Multi, Angkor Family Explorer

📍 Transfer from airport to hotel: 40 minutes Transfer to/from Phare: 20 minutes

Arrive this afternoon at the Siem Reap International Airport where your English speaking guide will be waiting to meet you. 

Enjoy an evening of culture at Phare Cambodian Circus Show. Set up by refugees of the Khmer Rouge era, Phare promotes performing arts as a way to cope with trauma. Over the years they have not only helped hundreds of Cambodians but also helped to promote traditional Khmer culture. 

Then sit down for dinner, a feast of traditional Cambodian dishes. 

Afterwards the lights will dim and the performers will take to the stage. The hour-long show tells stories of modern life in Cambodia through a rich spectacle of song, dance and acrobatics. The performers combine traditional Khmer theatre with modern influences resulting in an entertaining and enthralling show. 

Following the show there is an opportunity to take photos with the cast, a spectacular memory of the evening’s performance. 

Inclusions:

🍗 Dinner

📍 Morning Transfer: 20 minutes Cycling distance up to: 25km Difficulty: Easy Difficulty: Easy

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.

Then continue to visit Banteay Srey. Banteay Srei is made of pink sandstone and is one of the smallest temple you can visit but one of the most beautiful as well. Built in 967 AD by a guru to Jayavarman V, it showcases the most exquisite, deep and complex carvings in all Khmer architecture. As well the carvings and bas relief are in a perfect condition although being here for more than millenary.

Lunch will be in a local khmer house in the nearby village.

After lunch return to Siem Reap town, on the way head 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.

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Transfer from Roluos to Hotel: 20 minutes Cycling distance up to 21km Transfer from hotel to Angkor Wat: 20 minutes Cycling distance up to: 20km Difficulty: Very Easy

Enjoy a pleasant breakfast this morning, then mount up and head to the ancient city of Angkor Thom. This was the last capital of the Great Khmer Empire under the reign of Jayavarman VII. An eight meter high wall draws a perfect square around the city ruin. We’ll enter through one of the main city gates, where stone faces look down on us with benevolent smiles. 

At the city’s center lays Bayon Temple. This 12th century masterpiece is a study in grandeur and is well-known for its fifty-four towers with enigmatic faces representing the fifty-four provinces of the Great Khmer Empire. The Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King are also must-visits as they are both known for their intricate bas-reliefs.

Not far from Bayon lies the temple of Baphuon. This temple rises sharply from the ground and commands an excellent view over the surrounding landscape. The top may be a challenge for some, but well worth the effort.

Return later to the famous Angkor Wat. Built during the reign of King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, Angkor Wat is constructed following the model of the temple mountain symbolizing Mount Meru, the 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. 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 figured on Cambodia's national flag as the temple symbolizes the soul of the Khmer people.

Take lunch not far from the magnificent temple at a local restaurant. Return to the hotel this afternoon for some time at leisure or by the pool.

Tonight we’ll have a great dinner at Spoon Restaurant. Your meal change the Young Cambodian’s life. It is an NGO which provide a free education in hospitality. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Transfer from hotel to Kampong Khleang: 45 minutes Transfer from Kampong Khleang to hotel: 45 minutes Transfer from hotel to airport: 40 minutes. Kayaking: 3-4 hours Difficulty: Easy

Take advantage of the cool morning and wake early to head out for the famous Tonle Sap. Tonle Sap is South East Asia’s largest freshwater lake with its size varying greatly depending on the season, as it is swelling to about four times its size during the wet season.

Explore this magnficent natural marvel by kayak. These two seat, inflatable kayaks are one of the best ways to see the lakes, as they can go where the noisy, long tailed boats cannot. Paddle through sunken fields and floating forests to the village of Kampong Kleang. Stop there for lunch at a stilted house or on one of the local boats, out on the lake (depending on the season). Then it’s back to shore where our tour ends.

Note that during the late dry season and early wet season (February – July) this tour changes destinations to Mechrey or Pea Reang Lake. While there are no stilted homes here the area provides a secluded retreat to paddle through.

Return to Siem Reap this afternoon and transfer to the airport for your onward flight.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch