Ox Cart Rides Prove a Tourist Drawcard
Ox cart riding is a traditional form of transport, used in Cambodia for centuries. Most people in rural areas, especially farmers, still use the carts, while some have turned them into a tourism service. Photo: Meng Seavmey
- By Meng Seavmey
- March 22, 2024 4:10 PM
SIEM REAP – Ox cart riding is a traditional form of transport, used in Cambodia for centuries. Most people in rural areas, especially farmers, still use the carts, while some have turned them into a tourism service.
Travelling less than 20km from Siem Reap City to the north, tourists arrive in Banteay Srei district’s Preah Dak village, where the ox cart service awaits them.
During the two-kilometer ride, tourists start at the green rice fields and travel along the road into the village where people of all ages are busy.
On one side of the road, they see families preparing Khmer traditional snacks while older men return from collecting palm juice to make palm sugar.
On the other side, they can see women making Khmer noodles (num banh chok) and children making birds and flowers from palm leaves. Looking further into the wooden houses, visitors can see elders making incense or weaving Khmer scarves.
Yous Sa, a tour guide, said these scenarios have made the community popular among tourists, especially foreigners who say they have learned about the traditional lifestyle from riding the ox card.
Ox cart riding was considered as a type of transport tourism because the community noticed foreign tourists’ interest in riding the cart when they first visited the village, Sa said. It has helped the community since 2009.
Sa said the ox cart lets tourists imagine how Cambodian people used to move or transport materials, especially harvested rice, centuries ago.
There are 50 wooden carts available for tourists.
“Mostly foreign tourists come to us because they know about the cart but not many Cambodians know about this. However, when they find out we also offer the transport service, they get so excited and area eager to try,” Sa said.
According to the tour guide, the community could earn around $500 per day during pre-COVID-19 period. However, the pandemic had halved this.
Drawn by two cows or buffaloes, the cart costs around $20 per ride, and the local driver takes tourists to explore the lives of a local village from 8.30am to 11am.
The cart can only travel about two kilometers because the community has to consider the cows’ and buffaloes’ health.
Veach Suon, 74, has been receiving guests for his ox cart for three years in this tourism service, which has contributed significantly to his family’s livelihood.
Recently changing the cart from an old one, Suon said the community is delighted to welcome more tourists who want to ride the cart in the village, and it would help people economically.
“When they ride the cart, they look so happy and excited,” said Suon who is originally from Siem Reap province.
Sa said, “Ox cart riding is not just a tourism service, but it is one of Khmer traditional identity which shows the livelihood of Cambodian people from a century ago.”
