Tour Guide: John Teng

I searched this forum and others looking for recommendations for a guide for our trip to the Ankor Wat/Siem Reap area. Eventually, I contacted John Teng and arranged for 3 days of guide service plus transfer to/from the airport for our party of 8.

We could not have been more pleased with John and his colleague Saru. At every turn, John’s knowledge and reliability inspired confidence and put us at ease.

From the first moment, John was consistent %26amp; dependable. If he promised something, it happened when and how he said it would. When he was unsure about something, he warned us in advance about possible pitfalls. He was particularly careful to explain costs in advance in order to avoid surprises.

John answered our myriad questions with skill and good humor (even the third or fourth time we asked them). He was flexible enough to accommodate our interests even when they diverged from the more standard itineraries.

The burgeoning tourist trade in the area results in constantly rising prices. However, John’s rates seem remarkably reasonable given the quality of the service(s) he provides. Based on our experience, we would HIGHLY recommend John Teng’s for anyone planning a trip to Ankor Wat/Siem Reap.

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Our particular itinerary ended up as follows:

Day 1:

- Pick up from the airport %26amp; transfer to hotel.

Day 2:

Morning

- Ta prohm

- Ta Keo

- Victory Gate

- Bayon

- South Gate

Afternoon

- Angkor Wat

Day 3:

Morning

- Phnom Bakheng

- Baksey Chamkrong

- Preah Khan

Afternoon

- Lo Lei

- Preah Ko

- Bakong

Day 4:

Morning

- Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating villages

- Les Artisans d%26#39;Angkor school

Afternoon

- Banteay Srey

- Cambodian Land Mine Museum %26amp; Relief Facility

- Pre Rup for sunset

Day 5:

- Pick up from hotel and transfer to the airport.

Tour Guide: John Teng

Can anyone tell me any Chinese speaking tour guide in Siem Reap, I plan to visit Angkor Wat next month. Any helpful answers would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Tour Guide: John Teng

You could check this forum for contact information for some of the guides recommended and try e-mailing them to see if they could recommend a Chinese speaking guide. I got the impression the guides all know each other and who can do what. I also got the impression(at least from our guide ) that they are supportive of each other and would be willing to share information. One site I can recommend is www.angkorservice.com - hope this helps.

I%26#39;d also like to sing the praises of John Teng.

He guided us around Siem Reap for 3 days in January 09. I selected him on the great recommendations on trpadvisor.

He suggested an iternary when I contacted him via his website. But he was very flexible, modifying it as we went along according to our interests and depending on the time that it took us to go to different sites.

His English was great, he was extremely knowledgable and I never asked a question that he didn%26#39;t know the answer to.

He is always mindful of trying to avoid the tourist crowds so despite visiting at the peak season it usually didn%26#39;t feel crowded. For example, at about 9am we drove past the south gate and it was so packed with tourists that out vehicle could barely get through. Yet we visited later on in the day and we got photos with no tourists whatsoever.

He has a keen eye for photography. By the end of the trip I would refrain from taking photos because I knew he would point out the best spots to take pictures.

He and his driver were perfect gentleman always opening the car door for us and offering us cold water from an esky in the boot. He reccommended good restaurants and at the end of each day we were dropped back into town and he would offer to take us back to our hotel after dinner (our hotel was on the airport road out of town). The vehicle was airconditioned and comfortable.

We visited the happy family orphanage that he volunteers at, which I would recommend. He doesn%26#39;t push it on you at all. I had to ask him to take us there and he was very very grateful when we offered to purchase some items to give to the kids.

Good luck in selecting a guide - I found it a very difficult task to ensure that i didn%26#39;t get a dodgy one. But I was very happy in the end.