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Cambodia had a new tourist attraction at Angkor Wat temples when horses made their appearance last month.
Cambodia's Pha Hee Travel has brought horse carts to the park, charging 1 U.S. dollar per foreign visitor and 0.50 dollar per Cambodian visitor, to go from one temple to the next, The Cambodia Daily reported Wednesday.
Since the 1990s, elephants have been a familiar sight at Angkor, carrying visitors along the tree-lined roads or up to Phnom Bakheng temple at sunset.
Apsara Authority, the government agency managing the Angkor Archeological Park, authorized the agency to offer horse-cart rides last June. It took months to set up so that the service could start last month, Voeun Nikola, the travel agency's executive director, was quoted as saying.
And it's quickly catching on, in the last three days, as about 300 people rode in the carts, he said. Tourists, especially those from South Korea, enjoy riding at their slow pace, he added.
Pha Hee Travel puts bags in each horse cart to store manure dropped on the road, Voeun Nikola said.
The travel agency invested nearly 10,000 dollars to purchase Cambodian horses and equip 10 carts, he said. Plans are to have up to 100 horse carts in service within a year, said Voeun Nikola.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2006)
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