Wild Cambodia

Upon arrival in Phnom Penh, you will be welcomed by your local guide, who will accompany you to your hotel for check in (Normally the check-in time is at 14:00).

Phnom Penh was once considered one of the most beautiful cities in the Orient, and despite its turbulent history and recent development, it still retains a colonial charm. Cambodia’s capital is a bustling city, majestically located at the confluence of the mighty rivers of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap. Wide tree-lined boulevards and many colonial-era buildings reflect the glorious days and add to the allure of the city, where Asian and Western traditions meet in a fascinating way.

1600 Set out late this afternoon for an unforgettable Phnom Penh evening tour. Meet with a knowledgeable guide and travel to Preah Ang Dong Ker, a sacred riverside pagoda. Witness locals as they gather at the shrine to worship, making offerings and saying prayers at the end of the day. Then cross to the Royal Palace, home to Cambodia’s monarchy to see this resplendent building in the late afternoon light. 

Then take a walk along the riverfront area. The atmosphere at this time of day is particularly lively, with city residents gathering along the wide promenade to exercise or enjoy a picnic with friends. The guide will give more insight into what local life is like in Phnom Penh while strolling down this vibrant part of town. 

Continue walking past several French-colonial era buildings on the way to Wat Phnom. Climb to the top of this hilltop temple for fantastic views over the city and the surrounding rivers. Then return to the riverside where a boat is waiting. Climb aboard and cast off onto the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers for a sunset cruise. Admire the views of the city as the last light of day casts brilliant colours across the skyline.

Return to the shore of the river at dusk, just in time for dinner. Head to the nearby local Restaurant to enjoy a delicious meal before wrapping up the evening with a nightcap at one of the capital’s most stylish bars. Gaze upon the city and riverside from the rooftop of Le Moon Bar while sipping a cocktail, enjoying the views and reflecting back on this evening tour of Phnom Penh. 

Note: Walking distance along the riverfront is 2km

Overnight in Phnom Penh.

Inclusions:

🍗 Dinner

0730 Set out early for a visit to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, a tranquil forested compound one-hour from Phnom Penh. Upon arrival, meet with the local staff who will explain the day’s programs and give background information about the centre.  

Begin the Phnom Tamao tour with a walk through the 7 hectare compound alongside a caretaker. See more than 100 Asian Sun Bears and Black Bears (aka Moon Bears) who have been rescued from poachers and learn about Cambodia’s wildlife trade. There are also other animals, more than 12,000 in total, such as elephants and gibbons that are being rehabilitated and cared for at Phnom Tamao.  

Although the animals are fenced off, there are plenty of opportunities to observe them. Join the caretakers to feed the bears and learn about the different personalities of the many Sun and Moon Bears who now call the park home. 

A delicious picnic lunch will be served in a bamboo hut at the centre. After lunch, explore the grounds of the Wildlife Rescue Center with wildlife experts. Watch the gibbons as they swing from tree to tree, watch the squeaky otters play in the water, and enjoy a variety of exotic animals from Clouded Leopard to Asian Elephants, all of whom have been saved from captivity and are well cared for by local wildlife professionals. This is an incredible chance to see the diversity of Cambodia’s wildlife up close! 

In the afternoon, say goodbye to the staff and animals, wrap up the Phnom Tamao tour and return to Phnom Penh. 

Overnight in Phnom Penh.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Phnom Penh Hotel – Oudong (40 km): 1hrs Oudong – Smiling Gecko (20 km): 30 mins

After breakfast, pickup from your hotel and head to Oudong Mountain. Just a short distance from the city, the buzz of the modern world disappears and small villages and farms come in to view. Continue on to Oudong and climb 509 steps to the top of Oudong Mountain for magnificent views over the plains below. From this vantage point it is easy to understand why the Cambodians built their capital on this strategic hilltop. Learn more about its history and the local culture before descending down a different path to the base of Oudong Mountain.

