Angkor Discovery

📍 Siem Reap Angkor International Airport - Siem Reap (53 km): 1 hrs

Upon your arrival in Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, you will be welcomed by a local English speaking guide and transferred to your hotel for check in. Siem Reap is the base for exploring the fabled temples of Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer empire.

Have a good night’s rest before your exploration begins in earnest the following morning. 

If you aren’t too tired from jet lag, you may wish to explore the nightlife Foodie Tour in Siem Reap:

Optional: Child Friendly Street Food Discovery 
Bring an appetite and sense of adventure on this unique Siem Reap nightlife tour. After sunset, travel by remork (Cambodian tuk-tuk) to Street 60 on the outskirts of town. Busy most every night, this street has the feel of a night market with locals throwing down bamboo mats to enjoy a smorgasbord of freshly cooked dishes. It’s an evening picnic of barbecue heaven. The aromatic smells will certainly make the mouth water. Make a stop at a stall famous for its pickled fruit and fried insects. These are popular snacks for the Cambodian people. Taste the contrasting flavors of sour fruit dipped in a salty and spicy dip, or try a selection of crispy crickets, grasshoppers, or silkworms. As you walk down the street past various stalls selling everything from clothing to toys, stop to sample some barbeque or exotic local treats such as roast pork belly, snails, and grilled frog. Mingle with the locals as they watch their evening meal being prepared over the hot coals and join them on bamboo mats for a picnic-style meal.
Continue the culinary adventure to Wat Damnak to the handful of smoke-filled corrugated-iron roofed shacks and fancier open-sided eateries on Wat Damnak Street, for one of Siem Reap’s most popular street food snacks, sach ko ang jakak, (beef skewers) marinated in palm sugar, soy and kroeung (a paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime, garlic), and then barbecued over coals on a traditional clay grill. Cambodians love barbecue. All well and delicious, but what truly qualifies this barbecued beef is its accompaniment: a sweet-sour pickle-salad of thick cucumber slices finely shredded green papaya and ginger. 
Next, explore the streets around Psar Chas (Old Market), which are lined with various stalls selling pancakes, fruit shakes, fried bananas, waffles, coconut rice cakes, and various fried rice and noodle dishes. Take your time to sit down anywhere and enjoy anything you like! Make sure to stop at one of the many fresh fruit stalls to try a range of exotic local fruit, including dragon fruit, longans, mangoes, mangosteens, snake fruit, and the smelly but very tasty durian! This stop will mark the end of your tour and your driver will bring you safely to your hotel or, at your choice, drop you off at Pub street or in the city center of Siem Reap.
Note: This food tour is not vegetarian friendly.     

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

📍 Siem Reap – Temples (06 km): 10 mins

After an early breakfast, travel by remork (a Cambodian tuk tuk) to the great city of Angkor Thom, passing through the South Gate of the great city of King Jayavarman VII, an impressive stone gate carved with elephants and capped by four giant faces of the Buddha. On each side of the entrance path crossing the moat around the city, a row of 54 gods and demons stands holding a sacred naga snake of Hindu lore. 

Continue into the center of Angkor Thom for an exploration of the many structures within the 145.8 hectare (360 acre) grounds of the “Big City”, the literal translation of the modern name of Yasodharapura, which served as the capital of the Khmer empire for more than 500 years. Begin a walking tour of the city at the Terrace of the Leper King, whose carvings of underworld demons were mysteriously buried behind a second set of carvings that face out towards the grand Royal Plaza. Then, follow a parade of nearly life-size elephant carvings that adorn the aptly named Elephant Terrace to the entrance of Baphuon temple. 

The largest temple ever built at Angkor, the Baphuon was built more than a century before Angkor Thom and at some point thereafter collapsed under its own weight. During the French Colonial era the temple was dismantled stone by stone and 300,000 pieces were numbered in order to reconstruct it at a later date, but the Civil War disrupted the effort and the plans were destroyed. In the 2000s an ambitious effort was made to reconstruct “the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle” and the temple was finally rebuilt and reopened to the public in 2011.

