Travel to Cambodia [Part-2 ~ Accommodation & Temple Guide]
Jeff on 10 22, 2009
The Villa Siem Reap (guesthouse) ~ (Rating: 3/5 
)
It took us approximately 25 minutes of Tuk Tuk ride from the airport to our accommodation – The Villa Siem Reap. The dusty atmosphere got worst as we entered Siem Reap town area. Some of us have to cover our mouth and nose as we were not used to this type of environment.
The Villa Siem Reap is located just about 15 minutes walking distance from the old market. It is a 3 storey high building painted in purple and it is not easily sighted due to the overgrown trees infront of the guesthouse. Nevertheless, we were greeted by their friendly staff once we stepped into the lobby to register ourselves.
The Villa Siem Reap Guesthouse
Our rooms rate:
1 x Standard Double room – USD18 per night (queen sized bed)
1 x Superior Triple room – USD35 per night (queen sized bed + a single bed)
Standard double room & Superior triple room
The room was clean and value for money. But for the Triple room, we found that the air conditioning was not strong enough to keep the whole room cool.
Our airport transfer was provided by The Villa. You may need to pay USD10 for a van (7-8 pax) to the hotel/guesthouse if your hotel is not providing you with free transfer service. A cheaper way will be taking the Tuk Tuk (max 4 pax) to your hotel/guesthouse at only USD5 (a good starter to get use to the dusty road of Siem Reap!).
We took Tuk Tuk to Pub Street, which is the town of Siem Reap from our guesthouse at only USD2 per trip for 4 pax.
Our rooms doesn’t include breakfast, but we did maneged to try the breakfast served by The Villa before our ATV ride on our last day trip. It cost us about USD3 for a main dish. Personally, I thought the food served was good!
Breakfast by The Villa
The Villa Siem Reap website: http://www.thevillasiemreap.com/
Temple Guide ~ (Rating: 4/5 
)
Sam is a Khmer and a firm believer in Buddhism. In his 50 years of life experience, he went through several regimes that took place in Cambodia including the Infamous Pol Pot Regime. Personally, I feel that Sam is a tour guide with great knowledge in the Angkorian history.
In terms of communication, he is well-versed with his english, so communicating with him was really easy and relaxing.
Beside educating us into the Angkorian period, he also introduced us to good Khmer food that are reasonable priced. In other word, he is a tour guide with ethnic as most tour guides will bring tourist to expensive place to eat so they will be able to earn some commissions from the restaurant.
He is passionate in his job as I remembered seeing a bandage over his knee but yet he never complain about any pain even though we’ve been walking and climbing for the whole day. Overall, I feel great to have a tour guide like Sam. If you guys are interested in Pol Pot regime and what he have went through during the regime, he will be the right person to go to and he is ever willing to share everything.
Temple guide - Sam & our 3 days transport
Five of us shared the total amount of USD40 for a van and USD25 for the guide fees per day to explore the Angkor temples. It will be cheaper if we choose to take Tuk Tuk travelling around Siem Reap (about USD15). But honestly, it is really up to individual which one you prefer. An air-con van giving us more comfort and safer compared to a Tuk Tuk.
Sam’s contact
Blog: http://angkortouring.wordpress.com
Cell phone number: +855 12 763 462
Email: kao_samreth@hotmail.com
Travel to Cambodia [Part-1 – Summary]
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