Angkor Discovery

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

Welcome to Cambodia! 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. . 

Overnight in Siem Reap

Inclusions:

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

Meet the guide in the hotel lobby at 08:00.

Travel by Remork (a Cambodian tuk tuk) to the great city of Angkor Thom “Big City”. Begin a walking tour of the city at the Terrace of the Leper King; then follow a parade of nearly life-size elephant carvings that adorn the aptly named Elephant Terrace to the entrance of Baphuon temple. The Baphuon was built more than a century before Angkor Thom and at some point thereafter collapsed under its own weight. 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.

Continue to Bayon temple. Take time to browse its galleries depicting everyday life at Angkor and the wars waged by King Jayavarman VII. Return to Siem Reap. 

Lunch at a local restaurant. Then return to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure. 

This evening at 18:00, be picked up from the hotel by remork (a Cambodian “Tuk Tuk”) and drive to the first restaurant, where follows a different business model, directing their profits to various organisations. You may order any drink from the menu (they make some special cocktails and fruit mix using local ingredients) and any one appetiser (try different ones and share with each other). Next, enjoy Khmer classic dishes at another social enterprise restaurant providing disadvantaged youths, and underprivileged adults, professional training and employment in the hospitality industry. 

After dinner, go to a tropical garden restaurant run by an organisation 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 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 centre of Siem Reap. Note: Dining for A Cause closed on Monday

Overnight in Siem Reap

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Siem Reap – Ta Brak Village (20km): 28 mins

Meet the guide in the hotel lobby at 07:30. 

Today embark on an authentic rural Cambodia tour to learn about life in a typical village. Meet friendly locals and discover traditional village customs and cultures.

Like most villages in Asia, Ta Brak is busiest in the morning hours. Sit down with a local family and enjoy breakfast (take-away from the hotel) while observing the activities of the village.  By foot, visit the local market. Explore the colourful displays of vegetables, herbs and other locally-grown produce, and mingle with the shoppers who come every morning to buy the fresh ingredients. Continue through the village, providing ample opportunities to stop and chat with locals and to observe their activities. 

Before leaving the village, head to Khmer smokehouse and meet a warm family. Learn the process of smoking fish, discover Cambodian rural life through stories shared amidst fragrant smoke. Over a fresh coconut juice, get to know the family, engage in discussions, and gain a better understanding of the countryside lifestyle in Cambodia. 
Conclude this morning, partake in a special Buddhist tradition. Local monks will impart wishes of good luck and success in a solemn, age-old ceremony.   

Return to the hotel. 

Afternoon tour starts at 14:00,  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 honour of the great King Jayavarman VII’s father, this massive temple complex originally had a population of 97,840 in its service. Then continue to Ta Prohm temple.

Overnight in Siem Reap

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

📍 Siem Reap – Temples (06 km): 10 mins / Siem Reap Hotel - Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (53 km): 1 hrs

Meet the guide  in the hotel lobby at 05:00 and drive to the Angkor Archaeological Park. Select a good viewpoint at Angkor Wat, sit back and watch the sunrise over the back of the temple. Once the sun is up, go inside Angkor Wat for a guided tour. Learn about the history of this 12th century monument and how it was constructed.  Get up close and see depictions of Hindu mythology and famous battles intricately carved into the walls. The return to the hotel for late breakfast (you can pack breakfast from the hotel if  you wish to spend more time exploring Angkor Wat). 

Return to the hotel.

You will be transferred to Siem Reap Airport for your departure. 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast