CAMBODIA EXPLORER
Day 1: Arrive in Phnom Penh
Arriving at the airport, you'll be welcomed by our tour guide and transferred to the city. After refreshment, we'll head out for a tour of Phnom Penh, considered to be the best of Indochina by many visitors. We'll explore the hidden treasures of Silver Pagoda, located in the Royal Palace compound where you might see the King walking around at his palace, smiling and waiving to you from distance. Then we move onto the nearby National Museum with the best collection of Khmer Arts from the ancient times to the contemporary ones . Wat Phnom temple is reserved for the end of the day. It was this place that the city of Phnom Penh was founded by a legendary lady named Penh. War Phnom is also the place to adore the Cambodian Culture and Arts. You have free time for a stroll on the riverfront in the evening. Overnight in Phnom Penh.
Day 2: Phnom Penh – Ban Lung (45 minutes flight) (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Transferred back to the airport for the flight to Ban Lung, the capital city of Rattanakiri Province. After checking into hotel we drive to Wat Phnom Soui where we'll get a panoramic view of the plateau and Ban Lung Town. Then our journey continues onto to Cha Oug Waterfalls and Yeak Laom Park where we'll have time to relax amid fresh nature. Yeak Laom Park has a lake believed to have been a volcanic crater created about 700,000 years ago. We have time relaxing by the lake before getting back to our hotel. Overnight in Ban Lung.
Day 3: Ban Lung – Tampoum Totems – Ban Lung (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We'll start our exploration to day with a trip to Voeune Say a village by the Se San River. The road conditions are rough and arduous. We arrive at Voeune Say and enjoy a short walk through this village, then embark on a traditional wooden long boat drifting on the scenic Se San River. We'll visit the Tampoun, Kroeng and Brou minorities. Overnight in Ban Lung.
Day 4: Ban Lung – Kroeung Territory – Ban Lung (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Leaving the town, we'll travel through various scenic landscapes changing from the volcanic lava field of Veyrum Plang to the village of Kroeung. After a short walk around this little-visited village we continue driving to the Bai Srog , an impressive waterfall with seven levels cascading in the wild of the forest. We drive back to Ban Lung in mid afternoon. Overnight in Ban Lung.
Day 5: Ban Lung – Stung Treng (4 hours by car) (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We have some leisure time getting lost in the market on Ban Lung where a number of people from different hill tribes come and trade their goods. Then we'll set off on a rough but scenic road trip to Stung Treng. On the way, we'll only encounter the smiling locals. On arrival in Stung Treng we have time to stroll around this outpost town. Then we have free time at leisure for the rest of the day. Overnight in Stung Treng.
Day 6: Stung Treng – Kratie (3.5 hours by car) (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We leave Stung Treng for Kratie on a dirt road. The journey is about 3 and a half hours. Arriving at Kratie, we'll check into our hotel. In the afternoon, we'll explore a complex of temples including Phnom Sambok and Kampi where we'll get an overview of the surrounding. Then we'll move onto Phnom Srey and Phnom Pros. we'll also try our luck with seeking a glimpse of the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin in the river at sunset. Overnight in Kratie.
Day 7: Kratie – Kompong Cham (3 hours by car) (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Our journey goes further on the quiet roads from Kratie to Kampong Cham.
Arriving in this backwater town, we'll enjoy free time at leisure for the remainder of the day. There are some bars on the riverside where you'll enjoy yourselves watching things go by. Overnight in Kompong Cham.
Day 8: Kompong Cham - Kompong Thom (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Our destination today is Kompong Thom. Our drive travels past Cambodia's biggest rubber-growing area. The deep contrast of lush vegetation and red surface of basaltic soil is a lasting memory among the visitor. We'll have a tour of Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei, two hills whose name stands for the 'man hill' and the 'woman hill'. On arrival in Kompong Thom, we visit some nearby villages and climb 980 steps to the top of Phnom Santuk for the stunning sunset view over the surrounding countryside. Overnight in Kompong Thom.
Day 9: Komthom – Beng Mealea (B/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Have early morning departure for the archeological site of Sambor Prei Kuk, which is littered with hundreds of Pre-Angkorian Temples. The road conditions are very poor, but the spectacular ancient ruins of temples amid forest makes it worthwhile.
We then continue our journey to Sothnikhum District, in Siem Reap province. The trip will take you through the Khmer traditional villages until you arrive in Beng Mealea Village where you will settle for the night at a Khmer family. After refreshment, we'll head out for a visit to Beng Mealea Temples. These are newly found temples, very well-preserved and quiet. You have time for yourselves getting lost in the ruins as well as around area until dinner. In the evening, we'll have time exchanging culture with our hosts. Dinner and accommodation with a Khmer family.
Day 10: Beng Mealea – Koh Ker Temples – Siem Reap (B)
Breakfast at the home.
Our road journey today brings us to Koh Ker Temples, in Preah Viheah Province, 60 kms from Beng Mealea. The trip will take us through some of the most untouched jungle areas in Cambodia.
Koh Ker Temples include 54 small temples in different groups, located in the remote areas of Cambodia. You will visit the main entrance of the old capital of Cambodia during the 9th century, Then our car transfers us back to the main road where we keep on our journey past Beng Mealea to Siem Reap, home to the fabled Temples of Angkor. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Day 11: Angkor Temples (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Today we spend a full day exploring the spectacular ancient ruins with the South Gate of Angkor Thom, which is famous for its series of colossal human faces carved in stone, the impressive Bayon Temple, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King.
In the afternoon, we'll enter the tantalizing Angkor Wat. This architectural masterpiece was constructed in the 12th century and it covers an area of about 210 hectares. We stroll around this massive edifice, seeing the many galleries with columns, libraries, pavilions, courtyards and ponds full of water reflecting the towering structures. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Day 12: Angkor Temples (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
The forest-encroached Temple of Ta Prohm is the first on our itinerary today. There are enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers which embrace themselves in the stone foundations of the structure showing man's creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature. We explore this masterpiece as well as some of the surrounding temples including Banteay Kdei, Sra Srong, Ta Keo, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevado.
The grand circuit with Preah Khan, Kravan, Neak Pean, Krol Ko, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup Temples are covered this afternoon. In late afternoon, we hike up to Phnom Bakheng Hill for a view of the spectacular sunset over these sandstone monuments. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Day 13: Siem Reap – Phnom Kulen – Siem Reap (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Full day excursion to the top of Phnom Kulen, exploring the River of Thousand Lingas, the old temples and the waterfall. This was where the 500-year Age of Angkor began.
Phnom Kulen is the mountain on which Jayavarman II initiated a royal 'god of the king' linga cult in 802AD when Cambodia was proclaimed independent from Java. Soon after, he moved his capital from Kulen to Roluos where it was to remain for almost a century, and then to Angkor. Phnom Kulen is the most sacred site in Cambodia and especially busy at weekends and during festivals.
On the way back, we'll visit Banteay Srey temple with stunning carvings where the women prayed in the old days. Then we'll make our way back to the hotel. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Day 14: Siem Reap – Floating Village – Siem Reap (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
This morning, you will board on a boat cruise to visit the Bird Sanctuary at Prek Toal on the Tonle Sap Lake. You will see hundreds kinds of birds in this well-protected area. Then we continue our cruise with discovery of the lives of the locals in the floating villages before coming back to Siem Reap. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Day 15: Depart Siem Reap (B)
You have free time at leisure until our tour guide and driver come back and transfer you back to the airport for your departure. We trust you have got an adventure of a life time in Cambodia!
