Meet Borey,a guy more than a tuktuk driver

Who is this guy that you see his back in the tuktuk below?

I love Southeast Asia with all its unique views of tuktuks, and Siem Reap is not an exception. It is the city of tuk tuks, bicycles and motorcycles/scooters as well as temples. but who is he in the pictures below?

Meet Borey

In Siem Reap, you will need a tuktuk driver that you will find many there, but I will introduce a guy who is more than a tuktuk driver. Meet Borey, my right arm and soon whom we became friends with.

How did I meet Borey?

You now that I was searching for a hotel/hostel in the middle of the night. The tuktuk driver whom I ran into at the airport, took me to a lot of hotels but finally I found a hotel to stay at. The next day I wanted to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat so we decided to meet at 5.15am the next day.

The next day he sent his brother, Borey, to take me to Angkor Wat.

What happened then?

Borey took me to most of the temples around Angkor Wat and waited for me to go to the next temple each time. After the temple visits, he became my right arm in Siem Reap. He took me to all the places that I wanted to go when I wasn’t on my bicycle. He calls me Eva as my name can be hard to pronounce in abroad. I was always taking pictures when he was riding the tuk tuk carefully.

He gave a call to the founder of Angkor Tree School to figure out where the school was. He waited for me till I left the school. You see Borey in his Hamak while waiting for me. You’ll see this quite often in Cambodia. When tuktuk drivers are waiting for their customers to come back, they take out their hamaks. Doesn’t it look so comfortable?

Meet Junior Borey

The next day, Borey brought his son with him. His son was one of the most adorable, lovely kids I’ve ever seen. We were travelling with junior Borey at the back while Borey was taking us to the school and other places in Siem Reap.

It was so much fun to travel with junior Borey at the back.

Meet Borey’s lovely family

I left Siem Reap to travel to other cities of Cambodia after a week spent in Siem Reap. When I was back to Siem Reap after 20 days , I gave him a call asking him to come and pick us up from the terminal station. He was there in 5 minutes and he dropped us off at our hostel and he didn’t even charged for that.

In the afternoon, he invited me and my friend Laura to celebrate Chinese New Year with his family and friends. We said “of course, we are honored to have dinner with you and your family.”

Here you can see him with his kind land owner, they are as close as a family can be.

It was a real feast with fresh coconuts. We met his beautiful, lovely wife, landlord and friends and of course my love, his little son. They were so kind to us. We were talking about how good his English was. He was telling us that he could speak really good English, better than most of thetuk tuk drivers but he was still a tuktuk driver.

You’re wrong Borey, you’re more than a tuktuk driver. You’re my right arm in Cambodia and my friend. You may be a tuktuk driver but you are a hero for your son and family, that is the most important thing.

When I learnt that a tuktuk driver’s mothly income was between 100-150USD, it made sense why most tuk tuk drivers were so motivated to get the customers and asked for tips, it is because they have to survive, take care of their family and/or cover their university tuition. Sometimes, you may feel overwhelmed of this pressure but, don’t forget; before judging people, think about the circumstances that may push them to act in this particular way.

The thing is Borey never did these, he was always cool and a gentelman. You know he even didn’t charge when he picked us from the terminal station, taking us to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family and bringing us back to our hostel.

My message to Borey:

“I am so glad that I met you Borey, your brother and your family. I want you to reach all of your dreams and keep taking care of your lovely family. Regardless of your circumstances, make the fire burning in you for your goals stronger and bigger than the fire around you. Your greatest advantage is not your physical ability, it is your mental ability. I’ll be going back to Cambodia as it is a great country with the people of greatest smiles I’ve ever seen.”