Boat Trip Rip-off
If you ask a moto, tuk-tuk, or taxi driver to take you to Tonle Sap Lake for a boat tour of the floating village, watch out the sign below.
Krooked Kops 1
If you see this sign, you should immediately run, and ask your driver to take you directly to the boat docks. If you stop at the location above, you will be ushered into a building where at least three men will sell you a ticket for $15/person for a 1 ½ hour boat trip to visit the floating village. One guy will tell you the price, another will collect the money, and the third will write a ticket. The only reason we could think of that this number of people were needed to issue a ticket is that they are all corrupt and they want to keep an eye on each other.
Once you purchase your ticket, you will be sent with your driver to the docks where you will be handed over to one of many boats capable of carrying a dozen or more people, but you will probably be the only ones on the boat along with the boat “captain” and your taxi driver. After a half hour trip down the muddy polluted river, you will enter Tonle Sap Lake.
If you thought you could get away from the women and children hawking their wares at each of the temples and in town, guess again. As soon as you enter the lake you will be approached by at least one small boat with a woman and one or more children paddling like hell to come against your tour boat to sell you a cold drink or fruit. Of course the captain will assist by slowing and maneuvering to assist their approach. You will then stop at a floating souvenir stand where there may be some captive fish and crocodiles on display. Only after trying to separate you from some more or your cash, will you be taken through a section of the floating village. You then begin your half hour journey back, with a grand total spent in the floating village of 15 minutes or less.
On your return to the dock, you will be advised you need to pay an “incentive” to the boat captain. When we asked where the $15/person went and if any of the poor near the docks on in the floating village benefited, we were told with a smile that the police benefited. You can pick up the local guide book “Siem Reap Angkor Visitors Guide” which indicates you can get a quick tour for about $6 if you go directly to the docks.
By all means spend your money, but spend it wisely so it benefits those that most need it and does not line the pockets of the corrupt. In addition to not benefiting from the money spent on these tours, the people living there have their lives disrupted by the tour boats continually passing their homes. We did it, but regret it after learning more of the situation.
