Crociera per Piccoli Gruppi a Tonle Sap

We booked the tour out to Me-Chrey floating village on the edge of the Tonle Sap with Viator. They contracted Urban Adventures to run the trip. We did the half-day tour, which for Me-Chrey was about right, and we found the whole experience remarkable and memorable. Cruising gently through the village we were amazed as westerners how the villagers lived. It certainly made an impact and we would highly recommend this tour. There was a downside, however. We travelled out to the boat pick-up point by tuk tuk. This allowed us to immerse ourselves in the countryside we passed through, but it was very dusty, bumpy and windy. On balance, it added to the experience, but be prepared a scarf and sunglasses are a must. Sadly our tuk tuk driver blew his horn at every vehicle he overtook, every junction, and anything else he saw fit to warn, which was probably as necessary as it was tedious. The other aspect was our boat, which had a most noisy and exposed engine and pretty much rendered conversation difficult if not impossible. That said, it was still a great tour, and as we cruised out to the village we enjoyed all the river life we passed, and the egrets and storks overhead. Our guide said Urban Adventures aim to encourage tourists to experience local life. On this trip they certainly did that.

The people living there DONT WANT TOURISM. I did not know before but the guide did those people feel like in a circus, they get nothing of the money you pay the company . Cruel!

The tour was great! we visited floating village in November and got the chance to see the every day life of people living there. On our way back our tour guide took 3 stops to show us local snacks. It would be great if we could also pop in to one of the crocodile farms.

Great tour.

The tour is great. Our tour guide, Mr. Vantha, was outstanding and his English level and pronunciation was superb. We had no trouble understanding him. Pick up was smooth and on time, Remork Tuk Tuk was initial mode of transport to a local market, some food tasting, then a Buddhist Temple, then the boat on a brown water river to the lake. The tour was awesome. HOWEVER, Viator is charging a premium for this tour and all their tours. You can easily book this same tour via a local Cambodia tour group on line, or just wet until you arrive there. There are small tour retailer booth type boxes all over. They offer some good deals.

Fantastic way of gaining an insight into Cambodian life. A particular highlight was visiting a floating village on Lake Tonle Sap and the local market was a real eye opener. Thanks to Vanny for a fantastic job as out guide, very knowledgeable.

Interesting viewing of floating village and lotus farm. I was interested in hearing more about wildlife too. Guide was friendly and flexible based on group interests.

Thankfully this tour was scheduled for our last day in Siem Reap. The guide was friendly and knowledgeable, so was the tuk tuk driver. The agent did not reply to my email requesting for pick up from the hotel, but we got our hotel reception to ring up the day before to confirm. The tour began with a tour to the wet market. As it was a Sunday, it was heaving and we got the full insight of a wet market in rural Siem Reap followed by a monastery walk around. I got a little bored as I had already seen a wet market in Siem Reap and a monastery on another tour before.
On our way to the ferry terminal, we stopped by the Lotus farm, now that was interesting.
Cruising on the Tonle Sap River was underwhelming, floating houses etc and stopped by a crocodile tired looking! farm and a separate pen of fish. The shopping area and the restaurant area on the 'kelong' were much larger than the crocodile and fish pen. There was also a small python which a little girl 4/5 yo who lives on the kelong I presume- was allowed to handle. WAsted a lot of time there too.
On the return leg back to the hotel, we stopped at a salted fish producing house.
The tour could have just been 2 hours long - just the cruise and lotus farm visit. The rest were unnecessarily included to stretch the duration of the tour.

This was a highlight of our Cambodia experience. Guide took us to such interesting places that we felt more like a visitor than a tourist. I would highly recommend this tour.

We were only two turist and that was good. The motor of the boat had a brok down, but that gave us time to see the ordinary tings with the people, children, working. Something good hours.