Ms Akim Ly Founder of Adventures Cambodia

Ms Akim Ly is the founder and director of Adventures Cambodia, a women-owned private tour company based in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Born during the Pol Pot regime, Akim grew up inside Angkor Wat itself, where her grandfather Loung Sake served as Grand Abbot of the Angkor complex. Educated by monks in Sanskrit scriptures on palm leaves, she developed a lifelong connection to the temples that now shapes every tour she designs. After running a restaurant opposite Angkor Wat at age 16 and spending 15 years as a businesswoman in Vietnam, she returned to Siem Reap in 2013 to found Adventures Cambodia. Today, she leads one of the few women-owned tour operators in Cambodia, offering private Jeep, Vespa, and electric mountain bike tours of Angkor and the Siem Reap countryside. The company holds a 4.9/5 rating from over 318 reviews on Google and TripAdvisor.

Akim was born during the Pol Pot regime, a time when schools across Cambodia had been shut down. Her grandfather, Loung Sake, was the Grand Abbot of the Angkor complex, and it was inside the walls of Angkor Wat that she lived and received her education — an arrangement that was as unusual as it was formative.

Girls were not allowed to live in pagodas. To stay, Akim shaved her head and pretended to be a boy. Under her grandfather's guidance, the monks educated her in Sanskrit scriptures written on palm leaves, and she practised prayers and rites alongside them.

Despite the hardship of the era, Akim recalls this time with warmth. The statue of the Preserver God Vishnu at the entrance of Angkor Wat became a figure she could talk to and always rely on. When the rainy season came, the pools atop Angkor Wat filled with water, and she spent her leisure time swimming there — a childhood playground unlike any other in the world.

After five years, she could no longer keep up the disguise. Schools had slowly become available again, though far away in town. Akim cycled many kilometres each day to get as much education as she could.

At 13, Akim had no choice but to leave school and work in a restaurant to support her family. By 16, she had saved enough to open her own restaurant directly opposite Angkor Wat — a location that deepened her connection to the temple complex and to the travellers who came to see it.

She then spent 15 years living abroad, building a career as a businesswoman in Vietnam. But the pull of home never faded.

In 2013, Akim returned to Siem Reap and founded Adventures Cambodia. Having grown up inside the temples, she understood Angkor in a way that few guides could — not just as a historical site, but as a place where she had lived, prayed, and played.

She built the company around a simple idea: every tour should be private, personal, and led by someone who genuinely knows the land. Adventures Cambodia became the original Vespa tour operator in Siem Reap, and has since expanded to include vintage Jeep tours, electric mountain bike tours, food tours, and multi-day holiday packages.

Today, Ms Akim Ly leads one of Cambodia's few women-owned tour companies, with over 318 five-star reviews and guests arriving from around the world to experience Angkor through her eyes.

- 13+ years operating tours in Siem Reap and Angkor (since 2013)
- Women-owned and women-led business — one of the few in Cambodia's tourism industry
- 318+ five-star reviews across Google and TripAdvisor (4.9/5 rating)
- Languages: Khmer, English, French, Vietnamese
- Traveller's Choice Best of the Best — TripAdvisor
- Original Vespa tour operator in Siem Reap
- Grew up inside Angkor Wat — educated by monks under Grand Abbot Loung Sake
- 15 years international business experience** (Vietnam)