My last class is a group of high school students I won’t teach in a few weeks. We usually only have two days of class, and I guess some of the students get the memo we had class today. The one student that showed up told me that she’d be going to Cambodia tomorrow. Seeing as no one else was going to show up, and I had BEEN to Cambodia, that became our new topic of discussion.I brought the student into the teacher’s room and pulled up the Flickr set that I had spent time editing. I wanted to give her names to recommend temples to see and advice how to get around.
She knew I had been to Cambodia, probably because I couldn’t stop talking about it whenever someone brings it up. She told me she’d be there for five days, and that they’d be going on a tour. She told her parents about my advice to see the temples backpacking and making your own way as the best way to see the Seim Reap area. Her parents are weary travelers and didn’t think it was “safe” enough for the family to go that route.
Instead they’ll go on a tour and get ripped off at every turn by the guide. Her parents said that on their “Free day” they’d even pay the guide to take them around to different places instead of doing their own thing. She was really annoyed her parents weren’t willing to be more adventurous. I told her NEVER to let go of the Angkor Wat visitor pass, as it would mean she would be locked out of seeing anything on her own. As long as her parents took care of that pass, they could get their own tuk-tuk and do a side trip to see stuff if they got a change of heart.
I also passed along the advice of the Cambodians I talked to: “Korean guides run scams everywhere they go, and if they translate for you at a market or shop, they get a cut of every transaction. They try to rip you off while claiming to be your best friend.”
I told her that every market and ever vendor speaks English in the tourist areas, so don’t let the guides handle anything for you involving money. It was certainly true when we visited. The markets were persistent in their haggling, and if you wanted a deal they’d work with you. I imagine the premium for even arriving somewhere in a foreign owned tour bus is a 50% price increase. I don’t even blame vendors for trying to scam them, as the Korean tours don’t spread enough money into the local communities due to the guides owning every stop along the way.
Despite my negative feelings about Korean tours, I gave her a few hints and told her the coolest places we saw. She’s a very adventurous girl. If she takes some of my advice and gets her family to explore a bit on her own, that would be awesome. I’ll bring in my Cambodian tour book to see if she recalls any of the sights.
