Monthly Archives: March 2012

Derleng Tours

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Derleng Tours is a local tour company in Cambodia based out of Siem Reap. We found out about Derleng when we were about to book a room at the Kool Hotel for our stay in Siem Reap. They had an option for a three day, two nights package that included the lodging at the Kool Hotel and private tour guide and car touring the Siem Reap/Angkor area. I was very impressed and thankful for the excellent service they provided during our visit to Cambodia. Below is an excerpt of what I wrote about them in my review on TripAdvisor — the least I could do to thank them.

During the planning stage few months before the trip, I contacted Derleng Tours via email. They were very responsive and helpful in arranging our trip. When I also asked for information regarding transportation and tour guide for Phnom Penh, they responded with a customized package that included the transportation in Phnom Penh added. What I appreciate was that they gave us the option for a tour guide as we requested, but actually recommended that we wouldn’t take up that option. The reason was because their primary operation was in Siem Reap, and they didn’t have tour guide that they could recommend for in Phnom Penh. If we had insisted to get a tour guide, they could arrange one to come from Siem Reap to guide us in Phnom Penh, but the guide wouldn’t be as knowledgeable about Phnom Penh that they didn’t want to risk not meeting our expectations. I found this very customer focused, and gave the feeling that they’re looking out for our best interests and not trying to take advantage of the situation to up sell their service.

The drivers we had in Phnom Penh were very courteous and knew their way around. We had a little mishap during the start of our full day trip in Phnom Penh, but Derleng folks managed to resolve it when we called them very early in the morning. The day ended up to be memorable, and we had lunch with our driver that was a unique experience in itself.

Derleng also helped us arrange our transportation from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. We had wanted to travel by bus and I also asked if they could arrange our transit from the hotel to the bus station in Phnom Penh and from the bus station to hotel in Siem Reap. They responded with an offer to arrange the whole travel (I think pretty much at cost). They also suggested that we would go by van rather than bus; pretty much same pricing, but typically faster because vans are more nimble than buses in navigating the highway traffic. Again, they gave us the suggestion without being pushy, and we took up their suggestion (this was the experience I wrote about in several posts last week about the trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap).

The Siem Reap part of the trip was organized and executed flawlessly. Our tour guide, Chea Vanna, was very friendly and knowledgeable about the places we visited during our three-day stay in Siem Reap. I particularly enjoyed having discussions with him learning about Cambodian culture and what life is like there, and sharing about American and Indonesia culture and life in comparison. By the end of the three day excursion, we pretty much considered him and our driver as our new friends, more than just our tour guide and driver.

In the end, we had a wonderful experience visiting Cambodia, and Derleng Tours had a big part in making our trip smooth and memorable. I definitely would recommend them to anyone planning on going to Cambodia.

The photo below was taken on New Year’s morning at Angkor Wat. It was me, Kristi, and our guide Vanna.

New Year's morning at Angkor Wat

The Kool Hotel

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The Kool Hotel is a boutique hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, area located about 15-minute drive from downtown Siem Reap. We picked this hotel as our place to stay based on the reviews on TripAdvisor. We ended up booking our stay as part of a tour package arranged with Derleng Tours (which was located at The Kool Hotel itself).

The hotel is located on a quiet residential street off the main highway in Siem Reap. It’s far enough that you can enjoy quiet retreat if you need a break from the activities in and around the town, but close enough that you can get to the the market / Pub street area within minutes on the complimentary shuttle van or by tuk-tuk.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were welcomed by the front desk staff, and as our room was being prepared, we were served cool and refreshing pandan-infused ice tea, and warm towels to refresh ourselves after a long trip from Phnom Penh. We were escorted to our room not long after that. The room was nice and clean, though we found ours a bit small in size. But since we spent most of the time out and about, this wasn’t issue.

We also went to the on-site restaurant for lunch. It was pretty nice. They served both Khmer and western dishes. The food was quite tasty, and the staff was attentive. Near the restaurant area, there was a swimming pool. We didn’t use the facility, but during the day time we saw families with kids enjoying the pool.

The photo below was taken just outside or room. You can see the nice shade outside the rooms with trees and landscaping around. It provided nice oasis especially after you go out in the sun during the day.

