Cambodia Discovery

Upon arrival at Siem Reap Airport, meets and transfer by the local guide to the hotel in Siem Reap town for check-in (early check-in is not included and is subject to the hotel’s availability) or drop our luggage and set the tour for Siem Reap orientation, visiting Wat Damnak, which is one of the most beautiful pagodas in town with French colonial architecture reflecting its history and a large garden filled with statues. And lunch at the local restaurant, and get back to the hotel for refreshments.

At about 4.00 pm we drive to visit Phnom Bakheng temple and view the sunset from the top of this mountain temple. Phnom Bakheng temple was built on a natural hill in the 9th century. Commonly referred to as le-mountain because it is an earthly facsimile of Mount Meru, it is located on the left side of the road from Angkor Wat to Angkor Thom and attracts scores of tourists who come to watch the sunset. Return to the hotel in Siem Reap, dinner on your own.

Breakfast at the hotel at 6 AM.

Your guide and driver will meet you at the hotel at 7.30 AM and take you on a full-day tour of the main temples (Angkor Wat – Bayon – Banteay Srei – Ta Prohm temples) in Angkor Archeological Park.

We start the visit with Angkor Wat temple another way opposite to others by entering from the East Gate and exiting at the west gate. We walk further to visit Angkor Wat Temple at level 1, level 2, and level 3, an architectural marvel, one of the world’s most impressive ruins to understand in depth Khmer Culture and Civilization. Stone sculptures of Apsaras adorn the temple, crafted in the Angkor era. Continue to explore the mysterious Royal city of Angkor Thom. Its 50-tower temple is an awesome sight. It looks like a jumble of stone at first, but as you look closer, you see a face, and then another and another until you are surrounded by the quiet, heavy, mysterious, quiet stare of half-shut eyes, gazing out from an ancient and distant time. Begin from South Gate and continue to Bayon, Baphuon, Royal Enclosure, and Terrace of Elephant. Have a home-cooked lunch at a local house (Mr. Peout and his wife, Mrs. Gin will welcome you to their small house with a serene atmosphere and green garden and offer you a delicious lunch and tell you their stories from the Khmer Rouge to now). After lunch, we continue to visit the jewel of Khmer art - Banteay Srei temple which is located one hour from Siem Reap. This red sandstone temple is one of Angkor’s most significant structures as its walls are decorated with elaborate carvings in an amazing state of preservation. As we return to Siem Reap, we stop by the picturesque Ta Prohm temple, where the movie “Tomb Raider” was filmed. The temple was almost swallowed by the jungle and still has a lot of vegetation, creating a strangely eerie and exotic sight. The splendid roots of a tree, squeezing through the massive stone blocks of the temple in a kind of hug, stir up emotions that you may never forget. Undisturbed by crowds of tourists you can better appreciate the interplay of man and nature at this magical site. Drive back to the hotel for relaxation, and dinner on your own.

Early wake up in the morning for a transfer to Phnom Krom (13 km south of Siem Reap), we climb up the hill to view the sunrise over the rice paddies and the floating village of Tonle Sap Lake and enjoy the picnic breakfast on the hip of Phnom Krom.

Return to the hotel for breakfast and check out. Drive to Battambang within 2 hours and 30 minutes. Visit the Ancient Khmer Traditional House upon arrival, Battambang is the second biggest city in Cambodia, lunch at the local restaurant and check in at the hotel.

Afternoon, drive around the premises with your guide and walk through the village on the banks of the Sangker River, which is home to many well-preserved traditional Khmer wooden stilted homes and tropical fruit farms. You can enjoy the delicious oranges, pineapples, and other fruits from the area as well as the local culture of making rice paper and Rice Whiskey. Continue to visit the striking hilltop pagoda of Phnom Sampeau, this massive limestone outcrop is dissected by a number of caves with some containing unexpected reminders of Cambodia’s turbulent history. On the top of the hill, we can view the surrounding countryside, small villages are dotted in and around the endless rice paddies, punctuated with sugar palm trees. Walk downhill back to the foot of the mountain to wait to see the bats flying out of the cave when the sky gets dark – enjoy a bottle of cold beer or one soft drink before we get back to the hotel in Battambang, and dinner at the local restaurant.

To avoid the hit of hot weather, and also to get on time to see the activities of the villagers working in the field, we will wake up early at 6.00 am to drive to Bamboo Train Station. Have fun on the Bamboo Train, a clever bamboo platform with a motor-engine that travels on the train tracks, and admire the scenic views and fresh air of the villages and rice fields. Return to the hotel for a late breakfast, check out, and drive to Kampong Luong in Pursat Province, which is one of the biggest floating villages in Tonle Sap Lake. Take a boat ride to visit this village. The floating village of Kompong Luong offers the opportunity for you to discover the everyday life of Cambodian families on the Tonle Sap Lake. The families live in floating houses with a constant movement of boats that brings people and goods to the village. The village consists of both the Cambodian community and the Vietnamese community both living in the same floating village. Go back to the mainland and have lunch at a local restaurant in Pursat.