From the rear of the Baphuon, walk north into the Royal Palace Enclosure to visit the 10th century Phimeanakas where, legend has it, the King of Angkor would ascend the temple each night to make love to a naga queen in the form of a woman, lest the kingdom befall some mystical calamity. Continue north through peaceful forest to Prasat Preah Palilay and Tep Pranam, the latter home to an active Buddhist monastery. 

Take a break for lunch at the nearby local restaurant. Then walk east to the Preah Pithu Group, the last sandstone structures built by Angkorian kings, and then south to Wat Prompil Loveng. Here you will find a Buddha image in the likeness of King Jayavarman VII. The statue was discovered in a pit deep beneath the central sanctuary of Bayon in the 1930s and was likely the temple’s most sacred feature, the ancient Khmers believing that such images housed the spirits of the kings following their deaths. Pay your respects to the king who built this grand city before venturing to Bayon, the centerpiece of Angkor Thom.   

Bayon temple rivals Angkor Wat in inspiring awe. Take time to browse its galleries depicting everyday life at Angkor and the wars waged by King Jayavarman VII. Then continue up to the upper platform where you are surrounded by more than 50 serene faces of the Buddha. While this area is one of the most crowded with visitors, find respite in the temple’s central sanctuary, where shade and serenity await you. 

Return to Siem Reap in the late afternoon to enjoy your hotel pool or perhaps a nearby spa and refresh yourself prior to dinner. 

Tonight 18:00, enjoy a food-hopping tour that gives back to the local community: Dining for a Cause, a gastronomical exploration of Siem Reap that focuses on restaurants with a social mission to benefit the people and communities of Siem Reap. Over the course of the evening, visit three different establishments to learn about each of their programs and sample some of their best local cuisine.

At the first stop, where follows a different business model, directing their profits to various organizations. You may order any drink from the menu (they make some special cocktails and fruit mix using local ingredients) and any one appetizer (try different ones and share with each other) while exploring the large selection of second-hand books donated by their supporters in the UK.

Next, enjoy Khmer classic dishes at a restaurant which is another social enterprise restaurant providing disadvantaged youths, and underprivileged adults, professional training and employment in the hospitality industry. Learn about its efforts while dining. 

After dinner, go to a local restaurant run by an organization that operates a hospitality training school where all the restaurant workers learned (or are currently learning) their trade. Learn about how the program runs and its achievements while enjoying a creative cocktail, a glass of wine, beer, or coffee.  This stop will mark the end of your you're and your driver will bring you safely to your hotel or, at your choice, drop you off at Pub Street or in the city center of Siem Reap.

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

Breakfast at a hotel. 

After breakfast, head out to the Angkor Archaeological Park, exploring the temples. First visit Preah Khan, originally known as “the city of victorious royal fortune,” and now named after The Sacred Sword that some believe was once housed here. Built in the late-12th century in honor of the great King Jayavarman VII’s father, this massive temple complex originally had a population of 97,840 in its service. Less frequently visited than its counterpart Ta Prohm (which was built for the king’s mother), Preah Khan is similar in design but is larger and more complex, featuring numerous unique structures and carvings. Enter from the east with the early morning light to your back and enjoy the sounds of exotic wildlife that now make the forested compound their home. Venture into the crumbling corridors of the labyrinthian complex in search of hidden features: while Ta Prohm was once the setting of the Angelina Jolie film, Preah Khan offers more of a “Tomb Raider” experience for those willing to explore.

The rest of the afternoon can be spent exploring additional temples around the park, such as Ta Prohm, Banteay Samre, and Pre Rup, or if you are up for more adventure, you can opt for one of the following optional activities: (Note: If you have an early morning departure tomorrow, you should visit Angkor Wat this afternoon.)

