Hi Mr. Sowanna,sorry for this late reply.
we enjoyed the trip very much under Mr. Sowanna's service. it was good to see those ancient temples. and also the interesting stories behind every carving on the temples. regarding the school, I was thinking maybe it's better to spend the money on things like books or equipment for student's daily use , instead of paving up the ground area. because we all actually grow up from the small village surrounding by the similar natural environment also,
| and we found normally it is the natural surrounding(tree, grass, sand) that really helps in a child's development. however, i know Mr.sowanna and the school teachers know what is best for the kids.we were happy looking at the teachers and students. thanks Mr. sowanna brought us there,given us a chance to donate some in helping them. if i am going Cambodia again next time, I will contact Mr. sowanna again for sure. thanks a lot, hereby attached a photo of us taken by Mr.sowanna. ( orkun. thank you )
regards, chao ling and friends. Malaysia 2010 |
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I promise to show you the real Cambodia in a fun, safe and affordable fashion. My reputation has been built on over ten years experience designing tours that highlight the best cultural, historic and outdoor features of my country.
Please take a look at my website and contact me if you would like to schedule my services.
Or-kun! ( thank you in Cambodia ).
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Special thank for family - Helga Wiig Stangeland & Daniel Ueland came from Norway who donated the 17 Dictionaries in different kind for our supporting School in English language to keep in library. I and English teachers and students would like to pray for Lord Buddha to bless your family to meet
| all happiness and good health and long life forever. |
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Hi Sowanna,
That is fine that you used the money for a house instead of the books/pens. You would know best how to help your people.
I would highly recommend Sowanna as a tour guide in the Siem Reap area. He was always prompt and reliable, his driver and van were very solid, his prices reasonable, and he was very knowledgeable. Sowanna efficiently lead us through as many sites as we wanted to see. He was conscious that our pace was good for all, with breaks as needed. We covered extensively that region in 3 days with him.
He was flexible and had a very nice way about him. He was trustworthy and easy to be with for long periods. He cares for the people of Cambodia, and helps facilitate their rise towards their middle class by helping them help themselves. He treats everyone with respect, but provides outsiders an understanding of the everyday life for typical Cambodians with peeks into their housing, yards, foods, villages, schools, etc.
All our best to Sowanna Yun!
Special thank for family - Dayle & John came from Australia who donated a small house for old & poor Cambodian family. I and a Cambodian family would like to pray for Lord Buddha to bless your family to meet all happiness and good health and long life forever.*******************************************
Hi Sowanna, Ian is travelling at the moment so I offered to respond to your last email. The memories of our trip will remain with us for a very long time. We all enjoyed our short time in Cambodia, made all the more special with your guidance and help. Thank you for arranging the water pumps so promptly. We were very glad to be able to help in this way. Please keep in touch, probably better to contact me as Ian travels frequently. We would like to help more in the future, so let's keep in touch to see how that can be arranged.
Best regards
Ian & Susan Baron
Special thank for family - Ian & Susan Baron came from United Arab Emirate who donated the 2 Clean Water pumps for Cambodian family. I and villagers would like to pray for Lord Buddha to bless your family to meet all happiness and good health and long life forever
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After doing much search on the Internet and asking friends for recommendations we contacted the Cambodian Guide (www.cambodianguide.com) to be our guide during our 5 day trip to Siem Reap Dec. 2009.
It was the best decision we took! Sowanna Yun was most knowledgeable and friendly. Every email I sent to him was promptly replied. Our flight out was delayed one day due to heavy snow but Sowanna rearranged everything right away and kept me informed of all the changes by email and by SMS. When we finally arrived in Siem Reap there was our Tuk Tuk driver, a lovely man called Vanna, waiting for us to take us to see the floating village at Tonle Sap Lake.
The next day we were picked up punctually at 5 am to see Angkor Wat at sunrise. It’s a most breathtaking sight when you first see the silhouette of the 5 towers and the reflection in the water (of the pond in front of Angkor Wat) against the sky as the day becomes lighter and brighter. It was a magical moment and it surpassed all my expectations! The next two days were spent visiting various different temples, like Angkor Thon, Banyon, Ta Phrom with many gigantic trees with powerful roots that coil around the ancient stone slabs like a huge cobras, waiting to become alive!
We were very interested in visiting the charity project that Sowanna supports, Home Stay Volunteer Teacher Org. www.hvto.org , so we ask Sowanna to take us there. It’s a project that teaches 2 villages English after school or work. It’s located about 40 km from Siem Reap, on the way to Bang Melea Temple. We stopped at a market to pick up lots of notebooks and pencils for the children. Basically HVTO, initiated by Sim Piseth, a young Cambodian guide in his 20s, built 3 classrooms next to a primary school to teach English to any villager who wishes to learn. Currently they have about 600 pupils (children, adults, monks) and the classes are held throughout the day.
