A Google Adsense text ad next to my recent Splinters post about The Lost Executioner caught my eye recently. It was for a personal guide to Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s stunning temple complex, wonder of the ancient world and backdrop for the excreable Tomb Raider movie. The ad wasn’t for a company or one of the big international operations that ferry thousands of tourists into Angkor Wat each year; it was from an individual, a Cambodian guide who speaks good English and who has been showing visitors around the temples for years. And for $US20 a day, you can’t argue about the price.
Getting a friendly local guide is one of the most interesting ways to see somewhere like Angkor, because you get to chat with them about their lives and work too. I think it’s pretty savvy of this guide to have got together a free site on Geocities, put together some info and then plugged it through Adsense. It’s exactly the sort of grassroots, people-to-people service that the Internet can be so good at – and having someone you’ve spoken to already waiting for you when you arrive somewhere like Cambodia helps reduce stress considerably. Indeed,a website that listed individuals who offer informal travel guide services for particular places would be a great idea. You could go round the world connecting with locals all along the way. Using the Net to cut through companies and make contact with individuals who can help you provides a much more interesting experience and lets you pay your tourist dollars direct to someone in the local economy. [Mea culpa - I've managed to lose this enterprising guide's website address and I can't find the Adsense ad again either. D'oh!]
When visiting Angkor Wat a couple of years ago, we met up with Mr Ling Theavy , who had been recommended to us by another guide, Jack, in Phnom Penh. Sure enough, Theavy not only met us getting off the ferry at Siem Reap, but proceeded to drive us around for the next couple of days, telling us about his work around the temples and growing up under the Khmer Rouge. (I put Theavy’s contact details on my Cambodia Travel Notes page). Most of all, though, it’s simply human warmth that makes using local guides so much fun, the quick forming bonds of friendship that happen over a couple of days spent together. And I think it’s that warmth that most people are actually looking for when they go travelling, however many ancient ruins they may visit along the way.
More on Angkor Wat tour guides:
Spike | Google | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Wikipedia | Open Directory
