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This classic journey showcases some of the best sights this charming country has to offer. Explore the architectural magnificence of the temples of Angkor, visit the floating villages of Kampong Phluk and the great Tonle Sap lake. Then take in the breathtakingly beautiful beaches of Kep and Sihanoukville. Finally relax in a luxury eco lodge on a river in the lush Cardamom mountains.
We have no fixed routes or packaged tours. Every itinerary is unique and can be customised based on your request and preference. Explore the world your way!
Email us at travel@planettraveller.com to customise this tour.
The Cambodia tour commences with your arrival in Siem Reap. You will be met by our representative who will transfer you to your hotel. Enjoy the day at leisure.
Today you will be met by our guide and accompanied on a days sightseeing of Kompong Phluk and the Tonle Sap Lake.
Kompong Phluk is an astonishing stilted-house village surrounded by flooded forest. On the way to the floating village you may stop at the Rolous Market which is a great place to take photos of traders selling a wide array of local produce.
After the market you’ll take a boat to the floating community of Kompong Phluk. Here you visit an island pagoda, school and houses all standing on 8 m or 10 m high stilts, to learn about village life and the fish farms below. We stop and have lunch in a family’s home before taking a rowing boat and venturing beyond the villages into the flooded forest, the habitat of many water-bird species. You will then be transferred back onto the main boat and will cruise to the Tonle Sap, South East Asia’s largest freshwater lake, upon which many of Cambodia’s people depend upon for their livelihoods.
Angkor Wat Temple Tour
To sum up the magnificence of Angkor’s temples in a few lines is impossible. Built between the 9th and 14thcenturies, the temples were devoted to Buddha and Hindu deities. Within the fortified city of Angkor Thom lies The Bayon, the third tier of which is lined by more than 200 huge, imposing carved faces which stare down from 54 towers.
Other highlights include the Buddhist temple of Ta Prohm, which looks just as it did when the French explorer Henry Mouhot stumbled upon it in the 1860s, with its giant roots from the jungle seemingly reclaiming the temple. Then there is of course, Angkor Wat, a huge temple complex dedicated to Vishnu in the early 12th century and surrounded by a vast moat. Many of the temples are covered with fantastic carvings depicting religious stories and scenes from daily life.
You may chose to go on an additional tour of Boeng Melea or Banteay Srei.*
Boeng Melea was built in the 12th century by Suryavarman II, this intriguing and mysterious temple was inaccessible until 2002. Completely overcome by jungle and surrounded by a now dried up moat. Exploring the ruins here, with its long dark chambers, hanging vines and collapsed towers is a truly wonderful experience. Banteay Srei, or “Citadel of the Women”, is widely regarded as the Jewel in the crown of Khmer art and is wonderfully well preserved with intricate stone carvings.
*cost of additional tours to be paid directly to our ground handler
Today we set out on a city tour of Phnom Penh.
Located at the confluence of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap rivers, Phnom Penh has been Cambodia’s capital for most of the last six centuries. It retains a small town feel, with crumbling French colonial buildings, sprawling Wats (as the pagodas are known here), and the impressive Royal Palace and adjacent Silver Pagoda. The riverfront by the Mekong is the most beautiful part of the city and there are a number of good restaurants in which to sample tasty local delicacies such as “amok” and watch the world go by. Other interesting places to visit include the central and Russian markets where plenty of bargains are to be found. On arrival and after you have checked into your hotel you will be taken on a cyclo tour of the main sights of the city.
Phnom Penh at Leisure or Additional tour
Should you wish it is possible to visit Toul Sleng, & the nearby Killing Fields of Choeung Ek or you may even choose to visit the nearby Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. Tuol Sleng was the former school that was used as a place of torture by the Khmer Rouge and has now been preserved as a museum. Nearby is Choeung Ek, otherwise known as the Killing Fields, an area where thousands of men, women and children were murdered and dumped in mass graves by the Khmer Rouge following the advent of “Year zero”. A visit here is not for the faint of hearted, however these sites are sobering reminders of the Khmer Rouge’s brutality and of the rest of the worlds failure to intervene.
*cost of additional tours to be paid directly to our ground handler.
Drive to Kep for day cruise
We leave Phnom Penh and travel south towards the coast, journeying to the old French-colonial seaside resort of Kep. On the way we visit Kampot’s river front where you may stop for lunch. You will be met by our local guide and taken on a sunset cruise at 4 pm aboard DIVA a 42 foot river boat. On the river Children frantically wave as they sit on the veranda’s of their Muslim Cham’s. You’ll pass mosques, mangroves swamps and salt fields with a view of Phu Quoc Island in the distance. After the sunset melts into the horizon you return to Kampot in the early evening. Once back in Kampot you continue your drive to Kep where you have the evening to wander across to the crab market and try some of the local delicacies.
Cruise to Rabbit Island
Today you travel to Koh Tonsay or Rabbit Island as it’s known, you arrive at the pier and board a local boat. Your journey takes you across calm waters to this beautiful palm-fringed island, home to a small community of fishermen and farmers. You have the whole day to enjoy the white-sand beaches that ring the island, the sun, sea and sand before we travel back to Kep by boat in the afternoon.
Transfer to Sihanoukville
You leave behind the beaches of Kep and head west towards the popular resort of Sihanoukville, home to Cambodia's finest beaches.
You drive back through the charming riverside town of Kampot and onto the picturesque road that passes under the shadow of Bokor Mountain. You pass through pretty fishing villages before arriving in the small town of Veal Renh on National Highway 4. Here you head south to Sihanoukville and check into our hotel. You have the rest of the day free to enjoy the beautiful beaches and warm waters.
Today you are free to sit back, relax and enjoy the facilities of your hotel or explore Sihanoukville.
Transfer to Koh Kong via the Cardamom Mountains
After breakfast you will be transferred in land to route 48 which cuts straight through the jungle, with dramatic views of the magnificent Cardamom Mountains.
4 Rivers Ecolodge is situated in Tatai, near Koh Kong and a boat journey is required to reach it. Once at the 4 Rivers floating resort you have the remainder of the day to get settled into your luxury floating safari tent and enjoy the tranquil surroundings.
Tatai Waterfalls & Cardamom Jungle tour
One of the must-sees of the region is the Tatai Waterfall. Your day, depending on the tide, starts at around 10 am on a boat past Tatai village to the falls. Before lunch you may take a dip in the pools. Kayaking activities can be arranged upon request.
Today you have to decide what you would like to do for the last day of your Cambodian holiday. You can just completely unwind and relax on your private pontoon, take out the lodge’s kayaks and explore the surrounding mangroves. Alternatively you can decide to take one of the day trips, such as the source of life tour which allows you to discover the forest of the surrounding areas or a short excursion to a nearby local village where you will get an insight into a local Khmer village. Or finish the day with a short kayak trip to see the beautiful flickering light of the river fireflies in the evening the choice is yours.
After breakfast you will be transferred back to Phnom Penh airport. Please remember that you will have to pay $25 per person departure tax on departure.
Requires a spirit of adventure and some degree of fitness, as the trip might consist of many activities or long journeys. These adventures involve walking, trekking, hiking, cycling, rafting, sea kayaking, or driving for long hours, at times for up to six to eight hours a day at a steady pace. The maximum altitude is 3000m, so it requires you to be reasonably physically fit because you may be travelling in extreme weather conditions. The trips are usually 6 to 12 days in duration.
Every itinerary is unique, flexible and can be tailored to meet your preferences. Our travel experts' first hand knowledge of serviced destinations enables them to hand-craft dream holidays with you. We plan your holiday, your way!