The children were very enthusiastic and eager learners, they also had very neatly written notebooks! We were amazed by their beautiful handwriting, in both Khmer and English.
A competent and energetic young Australian lawyer was teaching on the day we visited; she was being assisted by a Khmer speaking Cambodian teacher as well. She told us that the pupils are very keen, but the days are too short so classes have to stop around 5:30 pm due to darkness. The village doesn’t have electricity, and the school doesn’t have power generator to charge batteries for lighting. She also told us that many basic things, like toothbrush, tooth paste, soaps, flip flops, are luxury items, so she’s organising a donation of lots of toothbrushes so the children will have nice healthy teeth.
This visit was the second highlight of our visit as it made us understand how everyone of us could help by contributing just a little time and/or money to solve some very basic things in life. HVTO is a most worthy project and we have decided to work with Sowanna to help it grow; the next item on the list is a power generator so they can have light and learn in the evenings as well.
A last note, we loved being driven around by our Tuk Tuk driver, Vanna. He was always punctual and smiling! He took us to a simple restaurant that served delicious Cambodian food! We could have gone there for every meal. He also took us to Healthy Hands for a 4-hand oil massage. Pure bliss! On the last day Vanna took us to the airport and we were very sad to leave him and beautiful Cambodia!For now all our best wishes and blessings to you! We miss Cambodia! Susi, Jakob and my mother Lee ************
Special thank to family - Susi Ma, Jakob and mother Lee came from England who donated the power generator for our supporting school in English language. I ,teachers,students and community would like to pray for Lord Buddha to bless your family to meet all happiness and good health and long life forever
.李持勤
Lee Chi-Chin
From the province of Hunan, 湖南
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HI SOWANNA,WE ARRIVED BACK OK TO THAILAND.I HAVE SENT SOME PHOTOS FOR YOU.I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR A FANTASTIC HOLIDAY, YOU REALLY MADE IT VERY MEMORABLE FOR US ALL.I WILL BE IN TOUCH AND I ALREADY HAVE SOME FRIENDS WHO WILL USE YOUR SERVICE WHEN THEY COME FOR A HOLIDAY TO CAMBODIA.MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
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Welcome To the Kingdom Of Cambodia
The best way to see everyday life as well as the special sights in Cambodia is to arrange a guide. They take the hassle out of getting around and explain the detail of the temples and the sights. They also have insight having lived and worked as a local. The guide we had was really great and he helped us to maximise our time in Cambodia by taking us to our prefered list of temples along with offering us a chance to experience Cambodian life. He gave us great choices, noticed when we were hot or tired and offered us options. He took great photos which allowed us to soak up the experience. I would highly recommend this guided tour option. http://www.cambodianguide.com/More Info : www.pamincambodia.blogspot.com
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Finding a Trustworthy Guide in Cambodia
My latest trip to Cambodia was an absolute pleasure, and many thanks goes to my Cambodian Guide, Mr. Sowanna Yun ( http://www.cambodianguide.com ). "Wanna" speaks Khmer, Thai and English. He is very knowledgeable about the history of Cambodia and Angkor Wat, as well as all of the ruins throughout the region. Wanna arranged every aspect of our recent trip, and it went off without a hitch. I found him to be honest and helpful, and he went out of his way to make our trip the best it could be. I now consider him a friend and can't wait until our next trip there in 2009. Wanna has already started planning that trip for us, and I can't wait to reunite with him for another great adventure.
More Info. http://seaexplorer.blogspot.com *************************************************************
Hi Sowanna,
We had a great time in Cambodia and then went to Vietnam for several days. I am now back in the U.S. and have attached some of the group pictures per your request.
Thank you for doing such a great job at sharing your beautiful country with us. The people we met were so friendly and I highly recommend that everyone experience the rich culture and learn from the history that Cambodia has to offer. We enjoyed your stories and will recommend your services to our friends.
Best wishes,
Parul
psomani@mba2009.hbs.edu
Special thanks to Ms. Parul and friends who used our pick up services in Cambodia on 11 - 16 May 2009. May the Lord Buddha bless all of you and family to meet all happiness and longevity *******************************************************
I and my group (altogether 5 women) spent 5 days in Cambodia. We arranged our program in advance with Sowanna and he booked for us an excellent hotel as we agreed on it. Our trip was excellent and memorable thank to our guide to Sowanna. He’s a very talented, experienced guide so we could rely on him every time.
