Angkor to the Beach

📍 Siem Reap Airport - Siem Reap (50 km): 60 mins

Upon your arrival in Siem Reap, you will be welcomed by your local English speaking guide who will accompany you to your hotel for check in.

Free afternoon at leisure. 

Enjoy some free time to visit the Old market independently. The riverside market has dozens of souvenir stalls offering a fairly wide range of souvenirs. The opposite side of the market carries items of interest primarily to locals, and also harbours dozens of small food stalls serving various inexpensive local foods that hygienically and gastronomically adventurous visitors may find inviting. The central aisle, where fruits, vegetables and meat are sold, is colorful and very photogenic. The Old Market is also an important landmark as several restaurants, hotels, bars and shops are in the area.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Inclusions:

🍗 Dinner

📍 Siem Reap - Temple (6km): 10 mins Siem Reap - APOPO Visitor Center (2.5km): 7mins

Beginning from 07:30, the entire Angkor Park is open to visitors but many are still strolling around Angkor Wat. Consequently, this is the best time to experience the temple you most wish to see with the fewest number of other visitors. Consider Ta Prohm, the temple made famous by the Angelina Jolie film Tomb Raider, which is otherwise best known for the trees and vines growing atop the temple walls. The temple is a perfect example of how nature has crept in and reclaimed its land after the fall of the Angkorian empire. Enter from the east, just as the temple opens, to avoid the crowds.

After leaving Ta Prohm, the next temple you’ll wish to visit is Bayon, the temple at the center of Angkor Thom city, built by the last great king: Jayavarman VII. A tour of the city can also begin at The Terrace of The Elephants and the Royal Palace enclosure. The forested grounds are beautiful in the morning. 

Next, take a stroll around the lower galleries of carvings of Bayon, which depict fascinating scenes of life from the late 11th century, then find a quiet spot on the exterior of the temple to appreciate the 54 towers featuring faces of the Buddha looking out into the jungle around you.

Then return to your hotel. Lunch at your own account. 

In the afternoon, visit 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. 

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Siem Reap - Temple (6km): 10 mins Siem Reap - Ta Brak village (19 km): 36 mins

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 colorful 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. Depending on the time of year, they may be planting rice, weaving thatch coverings for their roofs, harvesting vegetables, or other similar tasks. 

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.

Lunch at your own account. 

Continue to Sacha, a local enterprise where craftsmen and women find a safe and clean space to work as well as receive training to further hone their talent and grow themselves into artistic entrepreneurs. 

Walk through the serene, natural gardens and watch the artists carve stone, wood, weave baskets, paint and more while your guide explains some specific traits about each field of work and how the enterprise supports the Cambodian artists. We will enjoy a cup of coffee while you will also have the opportunity for a little retail therapy if you wish to do so.

As the only west-facing temple, Angkor Wat is best to visit (and photograph) in the late afternoon, arriving around 3pm, enjoying the uppermost platform around 5:00pm, and walking out as the guards begin corralling visitors out of the complex at 5:30pm. Exiting the temple with the setting sun shining on the Vishnu image discovered beneath the temple’s central sanctuary is a magical sight to behold and a fitting end to your exploration of the temple built by King Suryavarman, whose name translates to “protected by the sun”.

Note: Should you wish to witness a sunset, there are limited options and they can be quite crowded. Consider finding a quiet place away from the crowds, such as atop the city wall beside the West or South gate of Angkor Thom, or Srah Srang. Be advised that a sunset will typically have you returning to town after 6:00pm. 

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Siem Reap – Tonle Sap Lake (20 km): 30 mins

Drive to the outskirts of Siem Reap, past expansive rice fields and through local villages where rice and fish can frequently be spotted drying alongside the road. We will stop at a small but vibrant local market along the way. 

Next, board a private, local wooden vessel for a boat trip along a canal that leads to the Tonle Sap Lake. As we cruise along the canal you will see houses on either side: depending on the time of the visit, the houses will either have immediate access to the water or stand perched on stilts high above the ground, a phenomena caused by the annual rising and receding waters of the Tonle Sap Lake, Southeast Asia’s largest lake. Pass by the boats and nets used by local fishermen, some of whom will be fishing in the waters through which the boat passes. Nearing the lake, see floating houses that move location with the annual ebb and flow of the lake’s waters. 

Along the way, gain a better understanding of the local lifestyle with lunch in a family house. This is a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the way of life of the local people- sitting inside a stilted house while watching the boats pass outside. 

With a full belly and a camera-full of remarkable images, return to Siem Reap in the afternoon.  (L)

(Note: Due to fluctuating water levels on the lake and canals, the village visited will depend on the date and water levels at that time. As it’s a local community experience, the boats are older wooden boats).

Afternoon free at leisure to enjoy the city on your own or rest at the hotel. 

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Siem Reap – Siem Reap airport (50 km): 60 mins Sihanoukville – Sihanoukville airport (18 km): 25 mins Sihanoukville - Koh Rong / Koh Rong Sanloem : 35min

Breakfast at the hotel. 

You will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Sihanoukville (approx. 45-60 mins).  

Upon arrival in Sihanoukville, direct transfer to the pier of the hotel on your selection list.
 
If your destination is Koh Rong, take the last boat scheduled for the day at 13:30. The duration of the boat is approx. 45-60 mins according to the weather conditions. On arrival at Koh Rong, check-in at the resort.

Overnight on Koh Rong. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel.

Enjoy your day at leisure. 

Overnight on Koh Rong. 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel.

Enjoy your day at leisure. 

Overnight on Koh Rong. 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

📍 Koh Rong - Sihanoukville : 35min Sihanoukville – Phnom Penh (211 km): 2hrs30min

Breakfast at the hotel.

Enjoy some time at leisure until your transfer back to the mainland pier and then onto Phnom Penh with driver only or your next destination.
 
Recommend: Evening flight departure.

(Note: For a morning departure by land transfer to Phnom Penh, a supplementary charge will apply).

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast