Tonle Sap Lake and Kampong Phluk Half-Day Tours from Siem Reap (4-5h)

This was a very enjoyable, informative tour. The hotel pick-up/drop-off made it particularly convenient and easy. A stop on the way to the lake gave us a chance to buy some very sweet bananas and other fresh produce. The small boat from the canal to the village gave us a chance to see and learn about how the local residents live, and how they adapt to the vast annual changes in depth of the lake between dry and wet seasons. Being the dry season, we were able to land and walk through the village of homes built on stilts of 20-30 feet and get to talk with some of the local residents. Strongly recommend this tour and guide to all visitors to Siem Reap

Un tour très enrichissant au coeur du village flottant de Kampong Phluk le temps d'une après-midi : balade en bateau dans les mangroves pour arriver au lac et visiter la ferme aux crocodiles, puis balade à pied dans le village avec les explications de notre super guide Phearom. Tour très bien organisé et instructif, je recommande!

I booked this tour for a morning trip. They picked me up at the hotel so it is very convenience. Our guide had given us brief introduction and some information of the country and the place we were going and it was really nice considering it takes some time to arrive at the boat and you won't be able to listen while the boat is traveling. Once you are on the boat, you are ridding through a fishing village. You get to see locals are living their lives and it is kind special to me. Then you will be on a lake which is gigantic that you cannot see the other ends. On the return trip they took us on foot back to the van though the village. This had been couple hours of new experiences to me. Thank you our guide, Voath, for making this comfortable for all of us. I suggest for a morning trip since there are not many tourists and the temperature should be better.

This tour is a definite must if your visiting Siem Reap, was fantastic to see the village on stilts and learn about how the people adapt their lives when the flood season begins. The trip atook us on a traditional boat through the villages and onto Tonle Sap Lake where you can see how big the lake is and imagine how much lager it is during wet season. After the boat trip we were able to walk through the village. I would love to take the same tour during the wet season and see it from a different perspective. Our tour guide Phearom, was very knowledgeable and explained everything clearly throughout the trip. He was very friendly,and cheerful the whole time. Great tour and great tour guide ????

Had a absolutely enjoyable tour. The most enjoyed tour of our short five days. The knowledge and pride Phearom had was very much appreciated !!! Jim

Phearom was a very good guide. We enjoyed our tour and seeing how the people live and make a living from tonle sap. I think tour would be much better in high water season. Still happy we went. Nice change from the temples.

A really interesting trip to see what life is like living on this huge lake! We went in the dry season and weren't sure what to expect, but it was really insightful. Our guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable.

Vichet, Kampong Phluk and Tonle Sap Lake Tour was rather personally given us a in-depth observation of the lives of the community members. He was well knowledgeable about the community and their lifestyle. Additionally, he went out of his way to take several memorable photos of members within my tour party to commemorate their experience. Thanks for the experience.

This tour was made spectacular by our tour guide and now friend, San. My friend and I were absolutely blown away by how knowledgeable, warm, funny and passionate he was. I’ve never had a guide care so much about his community and about our experience in it. We lucked out and had no one else on our tour, so we got to do and see so many things thanks to San and our cheerful and willing driver Kaen. We started out taking the boat along the river (quite low as it’s dry season) to see the village of Kompong Phluk, which was both beautiful and impressive to see with the houses towering above us on stilts (the water level rises nearly 20 feet during the rainy season to make it appear to be a “floating village”). After getting out in the village center, San walked us through the history of the community, showing us important buildings and sites. San is a real advocate for this town and because of it, local residents know and love him. A true highlight was getting to meet Sreyoun, a little 8 year old girl who lives in Kompong Phluk that spoke great English and had the most wonderful smile and demeanor. She came running over to say hi to San and meet us. He was so knowledgeable about the entire community and people there, answering every question I had before I could ask it. It is so obvious how much he cares, stopping to help a little girl carry a heavy battery to the recharging station for her. After visiting the village we got back in the boat to head out past the mangroves into the Tonle Sap lake, where we stopped at a floating building to hop in a much smaller canoe type boat with a local woman to go explore deeper in the mangroves for 30 minutes. This was so neat. Very calm and quiet, gliding among the trees. We even got the check some of her fishing lines with her and brought up some small fish! Despite not speaking any English, we all got along wonderfully and she was incredibly warm and sweet. Next we headed to the crocodile farm, a nearby float. There was also some local jungle animals, rabbits, and a snake. Cool to see the animals, but I’m not personally a fan of any animal kept in captivity (with the exception of sanctuaries and rescue or preservation zoos). Finally, we headed back to the river opening where Kaen was waiting for us with the car. After stopping for lunch at an amazing restaurant called The Hut (get the fish amok!) with peaceful gardens and private secluded tables, San had Kaen drive us back to our hotel on a different route so we could see even more of the outskirts of Siem Reap. His level of thought and care he puts into his tours you really can’t find often these days. It’s rare to find a tour guide who CHOOSES to stay out longer and customize stops and routes just so that you can walk away with “a really good experience and appreciation for the people and this place.” Anything else we do on our trip will be tough to top this. San told us that the Khmer (Cambodian) people have very big hearts, and he is no exception.