Tonle Sap Lake and Kampong Phluk Half-Day Tours from Siem Reap (4-5h)

We booked our trip through Tripadvisor and were picked up without any issues direct from our hotel in Siem Reap. We were in a small group of five consisting of our family, with two young boys, and another lady. Our guide was extremely informative and friendly and put us all on our ease on the drive to the the quay at Tonle Sap in an air conditioned van. The route took us out of Siem Reap to more rural areas and gave us a glimpse of how many rural communities live. The boat we met at the quay to take us down to Tonle Sap lake could be considered basic by Western standards, however, it felt a lot more like the real Cambodia than taking a large tourist boat. The trip down river to the lake was absolutely fascinating, taking you the main route through the sunken forest. Although the noise of the engine did mean our guide wasn't able to describe things fully, he pointed out sights of interest to us and answered our many questions. The main destination - the lake itself - is interesting for its impressive scale, but the real highlight is seen on the way - Kompong Phluk. The floating village feels as authentic as it can with the many visitors passing through it, with the tourism confined to the floating restaurant where you can stop for drinks on the way back and have the opportunity to pay a little extra to be paddled around the mangroves and sunken forest on a short trip. This also gives you a brief chance to see some of the village closer to and I would recommend the few dollars extra for the short canoe ride. The whole experience was unforgettable and also an opportunity to talk to our guide and find out more about the lives of the people who live on and around the lake. Some might find the tour itself a little basic for Westerners who might be used to luxury, but I found it to be unforgettable and wouldn't hesitate recommending it to others.

Tour guide is amazing! Knows a ton about the history of Cambodia and is also super friendly! You'll totally be able to tell that he loves his job!

It's really good! The tour guide worked hard to introduce the history of ancient culture in Cambodia and floating villages I enjoyed the tour so much!!!

We were picked up from our hotel as a family group and taken by air conditioned minivan to get a boat to the floating village. Jeff talked with passion about Cambodia (ask him about his parents story and i promise that you will shed a tear!) and answered all our questions. We were transferred onto a boat with the five of us and taken around the floating village. Here we had the opportunity to be paddled in a canoe through the mangroves for a few dollars more. Compared with the other trips on offer, this was far cheaper and, I felt, much less commercialised! Jeff was an amazing guide and even sent us photos after the trip. 5 star recommendation!

We started early at 7:45 am from my homestay to Kampong Phluk, which was good because we went ahead of other tourists and avoided the crowd. My guide, Jeff, speaks good English, provides interesting facts about the village life and Siem Reap, in general, which made me appreciate the place more. I especially liked the small canoe ride in the middle of dense mangroves. Its like being in a fantasy movie waiting for crocodiles, snakes and monkeys to show up. It is indeed a habitat for these animals, together with different bird species. I wasnt lucky though to spot them at the time I went.

The tour was amazing and thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon. It was fascinating to view the floating village, to see the houses built on stilts and to wonder through the village. Our guide, Van Lonh, was amazing, very knowledgable, polite, good English and a great sense of humour. Money well spent!

Thoroughly enjoyed our half day tour to the Floating Villages at Kampong Phluk and Tonle Sap Lake. Highly recommend doing this tour and if possible ask for Van Lonh to be your guide as he was absolutely fantastic - both his history knowledge and his English were excellent with a great sense of humour which made our afternoon very enjoyable. The tour was advertised as a small group and it was very small, just my husband and myself. Loved our tour!!!!

Tour guide cherry did an excellent job showing me and my family around the floating villages. Highly recommended. Excellent patience in answering all my youngest's questions

I took the half dayTonle Sap Tour, booked via Bookmundi. They replied to my inquiries pretty quickly and we booked the tour. Tour itself was lovely, our guide was a funny approachable guy ad despite it being dry season and there was not that much water on the river to lead to the lake, we were still given a fascinating tour. The only downside was that on the day itself, I think that they may have forgotten about us. When they were late to pick up, we asked the hotel to call them. However we were picked up soon enough by a private driver and we made it at the site just in time around the same time as the tour bus did. Overall, despite making a slight error, the tour manage to quickly fix the issue and we were able to enjoy our day :) Tip: Bring shoes as it can get dusty during dry season or muddy during wet season