He’s very flexible and accomplised all of our wishes. For example On the way to Beng Melea – to a distant but a very interesting and intact place – we realized in a village that a wedding ceremony was held and as we were interested Sowanna arranged for us to participate ont he ceremony and to take photos there. These was a magical moment for us.
He knows well every monument and buildings he could show us the best places for taking photos. He could show us the most interesting places among the historical places and int he villages too.
Our bus was always very clean and we got cool fresh water every day in the bus during the trip. He took us restaurants where we could ate safe and healthy food. It’s also very important.
So, I could recommend to everybody to take their visit to Cambodia with Sowanna. If anybody need any information about him or about our travel, please feel free to write me: zelko.csilla@mkb.hu or csillogo11@gmail.comDear Sowanna, I hope you are satisfied with my testimony. I wish you all the best and good luck in your job and private life too.
Best regards,
Csilla
HUNGARY****************************************************************
Dear Mr. Wanna, Our trip to Cambodia was amazing. We learned so much about your country, both past and present, in just three short days. It felt like we were in another world, one so rich with history, both glorious and spiritual, yet a recent history so incredibly painful. Irene and I both felt a great deal of respect for you, Mr. Bunto and the Cambodian people for how you and your country are pulling themsleves out of a difficult time and making the best of the great things you have: your temples, your forests and lakes, your culture and most of all, the beauty of the people from deep within. I would like to thank you and Mr. Bunto for all of the incredible knowledge you shared with us, but also your personal stories, your opinions and your observations. Thank you for not only helping to give us a great tourist experience, but also a great human experience. Visiting Cambodia was the highlight of our two week Songkran holiday. Thank you for sharing your life, your history and your culture with us.
Again, thank you for making our trip so rich. Maryan Cerina
mcerina@hotmail.com
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Special thanks to Maryan Cerina and Irene Brinkman came from Canada who used our pick up services in Cambodia ( 16 - 18 April 2009 ).******************************************************
Wanna - The Greatest Tour Guide in CambodiaKelly recommended this tour guide to me 3 weeks before we left for Cambodia.
After few correspondences with him via email, WANNA (aka Yun Wanna) officially became our tour guide for the temple visiting.
I wonder if it is due to the female-dominant culture or the mindset of a traditional Cambodian, he was surprised when he found out it was a She (instead of a Guy) who sent him the emails during our first meet up in Le Tigre De Papie
He guided us for 4 days, including the trip to Angkor City (3-days), Beng Mealea temple and Tonle Sap Lake. Besides telling good legends, he is good in taking photographs, he knows which angle or poses are the best to potray the magnificent view of the tourist spots.
To be frank, I have never meet any impressive tour guide in my life. Wanna is the first who change my stereotype on a tour guide. I remember how he guided us along the journey, I respect his professionalism and passion into his guiding job, I remember how he cheered me up on the second day of the temple visiting, I remember how he called me 'philip, philip...' throughout the journey...WANNA, we appreaciate all your efforts.
As a tour guide, you have done a great job. You are the best companion of our trip!! Some says:"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going", YES!! The challenges and the hardships that we encountered and passed through along the journey will defnitely become one of the utmost traveling in our life!!
More Info. :
http://jimuisss.blogspot.com/2009/03/wanna-greatest-tour-guide-in-cambodia.html******************************************************
Hi Sowanna,Yes. I restarted my job. My wife made plenty of photos, as you know. Currently she is working on a huge entry in her internet blog describing our travel in detail. You can see this entry on http://wild-forever.livejournal.com/, tag "cambodia". It is all in Russian, though, but you will see a lot of pictures there. She mentioned you couple of times in a very positive way, and mentioned that you "can't survive in Phnom Penh without a guide" (meaning you):))). She has not finished yet.Our trip on July 23rd was fine, bus was on time. We spent couple of hours in museum and then ate at a restaurant near Sisowath queue.I have very pleasant memories of Cambodia and will recommend you to my friends if somebody decides to go to your country. Maybe i'll come to your country again sometime. So, let's keep in touch.Good luck to you and your family,Dmitry and Nadia. Special thanks to Dmitry & Nadia who came from Russian and used our pick up services in Cambodia from 15 - 23 July 2009 in Phnom Penh city, Takeo province, Phnom Chiso & Tonle Bati temples and came to Siem Reap Angkor and Preah Vihear temple. May the Lord Buddha bless you and family to meet all happiness and longevity.
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Special Thanks to YUN WANNA, our guide for great services provided and making our trip unforgettable experience. Our greatest recommendation!!!