Optional : Angkor Zipline Adventure 
We will enjoy a Zip line Eco-Adventure Tour at the Angkor Archeological Park. Offering 9 zip lines at different heights, suspended sky bridges and the chance to abseil from a tree this is an excursion for those with a sense of adventure who want to soar over the jungle canopy like a gibbon!
Transfer to the zipline site before receiving a safety briefing and being outfitted. After the adventure begins: start with the easiest zip lines before proceeding to the highest and most exhilarating. The highest zip lines are at 50 meters above the canopy and the longest 350 meters. From the last zip line the final adventure is to abseil down before a soft trek through the forest takes you back to the starting point.
(Note – max 9 people in a single group, latest start time is 12pm, excursion lasts 2 - 2.5 hrs, maximum weight 125kg, not suitable for children under 5 yrs old or 1m height, no sandals permitted).

Or
Optional:  A Visit with HERO-RATS at APOPO Visitor Center  
Travel by ramork (a local form of transportation) to the APOPO visitor’s center for an exclusive tour of this fascinating and life-saving organization. Welcome to APOPO Center’s guide and spend up to an hour learning about the devastating impact of explosives that lie buried in the Cambodian countryside and get first-hand experience about this creative solution to the problem.
In a simulated minefield built for training purposes, help guide the rats as they sniff their way along the ground in search of explosive material. Visit the room where the rats live and pose for a photo with the furry rodents and their handlers. Watch an informative video and take the opportunity to learn more about landmines, Cambodia, APOPO, and the HeroRATs through a Q&A session. Every guided tour is led by a mine action professional with real-life experience of humanitarian demining.

Or
Optional: Quad Bike Adventure
1630 Join an unforgettable experience as you will ride a quad bike especially designed for off-road terrain through the beautiful countryside of Siem Reap Province. The 12 km guided tour will take you to local villages, where you can learn about the way of life in rural Cambodia and have the chance to meet and chat with the wonderful and friendly people. The highlight of the two hour tour is the sunset in the rice fields.

Note: Children aged between 2 and 12 years at the time of travel will receive a 10% discount off the Adult Price. Two adults with a maximum weight of 130 Kgs can ride on the same quad bike. In this case, the driver must have experience riding a quad bike. Children are welcome to sit with their parents as passengers. From 14 to 16 years old, children can ride their own quad only with an instructor riding pillion. 17 year-old children are allowed to ride alone only if they are adult size and have a similar or bigger quad bike at home. 

Return to Siem Reap to freshen up as this evening around 19:30 you will attend a performance of ‘Phare, the Cambodian Circus’. Starting at 20:00, professional artists of Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) will perform an inspiring show suitable for people of all ages. Set up in Battambang in 1994 by young returnee Cambodians from the refugee camps who learned to use art as a means of coping with trauma, PPS has played an influential role in promoting and developing Khmer culture over the years after the Khmer Rouge genocide. The hour-long show mixes traditional and modern theater, music, dance, acrobatics, juggling and contortion performed in stories about Cambodian lives and society.

Dinner on your own account.

Overnight in Siem Reap
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

📍 Siem Reap Hotel - Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (53 km): 1 hrs

Rise early this morning to end your adventure with the most lasting memory: sunrise at Angkor Wat. Built during the reign of King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, Angkor Wat was constructed following the model of the temple mountain symbolizing Mount Meru, home of the gods. Inside the temple, the walls are covered with stone carvings and bas-reliefs depicting Hindu mythology and the wars Suryavarman II fought during his reign. Moreover, Angkor Wat is well known for the more than 2,000 Apsara dancers decorating the temple. Construction is thought to have taken around thirty years of intensive labor. Today, Angkor Wat is featured on Cambodia's national flag as the temple symbolizes the soul of the Khmer people. 

Enjoy the sun rising over the grand temple, then explore its galleries and chambers at your leisure--you have the whole morning to explore. (Note: inform your hotel about your early Angkor trip and they may be able to provide you with some take-away pastries.)

Return to the hotel to check out and then transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast