Cambodia Discovery

Day 1: Arrival - Phnom Penh

(D)

Warmly welcomed and picked up by our Tour guide from the airport and led to your hotel
Firstly, visit to the Royal Palace compound build in 1866 by the Predecessors of King Norodom, is the most conspicuous feature and also one of impressive colorful Khmer-style Palaces. Nearside the Royal Palace is Silver Pagoda (The Emerald Buddha temple), display plenty of Buddha Statues that were decorated and made by diamond, emerald, gold and silver. Travelers will proceed to visit Independence Monument which was constructed in 1954 after Cambodian took their country back from French colony, continuing visit to National Museum, the distinctive red building with a beautiful Khmer architecture was build since 1917 and contains more than 5000 art objects made of sandstone, bronze, silver, copper, wood and others. We will also visit The Toul Sleng Museum of Genocidal crime and Killing Field of Cheong Ek.

Day 2: Phnom Penh – Cham Bok - Homestay

(B, L, D)

Morning we travel on the national road number 04 at the South Coast which link from Phnom Penh to Sihanouk Ville (most beautiful beach in Cambodia) and Koh Kong and Thai border. We divert to Kirom Mountain and drive direct to Cham Bok community where will walk in the forest to reach waterfall and rarely wildlife. Arrive at Cham Bok you will be welcome by local people which organized by Mlop Baitong Organization, is the local organization which trying to find a new job for local people who before lived by cutting forest and killed wildlife, so they organize a resort at Cham Bok, such as home-stay for tourist, bike renting and other skills. Walk around 7KM to visit wildlife and waterfall. Lunch boxes will be served at waterfall. Return to community and enjoy cooking with villagers and overnight with villagers. Mosquito protection should be prepared in advance.
Activities:

• Hiking and guided tours

• Visit waterfall and a bat-cave

• Picking and bathing at the steam waterfalls

• Bird watching and animal tracking

• Home-stays

• Watching traditional dancing and music performance

• Bicycle or ox-cart riding

• Lunch and dinner with local people

Day 3: Kirirom - Phnom Penh

(B, L, D)

We get up early and watch sunrise and than test Khmer breakfast.
Spend you half day visit local village and community, enjoy teaching your skills, knowledge, and know-how to community and playing with children. Late afternoon, we say good bye to villager and depart to Phnom Penh.
We will enjoy a cruise for view sunset on the Mekong and Tonle Sap River (1 hour). Situated at the “Four Arms” where the Mekong meets the Tonle Sap River before splitting into tow branches, Phnom Penh offers the ideal location to discover the mighty Mekong. Board a nicely restored wooden boat for a day cruise, enjoy the unspoiled landscapes along each bank and visit the traditional villages with their old pagodas on the islands.
You will spend the night in the house of a local family. The houses are prepared for your visit and will be equipped with mosquito nets for example. If you can’t live without your hot shower and comfort, a home-stay is not for you. A home-stay won’t provide you luxury, but it will be an unforgettable experience! You will experience the daily life of the community. Your host family will welcome you in their house, look after you and tell you all about their life!
Joining the homestay gernerates income for the local people. The revenues go directly to community and help the villagers to preserve their forest. The profits are shared along villagers who provide services and the surplus goes to a fund for the support of community development activities.

Day 4: Phnom Penh – Udong Stupas

(B, L)

Depart from Phnom Penh. En route, visit a Cham Muslim village.
Arrive at Phnom Baset. Visit the pre-Angkorian temple (8th century) and the pagoda to view the reclining Buddha. Enjoy the beautiful view of the surrounding plains and rice-fields from the hilltop.
Drive to Udong where a picnic lunch will be served. Then, visit the various temples and the three large stupas where the ashes of three former Kings are preserved. Next, visit the most impressive structure of the site, the "Vihara of the 18-Cubit Buddha". En route to Phnom Penh, stop to visit a silver craft village.

Day 5: Phnom Penh – Kampong Cham – Kratie

(B, L, D)

Driving to Kampong Cham, soak in the scenery of rural Cambodia and pass through a cashew nut plantations, rice fields, and traditional villages, the town centre of Kampong Cham, a former French trading post on the banks of the Mekong, Wat Nokor, an evocative 11th century sandstone Buddhist shrine.
Arrive in Kratie and check in at hotel. In the afternoon, city tour of this small provincial town with its good examples of sumptuous colonial architecture. This tiny town on the Mekong is an unexpected delight, with a relaxing, indolent atmosphere. Journey along the Mekong River basin through the villages of Sambok, Sre Sbov and Phumi Prek Preah. The Mekong River, which rises in Tibet, flows 315 km through Cambodia before continuing on through Vietnam to the sea.
Further north stop at the best riverside vantage point from which to view the rare freshwater Irrawady dolphins which can be best seen late afternoon. Then, drive back to Kratie.

Day 6: Kratie – Kompng Cham – Kompong Thom

(B, L, D)

Visit Kratie pagoda and market. Continue to Chhlong, a small and peaceful village on the Mekong River bank with both, typical Khmer and Colonial architecture. One unique and beautiful wooden house is called 100 columns house for its many columns supporting the house, dating from 19th century. Before arriving in Kompong Cham, visit Chhup, the biggest rubber plantation in the country, established during the French colonial time by the French tire Maker Michelin. Lunch at local restaurant in Kompong Cham. Visit Wat Nokor Pagoda with its ancient temple and modern style pagoda (12th century) and then drive to Kompong Thom.

Day 7: Kampong Thom – Siem Reap

(B, L)

Today is a day to discover Kampong Thom – new hot tourism destination in Cambodia:

• Sambor Prei Kuk, 30 kms north of town, is a jungle-enclosed temple complex that receives very few tourists due to its remote location

• Pre-Angkorian with the melding of architecture and nature, as the brick structures here blend seamlessly with the nature surrounding them

After lunch in Kampong Thom, return to Siem Reap for the evening.

Day 8: Siem Reap exploration

(B, L, D)

After breakfast transfer to Siem Reap and continue to visit:

• The ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century)

• See the South Gate, Bayon Temple- unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara

• The Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas

• The Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King

• Visit the most famous of all the temples on the Angkor plain: Angkor Wat.

Enjoy the sunset from Phnom Bakheng, one of two hills dominating the plain of Angkor, from where you will have a spectacular view of the Western Baray and Angkor Wat. Have Cambodian traditional dinner with Apsara Dance show

Day 9: Siem Reap Exploration

(B, L)

The first day to put your step on the historical land Siem Reap with visiting Banteay Srei temple, Banteay Samre.
Continue your tour of the Khmer temples with sightseeing to the Small Circuit including: Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang; Ta Prohm, Takeo; Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda; Eastern Mebon (guarded at its corner by stone figures of harnessed elephants, some of which are still in a reasonable state of preservation) and the mountain-temple of Pre Rup until sunset

Day 10: Siem Reap – Departure

(B)

We visit Banteay Srei temple and Banteay Samre temple.
We embark on Ox cart to visiting the Khmer Village and enjoy view of the rice field and a lots of palm trees with great fresh air. We board on boat in Tonle Sap Lake. Here, enjoy a brief cruise past floating villages complete with schools, restaurants, and hospitals.
The rest of the day is shopping at local market for transfer to Siem Reap international airport for depart flight.
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