Perfect tour for my family of 3.
GardelynOcampo_J, Dec 2019
Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm Temple Shared Tour
We lucked out and it was just my family of 3 in our group with our guide Tom. Tom and his driver were great! He speaks very good English, is passionate about the culture and is very knowledgeable and easy going. Having grown up with monks, he has extensive historical knowledge. He was very open to our questions, answering candidly. Between temples whenever we hopped back in the van, the driver had ice cold water bottles ready and lemongrass scented cold towels for us to cool down. Very nice touch. When we stopped for lunch, it was in an air conditioned restaurant so that was nice as well. Tom and the driver stayed at the van and gave us an hour in the restaurant. We very much appreciated that Tom took us in to Angkor Wat from the back side to avoid the crowds at the front. We casually walked through the tour, stopped for ideal picture opportunities, moved away from crowds when possible and he shortened some of his story telling to accommodate for our 6yr old's shorter attention span. If you want all the detailed background stories, Tom is the one to give it to you in full with a big smile. For me, at some points my son and husband would start to get a little antsy and so Tom would pick up on that and move on or allow a small break to sit and rest. Although we didn't have time per our short stay in Cambodia, it was nice that he recommended a unique cultural dinner restaurant nearby and offered to help book the reservation for us. A separate tour of Tonle Sap was also an option but again, we didn't have time for it.
One point of clarification- before the tour when I read the voucher it stated that the voucher is not your ticket and that the ticket needs to be picked up at a location prior to the tour. That is true as you do have to purchase the ticket separately from the tour package. I wasn't sure if I had to find a ride to pick up the ticket myself but to be clear, he takes you to the place to purchase the ticket before heading to the temples and assists you at the window where you just have to pay the fee ($37 USD per adult). We had our 6yr old with us so we had to have a copy of his passport picture (he said a picture of his passport page on our phone would suffice). No one asked for it but we had a copy with us just in case.
At the end of the tour, he asked us if it was okay to make a stop at a store and that no pressure to buy but that that he would get entered into a raffle for us visiting. We obliged and I did buy a scarf.
We lucked out and it was just my family of 3 in our group with our guide Tom. Tom and his driver were great! He speaks very good English, is passionate about the culture and is very knowledgeable and easy going. Having grown up with monks, he has extensive historical knowledge. He was very open to our questions, answering candidly. Between temples whenever we hopped back in the van, the driver had ice cold water bottles ready and lemongrass scented cold towels for us to cool down. Very nice touch. When we stopped for lunch, it was in an air conditioned restaurant so that was nice as well. Tom and the driver stayed at the van and gave us an hour in the restaurant. We very much appreciated that Tom took us in to Angkor Wat from the back side to avoid the crowds at the front. We casually walked through the tour, stopped for ideal picture opportunities, moved away from crowds when possible and he shortened some of his story telling to accommodate for our 6yr old's shorter attention span. If you want all the detailed background stories, Tom is the one to give it to you in full with a big smile. For me, at some points my son and husband would start to get a little antsy and so Tom would pick up on that and move on or allow a small break to sit and rest. Although we didn't have time per our short stay in Cambodia, it was nice that he recommended a unique cultural dinner restaurant nearby and offered to help book the reservation for us. A separate tour of Tonle Sap was also an option but again, we didn't have time for it.
One point of clarification- before the tour when I read the voucher it stated that the voucher is not your ticket and that the ticket needs to be picked up at a location prior to the tour. That is true as you do have to purchase the ticket separately from the tour package. I wasn't sure if I had to find a ride to pick up the ticket myself but to be clear, he takes you to the place to purchase the ticket before heading to the temples and assists you at the window where you just have to pay the fee ($37 USD per adult). We had our 6yr old with us so we had to have a copy of his passport picture (he said a picture of his passport page on our phone would suffice). No one asked for it but we had a copy with us just in case.
At the end of the tour, he asked us if it was okay to make a stop at a store and that no pressure to buy but that that he would get entered into a raffle for us visiting. We obliged and I did buy a scarf.