Guide Of The Month: Mr Sinath, Cambodia

The right guide can make or break a trip. One of the reasons we pride ourselves on being able to continuously offer high-quality trips all over the Far East, is the fact that we always do our best to work with the very best guides in each country. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a few of our top-rated guides, beginning this month with Mr Sinath, one of our regulars in Cambodia. Born and raised in Siem Reap, he now uses his personal knowledge and experience to guide Bamboo Travel clients, and other visitors, around his home town.

Mr Sinath started school when he was 10 years old. After finishing high school, he went on to university in Phnom Penh, graduating in 2004 with an associated degree in English Literature. Unfortunately he could not afford the tuition to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree, so he returned to Siem Reap to look for a job. Eventually he was offered work, delivering drinking water and rice to buyers around the city. However, this job allowed him no opportunities to use his English language skills and the knowledge he had spent so much time accumulating, so he quit in favour of a job as a tuk-tuk driver for one of the top hotels in Siem Reap. After work he would spend a few hours teaching English in a private language school every day.

It was here, at this school, where Mr Sinath got his idea to become a tour guide. He loved being able to speak English with his clients, and he learned a lot from the tour guides who sometimes accompanied clients to the school. In order to accomplish his new goal, he read everything he could get his hands on. Books about Cambodian culture, history, architecture and archaeology in particular. Eventually, he succeeded and he has been working as a tour guide since 2007. He says his biggest achievement has been “sharing his culture and civilisation with people from around the world”.

Because of his interest in history and archaeology, his favourite place in Cambodia is of course Siem Reap, and the mysterious and beautiful temples of Angkor. But when he has time to get away, he enjoys taking advantage of the clean waters and fresh air of Sihanoukville, or hiking in the national parks and wild mountainous regions of Cambodia.

If you are interested in a trip to Cambodia, then why not take a look at some of our recommended tours or just get in touch to start putting together your personalised trip to this intriguing and beautiful country today.