We arrived in Siem Reap via a taxi ride from the Thai border at Aranyaphrapet/Poipet. It was a very bumpy 3-hour ride for which we paid USD60 to the taxi stand, despite reading reviews that it should only cost USD40. Our taxi driver Thong did not speak much English but it was sufficient to figure out that he would be happy to drive us back on our return journey for USD30. Both Thong and we discovered that we were being ripped off by the taxi stand which creamed off USD30 for doing nothing and Thong only got USD30, his standard fee, which also included his petrol cost.
We found out (we asked) Thong has a brother Soryar who is a tuk-tuk driver and he turned out to speak excellent English. Soryar served as our tour guide of sorts, giving us the background of the sites we went to and answering any touristy-type questions we had. We spent most of our time at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Phrom. At each of these locations, Soryar helped us find a clean, delicious and cheap place to have lunch. He%26#39;s a great guy, soft-spoken, treated us like kings and someone we would definitely recommend you get to know if you are going to Siem Reap.
Going to a place like Siem Reap, you should be cautious about being ripped off, but with Soryar and Thong by our sides, we didn%26#39;t have to worry as much, making our trip that much more memorable and enjoyable.
Tuk-tuk: Soryar (855) 12 221 883 or 012 221 883 if dialing from Cambodia. Email: kimsoryar@yahoo.com.
Taxi: Thong (855) 12 791 337 or 012 791 337
Recommended Tuk-tuk %26amp; Taxi (Poipet-Siem Reap) Drivers
Hi cartisans,
I am going to Bangkok in this coming january and thinking of doing the overland to Siem Reap via Aran/Poipet. I need some advices from you. Are you Malaysian ? Do you have email contact ? Thanks.
Chang. from Sabah.
Recommended Tuk-tuk %26amp; Taxi (Poipet-Siem Reap) Drivers
Is Thong available to book to pick up from the border? Can he be contacted by the same email address?
Dear Chang,
Yes, we are Malaysian. Am a bit cautious about posting our email address online %26#39;cos of spammers...if you don%26#39;t mind, could you post yours instead and we%26#39;ll be happy to answer any questions you have?
Hi EmjayReet, I think Thong can pick you up from the border but I%26#39;m not really sure because the taxis have an association which is running the taxi stand. Maybe Soryar can clarify. Yes, he is the email go-between for Thong.
Hi Cartisans,
I created a temp email just for this discussion. my email is siemreapoverland@yahoo.com
Hi Emjayreet or anyone, I am looking for travel buddy for the siem reap overland to share travel cost. if anyone happens to be there around end of Jan and begining of Feb, 2007 do give me a shout.
Thanks.
Chang.
rchang, we just miss each other - we are doing the overland trip on the 7th Jan then flying back to Bangkok on the 12th - otherwise we would of been keen!
Thanks for the info. I have contacted Soryar and it appears Thong can pick us up from border. Trying to work out details now. I feel bad as I would also love to use Soryar but have already booked another Tuk Tuk for our time there! I hate that! I just want to give them all my business! :-(
Hi EmjayReet,
I have also contacted Soryar. Do let us know how it goes. Wish you have a good and pleasant trip.
Chang.
Hi Chang (and anyone else)
If you are interested I will be keeping a travel blog... hopefully it should have lots of useful info... and I will do a comprehensive end of trip report once home.
You can view it at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/reet
There is a subscribe button if you want to get an email each time I post a new blog
Love Reet xx
I have just returned from a 4 day trip to SiemReap, and had a most enjoyable and memorable holiday - thanks to the wonderful and exceptional TukTuk %26amp; Tour Guide service provided by Kim Soryar.
Soryar picked us up from Siem Reap airport on arrival, and took us to many places including Angkor Wat , Angkor Thom, Bantaey Srei, TonleSap lake, Land Mine museum, Artisans Angkor etc. As reported by cartisans, he is truly a great guide; friendly, humble and very obliging.
In between visits, he also took us to really good-value places for delicious and authentic Cambodian lunches and dinners. And even on the longer drives, and wet bouts of weather in between, Soryar consistently provided ';service with a smile'; !!
We would whole-heartedly recommend Kim Soryar%26#39;s TukTuk service to anyone contemplating a visit to Cambodia - he is truly a wonderful ';gem'; of a tour guide and a wonderful Cambodian friend which we have been privileged to meet.
Thank u cartisans for your excellent recommendation :)
Dennis Yong
Melbourne, Australia
Hi! If you don%26#39;t mind, I would like to know how much was the going rate is to hire Soryar while in Siem Reap? If that%26#39;s alright.. Thanks!
Hello and greetings from singapore.
I was in siem reap fro, 04 dec till 6 dec. Yes, i just returned 2 hours ago and is already so eager to recommend soryar to people of the world.
In response to cartisan%26#39;s and Dennis%26#39;s recommendation, i decided to give soryar a try.
Description:
soft spoken, clean. make that very clean. humble and definately NOT pushy. ( he did recommend some places like a city spa or an aspara dance but when we just showed signs of unwillinglyness, he understood immediately and maintain good attitude, DEFINATELY no attitude or pressure at all.) Knowledgeable. safe n competent driver. i slept in his tuktuk on so many occassions and i feel safe still. ( u may see a neck cushion in his tuktuk... hee hee super comfortable.) He has a new tuktuk. very clean n confortable. ( according to cambodian standard of dusty roads) good knowledge of the roads and tourist places like opening hours n such.
SHOCKING EXTRAS out of the BLUE -
1. he produced a blue cooler box and in it is full of mineral water bottle which he bought with his own money for US ( my mum and myself.) It is chilled and totally a surprise for us. We were so shy in taking his water that we topped up the water supply for the next 2 days with out water, but nevertheless, he still supplied water when we ran out of ours.
2.We had 2 beautiful gifts from him before departing. It had his name n email on it. He was really professional in doing this. Imagine, being a tuktuk driver, but taking the effort to print and distribute gifts bearing email and contact numbers. SUPER!
3.Always around n looking out for us. 6 out of 10 times, he spotted us first. Always so observant.
4.Good recommendation for food.
5. one morning, ma ma n i felt cold with the morning breeze slapping across our face n skin. He kindly lowered his screen and sheltered us from the bitter wind. He did this smiling and always so willingly. No attitude at all.
6. Translator on occasions when we need him to explain something to a local seller.
7. Will often check with us on the food and such.
8.Once we were at the floating village. He predicted that we will be surrounded by mass of villages when we get onto the tour so he suggested us to bring the box of cololer down. ( he made it sound like we need the water for drinking later. ) We did so and it saved us from many many persuazzzzive sales.... who insisted we bought water. But once we showed the sellers that we have tons of water , the sellers left us alone.
9. more like a tour guide then a tuktuk driver. Always make it a point to describe the back ground of certain sites...
10. takes pride in his job. despite the terrible holes on the way to akira land mine.. which i think is tiring to ride a tuk tuk past or drag me n mama across the holes, he still recommended the place. Put you above himself.
I have here some pictures of him. i will put the photos with the review of LA MAISON D ANGKOR%26gt; if u need to see how he looks like, check out the hotel review.
Enjoy and u decide if u want to get a tuktu driver that is not tested n proven, or one that is not only tested and proven, but recommended by 3 trip advisor travellers... and of cos... really treated mama n i like people of the royal family.
Rate: usd 12 for journey not futhur then ang kor wat. Gasoline is expensive there!! so its worth it. We stayed 3 days but gave him a 10 tips for being such a wonderful n patient driver.
nicole lew.
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