Another day, another floating village tour scam.

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Kung-fu Hillbilly
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Another day, another floating village tour scam.

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

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Walkabout Monkey
May 2020


That’s it, I’ve had enough, I don’t want to be part of this anymore. I tell the guide to give it a rest and bring us back to the port. “But the children…” he mutters,

Out of five villages, Chong Khneas is the only real floating village. The others are actually more like “stilted” villages above the water or a mix. We chose Chong Khneas, because it is nearest to Siem Reap. Looking back, I can safely say that it wasn’t the best choice. We were nowhere near prepared for what we would encounter.

Considering the short distance, the boat fare was really expensive at $20 per person. Upon reaching the Chong Khneas port we looked at each other, both thinking the same: “Uhoh….tourist trap!”

As it turned out, we have to change boats again since the first one is too large to navigate the floating village. We complain about having to pay another $20 per person. The ticket seller tries to justify: “But it’s not just a boat ticket, it’s a tour with a guide and it includes the entrance fee and tourist tax”.

“Above all there are many orphans that no one takes care of. They rely completely on gifts from good tourists like you. All the tourists that come here buy food for the orphans. If tourists don’t buy food for the children they will die.”

“Please, buy the rice to feed the poor children here” the guide says. A 50kg bag of rice is $60, which is triple the normal price in Cambodia. “Not so expensive” the guide says, “the school can eat for more than a week from 1 bag”.

Maybe we can buy some pencils and notebooks, surely the school could use that? “No, no, no, that’s not helping the children, you let the children die. You buy noodles” and he points to a 5-pack of instant noodles costing a ridiculous $21.

full https://walkaboutmonkey.com/outrageous- ... elieve-it/
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atst
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Re: Another day, another floating village tour scam.

Post by atst »

Those guys running the tours in siem reap are crooks ripping off the tourist and the locals, you have to buy your ticket though them then they get a local guy to take you out, and pay them only a few dollars.
If you try getting a local guy to take you out they won't because if they did they would get their boats taken off them.
Sadly this is all to familiar in siem reap around tourist spots. Doesn't give the tourist a good impression of Cambodia
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