Then head to Farmhouse Smiling Gecko Resort which is on the same National Road to Kampong Chhnang Province. After half an hour drive, we will reach the Farmhouse Smiling Gecko where is surrounded by paddy fields and rolling hills. The boutique bungalow resort is a training hotel and part of the holistic social organization Smiling Gecko. The resort is located in the very heart of the agricultural area of the project.
You will stay in a stilt houses built in the traditional local style. These beautifully furnished stilt houses combine the charm of traditional Cambodian architecture with modern sanitary facilities and are available in three comfort levels.

By staying at the Farmhouse Smiling Gecko, you support the sustainable Smiling Gecko cluster project and contribute to its success.

Upon arrival, lunch in the resort and then check-in, free at your own leisure to enjoy reading, or relaxing by the pool. 

Dinner is included in the resort.

Overnight in the Farmhouse resort.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

Today you can enjoy the relaxing time in your khmer house, by pool, or cycling around the resort.
The Resort also offer complimentary Smiling Gecko Project Tour around the campus as well, you can discuss with the resort the time to start.

The rest of the day at your leisure or you can choose any available tour around the village with resort directly with extra charge. 

Lunch & Dinner are included in the resort. 

Overnight in the Farmhouse resort.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch, 🍗 Dinner

📍 Farmhouse Smiling Gecko - Kratie (255km): 5 hours

0800 After breakfast, check-out from the hotel and head to Kratie. It takes about 5 hours to drive on the road. You will check into the hotel on Koh Trong Island, only a 10 minutes boat ride away from Kratie town.

This Mekong island displays typical Cambodian village life, where people’s livelihood largely depends on rice farming and fruits cultivation (Koh Trong is famous for its pomelo!) You can decide whether you would like to take a local horse cart or pedal yourself around the island on a bicycle (advance booking needed). Then free at your own leisure in the hotel. 

Overnight on Koh Trong Island.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

📍 Kratie - Sen Monorom (203km): 3 hrs 30mn

Breakfast at hotel and check-out. Drive north along the banks of the Mekong, a scenic route with great views. The village of Kampi is one of the best places to view the rare Irrawaddy Dolphins along the Mekong. Get on board a local boat that will take you to the preferred habitats of these interesting creatures. As soon as you have spotted the first dolphin, your boat driver will turn the engine off and you will follow the dolphins silently (duration 1 to 1.5 hours). 

Lunch will be on your own account around the town.

Then continue by our private air-conditioned vehicle for transfer to somewhere off the beaten tourist trail, Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri, a quiet but beautiful town nestled into the hills. 
After 3.5 hours along a progressively less trafficked road, arrive in Sen Monorom town, check-in and enjoy the evening at leisure. 

Overnight at Sen Monorom

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

Pick-up from your hotel at 04:30 am.  Today, you will have a full day exploration with your expert local guide for trekking deep into the nature and wildlife sanctuary. 

We will head to the Camp located inside the core area of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary for wildlife viewing, with Critically Endangered Black-shanked Doucs, Yellow-cheeked, Crested Gibbon, Macaques, and other mammals of the Annamite, under the preparation of the local indigenous Bunong Tribe. The hike is quite strenuous yet you will enjoy yourself through the beautiful green forest and nice natural songs. 

Return at 08h00 for a breakfast at the camp and learn more about the conservation effort at Jahoo camp to protect endangered gibbons and other rare wildlife.

Have some rest and then prepare for a jungle hike deeper into the Wildlife Sanctuary. Explore the forest with your indigenous guide and discover other rare wildlife such as the giant black squirrel and northern pig-tailed macaque. Arrival at a sacred waterfall and enjoy a traditional lunch cooked in bamboo. If you wish, you can snooze and swim whilst surrounded by lush rainforest within the heart of the Protected Area. 