The Kool Hotel

Arrival in Siem Reap

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The second half of our van ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap seemed to go by quickly. I think by then we just wanted to get to the destination. Some passengers who were asleep during the first half of the trip were now awake after getting refreshed during our short break in Kampong Thom. The Cambodian businessman who was very busy on his cell phone during the first half of the trip was no longer taking or making calls — possibly his phone already ran out of charge.

We stopped a couple of times during this leg of the trip. At the first stop, there was a young lady in her motorcycle waiting at the side of the road. Apparently someone had a package for her from Phnom Penh that was delivered by the van’s driver. It looked like a wrapped gift. The driver and one of the guys in the van said something to the girl as she received the package that made her blush. She went on her way with her package, and we continued our trip. The second stop was about half an hour later — this time the friend of the driver who was sitting in the front row with the driver and the British gentleman got off — that seemed to be his destination.

As we got closer to Siem Reap, we started seeing road signs for Angkor Wat and downtown Siem Reap. It looked similar to the drive entering Phnom Penh — you could see quite a commercialized road with small stores lining the road. At one point, the driver smiled and pointed at a billboard and said to the British gentleman, “Wayne Rooney!” — it was a huge billboard with Wayne Rooney in his Manchester United’s uniform.

We finally reached our destination. I was expecting that we would go to a bus terminal of some sort. That wasn’t the case. The end point was just a small office / store front for the van company. Looked like there were many people there waiting for the passengers to arrive, including one gentleman with a sign that said Derleng Tours and my name on it. He introduced himself as Mr. Ko, saying that he would be our driver for the day. And not long after that, a young gentleman showed up in a motorcycle. Mr. Ko introduced us to the young man, his name is Vanna, and he would be our tour guide for the next couple of days as we tour Siem Reap. Vanna said he just wanted to meet and greet us there upon our arrival, but we would start our program later on after we got a chance to check in to our hotel, got some lunch, and relax a little bit. So we planned to meet him at the hotel lobby in a couple of hours, and we went with Mr. Ko in his van to the hotel where we would be staying in Siem Reap.

Our drive to the hotel took us through parts of downtown Siem Reap. We passed the Royal Palace in Siem Reap and the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, which was among the most luxurious places to stay in Siem Reap.

The photo below was taken during our ride to the hotel. As we got closer to downtown Siem Reap, we could tell that this was a city lived on tourism — we saw hotels and restaurants lining the road and foreigners everywhere, including these two on the back of hired motorbikes.

Hired motorbikes

Kampong Thom

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Kampong Thom is a city in Cambodia that is the capital of a province with the same name. It is located east of the Tonle Sap Lake. The National Highway 6 passes through Kampong Thom, and its location is roughly halfway between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, so it’s great place for travelers between the two cities to stop for a short break before they continue their journey.

We stopped at the Kampong Thom Market area during our van ride to Siem Reap. The driver told us that we had about fifteen minutes to stretch, using the restroom facilities at one of the restaurants, and get snacks and drinks. He also warned us to watch the time and don’t venture too far from where our passenger van was parked, so when it’s time to leave, it’s easy to gather everyone and we could continue our journey without much delay.

After a quick bio-break, Kristi and I hung out outside the restaurant near our passenger van — heeding to our driver’s advice. We still had some food that our hotel packed for us in the morning, and I wasn’t that hungry, but I did purchase a can of Coke Light to drink. It’s nice and refreshing as it was getting warmer outside. I thought it’s interesting that they called it Coke Light there (same in Vietnam) instead of Diet Coke. You don’t see many overweight locals, so I guess the concept of ‘Diet’ was not really that popular there.

Kristi ventured a little bit further and found a fresh fruit cart and bought a plastic bag full of freshly cut pineapples. I had a little bit of that — it was great, fresh and sweet. The American girl in our van went to get a num pang sandwich (similar to the one we had for breakfast the day before).

