Cambodia Essentials: Phnom Penh, Angkor and the Tonle Sap

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Day 1 Arrival in Phnom Penh

   We meet you at Phnom Penh airport and take you to your hotel near the riverside. In the late afternoon we board a wooden boat on the river where the Mekong meets the Tonle Sap, watching fishing boats and riverside life as the city lights come on. Dinner is free so you can try one of the many local restaurants nearby. Phnom Penh sits where the Mekong, the Tonle Sap and the Bassac rivers meet, and the riverside is the heart of the city, with its palace, temples, cafes and evening crowds. Your guide gives you a short briefing about the days ahead and some tips for exploring the city on your own.

   
2. Day 2 Phnom Penh: Palace, Markets and History

   A full day with Phnom Penh. We start at the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, with its floor of silver tiles, then visit the National Museum and its collection of Khmer sculpture. After lunch we browse the Russian Market. In the afternoon we visit Tuol Sleng, a former school used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge, a difficult but important place to understand Cambodia today. Your guide shares this history with care. The visit to Tuol Sleng is moving and can be emotional, and it is optional if you prefer to skip it. In the evening, the riverside is lively with families, street food sellers and people exercising in the cool air, a hopeful contrast to the history of the afternoon.

   
3. Day 3 Overland to Siem Reap

   We leave Phnom Penh after breakfast and drive north through the countryside. Along the way we stop at a local market, meet a family who make palm sugar from the sap of sugar palms, and cross the Kampong Kdei bridge, built in the 12th century during the Angkor era. We arrive in Siem Reap in the late afternoon. Palm sugar is made by climbing tall sugar palms to collect the sap, which is then boiled down over a wood fire into a sweet, caramel-like sugar. The Kampong Kdei bridge is one of the longest stone bridges from the Angkor period still in use. Overnight in Siem Reap, with a free evening to explore Pub Street and the night market.

   
4. Day 4 Angkor Thom, Bayon and Ta Prohm

   We enter Angkor Thom through the South Gate, lined with stone gods and demons, and walk to the Bayon, with its more than 200 calm stone faces. We continue to the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. After lunch we visit Ta Prohm, where giant trees grow through the temple walls, and end the day with sunset at a quieter temple away from the crowds. The Bayon is the centre of Angkor Thom, built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century, and its carvings show daily life, battles and markets of the time. Ta Prohm has been left partly to the jungle, which makes it one of the most photographed places in Cambodia. Your guide plans the visits to avoid the biggest crowds.

   
5. Day 5 Sunrise at Angkor Wat and Village Cycling

   An early start for sunrise at Angkor Wat, then a long walk through its galleries and carved walls while it is still cool. After lunch and a rest, we cycle through villages and rice fields around Siem Reap, stopping at family homes, a small pagoda and local workshops. The evening is free. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, and its long galleries are covered in carvings of Hindu stories and historic battles. The afternoon ride is flat and easy, on dirt roads and small lanes through rice fields, with stops at village homes, a pagoda and workshops making rice wine or noodles.

   
6. Day 6 Tonle Sap and Departure

   In the morning we drive to the edge of the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia, and take a boat through a stilt village where houses stand high above the water. We see how families fish, farm and go to school with the rising and falling lake. Return to Siem Reap for your onward flight. The trip to the lake takes about an hour by road, and the boat ride lasts around two hours. Your guide explains how the Tonle Sap reverses its flow each year and why it is so important for the fish, the rice and the people of Cambodia. We return to Siem Reap in time for your flight.