Wheelchair hire – Siem Reap, Cambodia

My leg was already very weak from a previous accident so it didn’t take much to hurt it again to the extent that I couldn’t put any weight on it. Thus I found myself in the FCC Angkor hotel unable to walk.

Dave went to ask the hotel reception staff if they had a wheelchair they could lend us. Some of the larger hotels have wheelchairs in-house for their guests’ use, but not surprisingly (for a hotel that doesn’t have any facilities for disabled people) the FCC didn’t, although the staff seemed very willing to help.

However, the following morning there was a wheelchair parked outside our room. Yippee! So, where did that come from? We enquired at the reception desk and were given a leaflet for Handicap International.

Handicap International (HI) is an NGO, “Helping people with disabilities since 1982”, and they have an information centre in Siem Reap. Obviously their core work is to help the local disabled people regain their independence, dignity and rights, but it seems that they don’t mind lending their wheelchairs to tourists in need too.

The wheelchair itself was pretty good, with big thick pneumatic tyres. I was mildly amused that the fabric of the chair was tartan, given that I’m a Scot. Personal service perhaps? HI charged US $7 per day for the hire of the chair, which we thought was very reasonable. Without the chair I’d have been unable to leave the hotel room so we were incredibly grateful for it.

HI originated in Belgium. Their website is http://en.handicapinternational.be/index.php

If you want to contact them in Cambodia, here are their contact details:
Tel: +855 (12) 289 258
Email: hib.pr AT hib-cambodia.org