After lunch, continue to the small riverside town of Kampong Chhnang, it is famous for its beautiful landscape and local villages that produce pottery in the midst of the rice fields. Explore this community and see how they craft pottery using the old methods and watch how they harvest sugar from the sugar palms. Your guide will help you communicate if you want to know more about the rural life. Dinner at the local restaurant and overnight at a hotel in Kampong Chhnang.

Breakfast at the hotel.

We travel across the rural areas to the Chambok Eco-tourism village in Kampong Speu Province, enjoying the views of rice paddies, palms, and sugar cane farms. On the way, we will stop to visit the Natural Hot Spring in Oral District, which is called Te Teuk Pus, 100 meters in diameter. The water, which has a sulfuric or lime odor and flows from six origins, covers an area of 80 square meters. The water temperature is 70 degrees Celsius. The site spans 5 hectares and has a lot of tall grass, Kok (a type of reed), and red rock. Then we drive to the Chambok Eco-tourism village for lunch, and hike a short distance to see the Chambok Waterfall, a natural cascade from the Kirirom National Park that is only 2 km away from the village office.

Continue to drive up to the top of Kirirom National Park, check in at Vkirirom Resort, and get refreshments. After that, our guide will get you a local motorcycle taxi to take you through the pine jungle to the Thmor Loy, where you can enjoy the best view of the green forest from the hilltop. Go back to the resort for dinner and stay overnight.

Breakfast at the resort.

We drive around on the top of Kirirom Mountain Range, and see the ancient silverware and the ex-King Residence before leaving for Sihanouk Ville. Lunch at the local restaurant in Sihanouk Ville, and then we drive around Sihanouk Ville to figure out how the city is before riding the speed boat to Koh Rong Sanloem. The team from Eden Resort will come to welcome us at the boat pier upon arrival and assist us with check-in. Free at leisure.

Dinner on your own.

Breakfast at the resort.

Free at your own leisure.

Any activities such as diving, boat trips, and hiking can be arranged on spot with the resort (on your own account).

Breakfast at the resort.

Ride the speed boat back to Sihanouk Ville, and drive to Phnom Penh, lunch on the way.

On arrival, check-in at the hotel. In the afternoon, the guide and tuk-tuk driver will take you from the hotel to see Wat Phnom, the temple that named the city of Phnom Penh. At 27 meters above sea level, it is the highest point in the area, and as a town gradually grew up around it, the settlement became known as Phnom Penh, the hill of Penh. It is the zero point of the city. Then continue to visit Wat Ounalom (Buddhist Monastery), this pagoda serves as the headquarters for one of Cambodia’s most revered Buddhist patriarchs. In addition to the pagoda, there is a post-Angkorean stupa at this monastery. And continue to enjoy the tuk-tuk ride for the food tours to ride through the city and riverfront, get the first stop at one of the lovely bars on the riverside where you get a briefing and tour presentation by the tour guide along with one class of cocktail or one drink. Then, we take a thorough tour of a lively local night market before sitting down with the locals at a popular local street food spot. Enjoy the taste of fresh seafood cooked in Cambodian style, a unique Saba (mackerel) fish dish, and squid with the famous Kampot pepper. Then we drive through the dazzling city lights to a hip place with live music to try some amazing local dishes. Afterward, ride to the much-celebrated Independence Monument for a quick insight into the city’s history and a fantastic photo opportunity. We finish the evening at one of the city’s most stylish bar areas with trendy locals and foreigners on the top roof with a panoramic view of the heart of Phnom Penh City. This tour includes free-flowing drinks and all-you-can-eat, so come with an appetite!

Breakfast at the hotel.

Visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which was a high school prior to 1975, an interrogation prison known as S-21 during the Khmer Rouge era, and today as a genocide museum. Continue to Central Market, a landmark building in the capital, the art deco Psar Thmei (literally ‘New Market’) is often called the Central Market, a reference to its location and size. The huge domed hall resembles a Babylonian ziggurat and some claim it ranks as one of the 10 largest domes in the world, and return to the hotel for check-out and go for lunch at the local restaurant. Next, visit the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, two of the most striking buildings in the capital which are considered some of the finest examples of Khmer architecture. They were initially constructed in 1866 by the French. The current King Sihamoni lives in the Royal Palace. The nearby Silver Pagoda has its own unique style. The building is named after the 5,329 solid silver tiles that make up the floor.

Transfer to the Phnom Penh Airport for departure.