More Info. : http://www.leshko.com*****************************************************
Special thanks to Igorb Bakman came from Israel who pick up our services in Cambodia and posted many pictures of our country. May the God bless you and family to meet all happiness and longevity.
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Написав несколько писем, я узнал, что на сайте http://www.cambodianguide.com можно узнать все подробности о стране, о памятниках архитектуры, древних храмах, религии и истории, а также о стоимости гостинниц и дополнительных услугах. Так как моя поездка была ограничена во времени, было принято решение воспользоваться услугами этого гида и автомобилем с водителем. Кстати, Если вы едете компанией, например 4-8 человек, то тогда можно заказать микроавтобус с водителем, а если больше - не вопрос забронировать большой автобус на группу. При этом стоимость в расчёте на одного человека будет совсем смешной.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://svirepij.livejournal.com/tag/kampuchea&ei=7ay4Spj-JJao6APQ-cyGAg&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsvirepij.livejournal%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DGMore Info. : http://svirepij.livejournal.com/tag/kampucheaSpecial thanks to Pavel and Regina who used our pick up services in Cambodia and posted many pictures of Cambodia.
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Dear sowanna
Happy to see your email ...we all arrived here safely and was sharing our expereince with all my freinds here in singapore ..a good time.
Same time..happy to see that you have a new group coming to visit cambodia next week and same time you will be taking them around...Keep up the good work...
Myself will definitely recommend my friends/colleague to you as a "guide" for their future trip,...
Byeee for now...kusum...
kusumkb@yahoo.com.sg
Special thanks to Jitendra Bhilare and family who used our pick up services in Cambodia on 11 - 14 June 2009******************************************************
Hello Sowanna,
Natalie and Hayden are extremely thankful to their guide and driver for making their first trip to Cambodia one of the best holidays they have ever been on. The guide was able to be flexible with our requests and adapt his speed to our requirements. The driver was always there and ready with a lovely cold bottle of water. The guide and driver were always on time, efficient, friendly. It could not have been better and we love Cambodia . Cant wait to come back and we will certainly contact Sowanna again when we do.
Kind regards,
NatalieSpecial thanks to Natalie and Hayden (Natalie.Lee@infor.com ) came from Singapore who used our pick up services in Cambodia on 14 - 16 March 2009. May God bless you and family to meet all happiness and longevity.**********************************************************
Dear Sowanna,
It is now almost one year since I visited your wonderful country. You were my eyes and my ears and introduced me to everything Cambodia has to offer to the western tourist.
You were a kind and extremely knowledgeable guide and I had a wonderful time in your country. I have shown my photographs to many friends here and all have been very impressed. Obviously the Anghor Wat sites impressed but, more than that, some of the shots we have of the real people of Cambodia, their life by the river, etc have had a big effect on my friends.
I will be very happy to return to Cambodia in the next few years. It is a tourist destination without compare and I plan to return soon. Needless to say, when I do return, you will be my guide.
Kindest regards,
John Butterworth
j.butterworth@clix.pt
Special thanks to John Butterworth came from Portugal who used our pick up services in Cambodia. May the God bless you and family to have a happiness and longevity.***************************************************
Many thanks to Cambodian Guide : SowannaWe travelled to Siem Reap last November (we are a couple).Before travelling, and according to other reviews read here, decided on a personal guide to help us around siem reap (we were travelling from Lisbon to London, London to K. Lumpur, and from there to Siem Reap), staying only two days.Before departure, we contacted, by e-mail, severel private guides, in order to stablish a tour, suited to our needs, as well as get quotations.Well, he received several answers back, but, without a doubt, the most professional one was the chosen one: Mr. Sowanna Yun (
http://www.cambodianguide.com/).We could not ask for more. It started with the fact that we, on the survey e-mails sent, we mentioned that we were arriving at 10 o\'clock in the morning, and wanted to start seing things on that day.Sowanna was the only guide that actually read the e-mail, so his purposal was to pick us up in the airport, taking us to hotel, for check in, etc, and not, as we saw in other guides: \"sunrise at 5 oﾃつｴclock in the morning\"... His answer, besides being the fastest one, was the best.During our tour Mr. Sowanna was not late not even once, and not even a minute.Even if we decided to sleep an hour after lunch, he would wait for us at the reception.We managed to visit a lot of temples during our 2 days stay... exactly the ones we wanted, and at the best times (Sowanna knows the hours to see every temple, so we are always able to visit when there are fewer people there - we have lots of photos in which you see no one...).Also, he knows how to take pictures - always checking for the best angles - and he has no problems in sending everyone else off the site... just to take a picture of you... alone! lolIt is also good to mention that he carries, in his car, lots of refrigerated water, that is kept fresh throughtout the day, with massives amounts of ice, and that he is always offering to you - included on the price.As it is too hot, Mr. Sowanna is always making sure that you catch the cold air from the car\'s A/C.One other thing that was important to us, was that not even once the guide tried to take us to the \"comission shops\". The only visit to an artisans centre was replaced by sleeping hours, without any complaint from Mr. Sowanna.With him, our experience was the best of all. Just enough words, just enough temples, just enough explanations, and we honestly believe our journey would not have been the same if we had other guide.And, believe me, although we are experienced travellers, we did not know what we were going to find.Keeping it short -
http://www.cambodianguide.com/ - Mr. Sowanna Yun, in fact the only guide in Cambodja.In case you have some specific questions, please contact us.Greetings from PORTUGAL!