After more jungle trekking and spotting other endangered primates, such as black-shanked douc langur, return to the Bamboo Camp. Depart Jahoo and arrive back at your hotel by 17:00

Overnight at Sen Monorom
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

Get picked up from your hotel at 7:30am for transfer to the Elephant Valley Project, a sanctuary for elephants within a 1,500 hectare reserve where the elephants can roam and learn how to be semi wild elephants again. Spend the morning with one group of elephants and also give back by volunteering! You will hike out to meet one group of elephants in the morning in their natural forest habitat. Enjoy the buffet lunch in the base camp at midday and then join locals, staff and other volunteers on the many projects it takes to keep the sanctuary running for example reforestation, farming for elephant food and small building projects (note these activities are not with the elephants), you can take this time the afternoon to relax at the base camp and enjoy the beautiful scenery! Return to the hotel at 5:30pm. Only available Sun-Fri, Elephant experience (3-4km of hiking) 

Note: As the elephants are located in valleys that are accessible by dirt trails and stairs, visitors with mobility issues may not be able to visit the elephants in their natural habitat and may be constrained to the elephant center and “elephant spa” during the dry season months and may be unable to visit EVP during Green Season, when the path down to the center can be very slippery. 

Overnight at Sen Monorom
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

After breakfast, check-out and say Goodbye to the lovely hill town and continue to Kampong Thom province, located about 7hours drive with a few stop for refreshment along the way.
After check-in, just enjoy your leisure time after a long journey. 

Overnight at Kampong Thom. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast

📍 Kampong Thom – Siem Reap (185 km): 3 hrs 30mn

Today you will explore Kampong Thom province by make a stop at Sambor Prei Kuk, one of the most important pre-Angkorian sites in the country that has recently been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sambor Prei Kuk was built in the Chenla period between the 6th and 7th centuries and there are over 100 well preserved temples scattered in the forest. The three main sites are linked by small and shady tracks. Enjoy a beautiful walk through the jungle with breathtaking views. Your visit supports a community-based tourism project.

The villages around the temple complex still practice the ancient art of craft making, using materials such as bamboo and rattan. Stop at one village to observe the local production. The community runs the Isanborei Craft Hut next to the temples and sells their products there as part of a community based tourism project. You will have the chance to contribute to the sustainability of the people’s livelihood as the local community will prepare a simple but tasty lunch for you near the temples.
Then continue to Siem Reap.

Siem Reap nestled between rice paddies and stretched along the Siem Reap River, the small provincial capital of Siem Reap Town serves as the gateway to the millennium-old temple ruins of the Khmer Empire. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including Bayon, Banteay Srey and the legendary Angkor Wat.

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

5:30am Start our Siem Reap wildlife explorer trip by head to the hidden carving of 1000 lingas of Angkor in the mountain with waterfall and birding at the remnant habitat of Dry Deciduous Forest (DDF) of Indochina, a home many endanger species and Woodpeckers species such as Black-headed woodpeckers etc. 
Breakfast box included. 
Lunch will be at a local restaurant around the area (down the hill). 

Visiting ACCB, a wildlife rescue for illegally hunted birds and animals, providing a refuge until they can be returned to the wild. ACCB gives you a chance of seeing native animals and birds.
On the way back, visit Banteay Srey temples, plus more birds around this beautiful temples.

Then return back to your hotel and free at leisure. 

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

5:30am Pick up from your hotel with our Air-con vehicle, transfer Mechrey Pier for the boat trip to Prek Toal village. You will enjoy your packed breakfast on a boat along the way to Tonle Sap Lake.
Upon arrival Prek Toal floating village, you will be transferred into smaller local community boats and explore the biosphere reserve, enjoy birding, climb the tree top to see the wider views of the bird colonies. 
Breakfast box included. 
Lunch will be at Saray Community Restaurant. 

After lunch, visit Water Hyacinth Handicraft Workshop, and you can also paddles boat around the floating village before return back to Siem Reap. 
You will be arrive the hotel around 4pm, the rest of the day free at leisure. 

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

0430; early wake-up call
0500; Pick up at hotel lobby
0530; sunrise at the temple
0630; Then explore on a sightseeing tour of the famous Angkor Wat Temple. 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.
Then return to the hotel for breakfast and take a short break.

1500 Pickup from your hotel and visit a local enterprise, Satcha, 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”. 
Afterward, 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.

1800 This evening, you will join dining for a cause experience to support social enterprise restaurant by continue to the first restaurant, 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 a Khmer classic dishes at a restaurant where 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 tropical garden 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 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.

Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🍗 Dinner

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

Depending on your flight departure time, you may spend the morning exploring Siem Reap’s colorful markets (on your own):

Transfer to the airport for your individual onward flight. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast