Karen and Siew Leng & Kol Chhen
We engaged Mr Kol Chhen as our guide and driver for a whole week in Siem Reap in December 2009. There were 4 ladies in our group. Chhen picked us up from the airport and we liked him immediately. He was polite, friendly and was willing to answer any questions we had. Since we were there to take part in the Angkor Wat Half Marathon,
Chhen drove us from the airport to the race pack collection venue, before transferring us to our hotel. He was there early to pick us up to our marathon venue the next morning at 5.30 am. Chhen was always punctual and always had a ready smile on his face. We felt that we could totally rely on Chhen for all the local information on Siem Reap, including where to eat and shop. The next few days, we explored the temples with him and he was very knowledgeable on the history of the temples.
He was a very safe driver and always obliged us by taking many photos for our group, including stopping or slowing down his car so that we can take photos of the countryside. He was also very patient and often helped one of our group members to climb the steep steps at the temples. Chhen was like a friend and we could see his rapport with the locals, especially the kids. The highlight of our trip was the visit to his village. We highly recommend this trip to the village as you will get a chance to experience first hand the life of the villagers.
The villagers were very friendly and the kids were really awesome and so well behaved despite their humble surroundings. They always have a ready smile for the camera. We would advise you to bring along some candies and stationery as a treat for these kids as this will really make them happy. Chhen introduced us to his lovely family and we got a chance to play with the kids, try our hand at harvesting rice and witnessed the most beautiful sunset over the lake. We also took part in the Clean Water Project,
and you can read more on this on Chhen’s website. We often take clean water for granted in our country and we were very humbled to see that so many of the villagers still do not have access to clean water. If you wish to contribute to a worthy cause to help the people in Cambodia, this is a really good project as for only USD180, you can help to provide a pump well for clean water for the villagers. We are already making plans to return to Siem Reap next year and will definitely use Chhen as our guide and driver again. He is one of the few drivers who is also a licensed guide and we highly recommend him to anyone who is visiting Siem Reap. Your Cambodian experience will be much richer with Chhen as your guide. Thank you Chhen, from all of us for being such a wonderful guide and friend. We will be back.
Karen and Siew Leng From Singapore