Mr. joao :
http://us.mc318.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=joao762@msn.com : Tel. 351937405723
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Dear Sowanna, Here are some photos as promised. We have a very nice collection of photos from the trip and some good memories. We like to thank you very much for a great and safe trip through the Angkor Wat temple area. Clear explanation, flexible tour scheme, professional attitude, reliable up on appointments. You did a great job, both as a guide and private photographer. Kind regards, Marloes
edmarloes@live.nlSpecial thanks to Marloes de Saegher and family came from Holland who used our pick up services in Cambodia on 21st - 23 May 2009. May the Lord Buddha bless you and family to meet all happiness and longevity.*********************************************************
Dear Sowanna,
“Thanks Sowanna for the good visit during these 3 days ! You respect all our wishes, with nice optimization of the visit.
We sincerely appreciate your explanation on all history, with good sence of humor.
We wish you all the best for you and your family
Best regards
Annick Deschamps
Planning & Logistic Apparel & Accessories
Salomon S.A. – SOFTGOODS Logistics
74996 Annecy Cedex 9, France
Tel. +33 4 50 65 44 88, fax +33 4 50 65 45 97.
annick_deschamps@salomon-sports.com www.salomonsports.com www.amersports.comSpecial thanks to Annick Deschamps and friends came from France who used our pick up services in Cambodia - Angkor. May the God bless you and family to meet all happiness and longevity.*************************************************
Hi Sowanna,
Thanks for guiding us around Angkor Wat, Bayon, and all the other great treasures of Siem Reap. We really appreciated it and learned quite a lot from you. And, our best-taken photos are those on the first day with you. :D A lot fun indeed.
Please find attached some photos with you. You may take any to show on your website. For our future friends visiting Cambodia , I would definitely recommend your accompany.
Best regards,
Jean Liu
jean.liu@ourexplorer.cn
+86 139 1731 6531
www.OurExplorer.com/tour-guide-jean-liu-1382.aspx**** local guides, local wisdom *****Special Thanks To Ms. Jean Liu`s group came from China who used our pick up services in Cambodia - Angkor Wat .
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Good Morning Sowanna, I'm very good, thanks for asking. How's everything over there?Is it stil raining? We got plenty of pictures in Cambodia actually and all of them are good. We took about 647 pictures. I actually just spoke to my boss here at work and told him about the country and i told him that you could give him a good guide over there. I'm sending him your link and he's going to check out your website and hopefully he chooses you so you could get some business. I hereby attach some of the pictures that you could probably use in your website..till the next one, you take care..
Kind Regards
Sarindran
Malaysia
indistripped@hotmail.com***************************************************
Dear Mr. Sowanna,This picture is a little thanks to you.The tour with you was great and we learned a lot.We look forward to go on a trip in history with you a second time!Greetings,Elga Menning
German
elgamenning@t-online.de**************************************************
Hi. Sowanna
Thanks for a great day showing us angkor wat.
Best greatings from four happy norwegians.
Tom Faye
tfaye@bluezone.no****************************************************
Hi. Wanna,Just wanted to send you a quick email to let you know that I had agreat time on the visit two weeks ago. We really enjoyed your tour ofSiem Reap and the Angkor temples. In particular, it was great to hearyour perspective on Cambodia's history and its relations with yourneighboring countries. Cambodia has survived some incrediblechallenges, and it sounds like there are more to come.I'd love to stay in touch -- best of luck in the future.Jason Bhardwaj
USA
jason.bhardwaj@gmail.com*******************************************
All the Emails received many thanks
WORK IN PROGRESS
Angkor Wat temple is the largest Hindu temple in the world
Mr. Sowanna Yun, English and Thai speaking guide in Siem Reap - Angkor - Cambodia. sowanna012@yahoo.com Tel:+ 855-12768193, 012768193