As we gathered near the van and got ready to leave, our driver tried to make some conversation with the foreigners using his broken English. When he found out that the gentleman who sat on the front seat was from England, he smiled and started mentioning Wayne Rooney, a famous soccer player from Manchester United. I also overheard them chatting with the American girl as well. Where the American girl who was an English teacher in Phnom Penh wanted to go to Siem Reap to celebrate New Year’s Eve, the British gentleman was apparently on a spiritual journey, going from places to places in Thailand and Cambodia to visit Buddhist temples and monasteries. It was quite interesting, as he was doing it as a way to retreat from the fast-paced life in western cities especially around Christmas holidays.

Our Cambodian driver also tried to make conversation with the American girl, and asked her where she would be staying in Siem Reap. He seemed to just wanting to be nice and hospitable to the foreigners, but I could tell the American girl was taken aback with that question (especially since she was traveling alone). She mumbled a place’s name — I wasn’t sure if that’s really where she was staying, but the driver just smiled and the conversation kind of stopped there. Then he continued talking with me and Kristi, asking if we’re a married couple. I told him that we’re actually cousins. I wasn’t sure if he understood what I said; he just smiled, nodded his head, and then moved on and talked with other passengers.

After that short pit stop that was quite welcomed as a break in the middle of the five-hour drive, we continued our trip to Siem Reap.

The photo below was taken just outside the restaurant in the Kampong Thom Market area where we stopped for a break. You could see our van on the left, a couple of passengers from another van walking around checking the area, and the restaurant on the right where we went for bio-break and where I got my Coke Light.

Rest area

Van Ride to Siem Reap

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The van ride we decided to take from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap turned out to be an interesting experience. We wanted to see the Cambodian countryside and experience travel like the locals, and the trip didn’t disappoint. It took about five hours to get from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, including a fifteen-minute break in the middle in a town called Kampong Thom. The tour company that arranged our trip was right; taking the passenger van, though it’s about the same price as taking the bus, was actually faster because the passenger van is smaller and can move faster and navigate around slower traffic better than the bus.

During the ride, it was interesting to observe the passengers inside the van. On the front row, next to the driver was a British older gentleman who was traveling alone. Next to him was a Cambodian man who seemed to know the driver as they had talked with each other like friends during the trip. I sat in the middle of the second row. On my left was a Japanese gentleman who carried his Canon DSLR with him. We picked him up at a hotel just after the van picked us up at our hotel. Before he left, we saw him giving a local person a hug — seemed to be someone who had helped him during his travels so far. During our trip, I saw him uploading the photos from his camera to his laptop, then he spent some time reviewing the photos. He had many portraits of local Cambodian in rural areas; beautifully taken and seemed to have one theme: showcasing the people of Cambodia (many if not most were smiling — wonderful to see in a country that many considered as among the poorest in the world). On my right was my cousin Kristi, who spent most of the time during the trip taking a nap.

Behind our row there were two more rows of passengers (5 more people). One of the passengers was the American girl who was a teacher in Phnom Penh (as I gathered from listening to her talking to a couple of other foreigners right after our pick up from the hotel). The rest of the passengers were local Cambodians. The American girl also spent most of the trip taking a nap. One Cambodian gentleman who sat in the back row provided an interesting ‘entertainment’ during our ride. Apparently he was conducting business during the ride. His mobile phone must’ve received calls every 5-10 minutes, and he talked to his colleague over the phone. Some calls were in Khmer, some were in English. Quite interesting to observe…

The scenery varied as we passed towns and rice fields. Once in a while I noticed roadside stands with people selling what looked like glass bottles of drink (brownish in color, looked like alcoholic drink). I wasn’t really sure what that was — later on I found out that it was people selling gasoline for motorcycles (unless you’re in big city like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, you rarely see gas station). As I mentioned in my post about National Highway 6, we passed people with various modes of transportation that are slower (oxcart, bicycle, etc.). Our driver didn’t slow down much, driving between 60-100 kmh and honking his horn to get people to notice that we’re about to pass them.

The photo below was taken when we stopped in Kampong Thom for a break in the middle. Here you can see our passenger van getting refreshed during the trip. It was quite a new Ford Transit, which we saw quite a bit in the Southeast Asian countries we visited (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam). Ford seemed to do quite a good business in the region to supply the vans for intercity travels.

Passenger van