How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Eak was excellent. He had a cracking sense of humour and was thoughtful to all the persons on his trip. There was a wide age gap in our group and he accomodated everyone.  

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Just go for it - and be open minded.

 

Excellent trip. The pace of the tour is not rushed, you get the time to take it all in. From the city of Phnom Penh, to the beautiful countryside, to the seaside (wonderful Kep Crab), and then to end it all in stunning Angkor. Nothing can prepare you for seeing Angkor Wat, it is simply to great to be captured on pictures, so you need to see it to grasp what it really means. And then there are the other temples, all different, all stunning in their own way. My personnal favourite would be The Bayon, with all the buddha faces.  There are less pleasant visits during this trip: the Killing Fields, and even more so the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. Unfortunately, also these have to be seen to be believed... Harrowing, shocking, but a must if you want to try to understand Cambodia.  I was surprised at the good standards of the accomodation in the countryside, even the 'basic' places were more than comfortable enough for me, also the food was generally excellent. We also had a lovely tour leader, being Cambodian herself, she really helped us to understand Cambodia and its people and culture.  Advice if you want to do this tour: bring dollars, and only dollars, Cambodia really has a dollar-driven economy, you don't even need to exchange money.

A fantastic insight into Cambodia - the people, the country, the town and the treasures. Our Tour Leader, Amanda was superb; keeping everything going along at a good pace whilst being helpful and informative and a good friend to all the group on tour.  The hotels in Phnom Penh and in Siem Riep were superb but the others were fairly basic so just go on this holiday with an open mind and you will love it... after all, I guess a hotel is only the place to lay your head and they were all basically clean and functional.  The sights and the scenery were so interesting and I don't think I have ever been on a holiday with so many different things to experience... from cycling and helicopter rides to eating spiders and whole fried frogs to having a sumptious dinner in a local tuk tuk drivers house on stilts. (CD - 24th October 2010)

Of all the trips I have done with Explore, this is definitely my favourite. The tour is planned perfectly, as it allows you to get to know the real Cambodia before heading off into the far more touristy Siem Reap. If you only went to Cambodia and only visited Siem Reap you would come away with the completely wrong view of the people. The temples are as amazing as you expect them to be, it's the rest of the country that exceeds your expectations. Highlights were the bike ride round the island near to Kompong Cham (especially the raft ride over there, I had no idea we could fit so many people / mopeds on such a small piece of wood), the remorques ride. Visiting the temples was also extremely well planned, we managed to avoid a lot of the crowds and visited them in chronological order so each successive temple was more impressive than the last.    Tips?  Take books and pens to hand out to the children.(CD -18th Jan 2009)

My main reason for visiting Cambodia was to see the magnificent temples, which exceeded all expectations but the best part of the tour was the opportunity to see how the Cambodians live. If you just visit Siem Reap you don't see the real Cambodia and you will be missing out on a fabulous experience. The people are very friendly and make you feel welcome wherever you go. This tour takes you into paddy fields and along the Mekong, so you really get to see how these people live. It leaves you full of admiration for them when you see how simple their lives are and when you know the history of their country, which is harrowing. Their optimism and cheerfulness is inspirational! This was a wonderful tour and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to visit a Far Eastern country unspoilt by mass tourism. (CD 8th August 2010)

A mad rickshaw cycle ride around Phnom Penh is certainly one way to be introduced to the frenetic hurley burley of Cambodia's capital city. We, that's to say our newly formed, air travel bleary, Explore Group, weave with suicidal disregard through the manic tangle of tut tuts, belching lorries and motor cycles (the entire family precariously balanced on board). Heat, noise, dust, street life and the perplexing aromas, all so intensely evocative of S.E. Asia, assault the senses and I know I have truly arrived. Here I go again, launched headlong into a world of excitement, expectations of adventure, new friends to meet, amazing places to experience, in fact put simply; my latest "Explore" trip has just begun. Yet to come are the fabulous temples of Siem Reap, lazy time spent on genuinely unspoilt tropical islands, amazing meanders down mighty Mekong and the best of all, the children; the beautiful ragged smiling children; heart tugging survivors. I cannot recommend this trip to Cambodia strongly enough. The entire experience has touched me deeply and I will treasure my memories for many years to come. (CD- 1st February 2009)