious Toyota Camry LE with air-con) and So Sophea, an excellent English speaking guide for Angkor Wat and The Floating City at Tonle Sap Lake, Siem Reap, Cambodia. See business cards below. You can even have them pre-arranging a full tour schedule for you, if you wish.

They are not the cheapest people around there (see prices below), but they are trustworthy, punctual and reliable, so more than worth the extra price. Just contact Sophea by email and tell him that you got his email from this site. He will arrange the driver and they can even pick you up in the airport if you are flying to Siem Reap.

Going to Siem Reap can be done by bus or private (hired) car from Aranya Prathet/Poipet border crossing from Thailand, from Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam via Phnom Penh, direct from Phnom Penh or direct flight to Siem Reap airport with Bangkok Airways from Bangkok.

Count on spending at least 3 to 5 days in Siem Reap as the temple site is so vast. Bring good walking gear and remember protection from the sun like caps and lotion. Don’t miss out on the trip to The Floating City at Tonle Sap lake, as this is really amazing. The local food is good and if you are in for a treat then ask Sophea to recommend some places. This will also benefit him, as he will get a small commission from the restaurant.

There is also a beautiful shop with local high quality handicraft called Artisans D'Angkor, again not the cheapest place but quality never comes cheap… See business card below.

Other things to buy are local handicraft or music CDs from the many small groups of disabled landmine victims playing local music from small stages along the roads. These people are missing feet, legs, fingers, hands, eyesight and worse, so please help them by buying something. Remember that Cambodia is still holding the record in being the heaviest mined/shelled country in the world. A legacy from the American – Vietnam War, still not cleaned up more than 30 years after.

I hope you will have a fantastic trip; I can only say that Angkor Wat was so far one of the most breathtaking experiences I ever had.

See my pictures from Angkor Wat and The Floating City here!

Sophea and Dok's price is US$25/day for English guide service and US$25/day for the car and driver in the Angkor area.

List of extra prices for car and driver for remote places:

- Banteay Srei (a Jewel temple) is US$15 extra.

- Kbal Spean (river of thousand Lingas) is US$25 extra.

- Beng Mealea (jungle temple where the fallen stones are still in original places and the undergrowth has never been cut) is US$35 extra.

* For the guide service it is usually the same price in Siem Reap area, except some places out of Siem Reap, where the charge will be US$40/day and the car will cost from US$70 up to US$80/day depending on the distance.

These prices do not include entrance fees of any kind!

These prices are from 2007, so I can't guarantee that they haven't changed since then.

Please contact So Sophea for an update.

Below is a link to a PDF file with further information from So Sophea.

(To download it, right click on it and choose "save as")

So Sophea's own homepage

So Sophea

Dok Chenda

Dok and Sophea