Cambodia Heritage

Day 1: Saigon – PhnomPenh

Arrive Phnompenh meet your guide at the airport and transfer to your hotel in Phnompenh.Afternoon, Visit the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located within the grounds of the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is so named because of its floor, which is made up of 5,000 silver tiles. The treasures found inside include a solid gold Buddha encrusted and weighing 90 kilograms and a small 17th century emerald and baccarat crystal Buddha. End your afternoon with the visit of the Wat Phnom temple, Phnom Penh’s namesake, from where you can enjoy views over the tree-lined avenues of the city during sunset. Accommodation at hotel.

Day 2: Phnompenh (B, D)

Breakfast at the hotel.

Half Day Biking Tour-Mekong islands: 25 km easy ride on mostly unpaved roads. Take a boat across the Tonle Sap River and cycle north along the far bank of the river. This area is populated mainly by Cham communities. Pass Coriander gardens and small wooden houses before crossing the peninsula to the ferry point. Visit a Chinese style Pagoda while waiting for the ferry. Take a ferry to cross to Koh Otnyahdei and take a gentle ride around this small Mekong Island with its fertile farmland and small village communities. Stop at a school to learn a little about Cambodia’s school system, a typical modern Khmer Wat and a silk weaving house to see how those lovely silk scarves are produced. Continue along small trails to the abandoned Zoo and relax in an overgrown, partly finished resort project before crossing back to the mainland and riding back to the boat by a different route. Return to the city with a new view on Phnom Penh and on Cambodia.

Lunch at your own account, Visit the Independence Monument, the notorious Tuol Sleng Museum (S 21 prison). This former school was used as a prison by Pol Pot’s security forces and became the largest center for detention and torture during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Time at leisure at the Russian Market (Psah Tuol Thom Pong). End your afternoon with a visit to Wat Phnom temple, Phnom Penh’s namesake. Founded in 1373, the pagoda was built to house Buddhist relics washed ashore by the river. Dinner at Romdeng Restaurant and accommodation at your hotel in Phnompenh. 

Day 3: Phnompenh - Siemreap (B)

Breakfast at hotel, Transfer to Phnom Penh International Airport and departure by Cambodia Angkor Air to Siem Reap. Arrive at Siem Reap International Airport and transfer to the hotel.

Afternoon, Visit Preah Khan temple. Built by the King Jayavarman VII, Preah Khan is, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, Preah Khan is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration efforts should maintain and even improve this situation. Continue your visits to Neak Pean, a fountain built in the middle of a pool and representing the paradisiacal Himalayan mountain-lake, and visit as well Ta Som and Srah Srang (“The Royal Baths”), undoubtedly used in the past for ritual bathing. 

Day 4: Siemreap (B, D)

Breakfast at hotel. In the morning, visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat’s five towers symbolize Meru’s five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond. 

Afternoon, Visit the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century). See the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and Bayon temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), until sunset. Dinner at Apsara Theatre & Overnight in Siemreap. 

Day 5: Siemreap (B)

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, visit Prasat Kravan with its unique brick sculptures and Ta Prohm. One of the area’s most beautiful temples, Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle, looking very much the ways most of the Angkor temples appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them. Visit as well Takeo, Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon. 

Afternoon, free time for your own visit at local market & Overnight in Siemreap. 

Day 6: Siemreap – Phnompenh – Sihanoukville (B)

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer Siem Reap to International Airport and departure by K6 100 (08.15/09.05) to Phnom Penh. Meet our driver upon arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport and transfer no guide to Sokha Beach Resort , 226 km, excellent road, 3 ½ to 4 hours drive. Arrive in Sihanouk Ville and check in at the hotel. Lunch at your own account, Free at leisure for your own activities (car/driver are at disposal with town and beach area). Dinner at your own account and accommodation at your hotel on the beach.

Day 7: Sihanoukville (B)

With its beaches and casinos, Sihanoukville is primarily a tourist attraction, albeit one with an industrial deep water port. Because of the tourist industry the town of some 250,000 people has a more lighthearted flavour to it than Phnom Penh. Situated on the eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand, Sihanoukville is a peninsula and has several beaches and small, offshore islands. It was founded in 1964 and is much more urban and modern than other Cambodian cities.

Day 8: Sihanoukville (B)

Breakfast at your hotel. Day at leisure at Sihanoukville. Overnight at your accommodation. 

Day 9: Sihanoukville – Phnompenh (B)

Breakfast at hotel. Overland transfer with driver only (no guide) back to Phnom Penh. Arrive in Phnom Penh and transfer to Phnom Penh International Airport for departure flight onward.