ANGKOR SMILE TOUR

Day 1:Phnom Penh City Tour. Private Boat Sunset Cruise.

[Guided Tour] 8:30 am, Today a city tour introduces you to the sights of Phnom Penh, a city that lies near the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. The private quarters of the Royal Palace are home to King Sihamoni and are closed to the public. You will, however, be able to visit the Silver Pagoda that lies in the palace complex, which is the most sacred temple in the country. Phnom Penh remains a living relic of the country’s past struggles and successes.

Your included visits to the Tuol Sleng Prison Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek tell the story of the tragic legacy of the Khmer Rouge. Tuol Sleng is a former school that served as a Khmer Rouge torture centre, and it’s estimated that more than 20,000 people were held and tortured here. The Choeung Ek Memorial is home to stupa made up of some 8,000 human skulls, marking the site of the infamous Killing Fields. This was the execution ground for the torture victims of Tuol Sleng and standing in this peaceful setting it’s almost unthinkable to imagine that to date nearly 9,000 corpses have been exhumed from the area. There is an optional visit to Wat Phnom, the temple that gave rise to the foundation of the city in the 15th century. An ideal way to spend your second evening here is to relax in a cafe by the riverfront.

End your day with a private boat for a sunset cruise and on the Tonle Sap River, which famously reverses direction each year, acting as the world’s largest natural flood barrier for the Mekong River. We cruise past the Royal Palace compound and around the Chrouy Changvar Peninsular onto the mighty Mekong River.

Notes: The Tuol Sleng Prison Museum and Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are major parts of the experience here, but if you don’t wish to visit them. Just inform your tour guide.

+ O/N: in Phnom Penh (not included in the package)
Day 2:Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham Including the Silk production and Spider ville of Skoun.

After breakfast at your hotel, we leave Phnom Penh by taking a ferry to the eastern side of the four rivers and visit the silk production family. This where you can sample the local silk weaving and learn about the whole process from start to finish from one of the families who make the living out of it. Then, travel to Kampong Cham. En route, there is the chance to pause at Skuon, affectionately known as ‘Spiderville’, where it is possible to sample the local delicacy of deep fried tarantula. The lunch place is flexible as it can be along the way, at Skuon or at the restaurant of you hotel in Kampong Cham after check in. Later in the afternoon, we visit around Kampong Cham including the beautiful Mekong Island. You can either cycle or travel by our car, up to you.

+ O/N: in Kampong Cham (1nt)
Day 3:Kampong Cham to Kratie. Mushroom Farm, Brick Factory and Dolphin Watching.
Today, we leave Kampong Cham to Kratie. Our road journey continues the eastern side along the Mekong passing through rural villages, farms, fishing spots, pagodas, and beautiful sceneries. There are a lot of chance to photograph.
We then reach Kratie and check in a comfortable hotel.

Later in the afternoon, enjoy [Guided Tour] to visit a local mushroom farm. This is where you will see how one village one product is improving local economy. Then, go to Kampi, one of the many deep pools where the rare freshwater Irrawaddy River dolphins gather to feed. Along the way, we stop at a brick factory and may be a traditional rice noodle making (they make it almost every day). At Kampi, we board a local boat and cruise out into the mighty Mekong for a chance to encounter with gentle creatures. Viewing is almost guarantee, although it is easier to see the dolphins in the shallower waters of the dry season, than in the swollen river of the wet season. After enjoying an hour or more of dolphin viewing, we travel back to Kratie.

+ O/N: in Kratie (1nt)
Day 4:Market of Kratie. Travel to Monudlkiri.

In the morning [Guided Tour] to visit to a traditional cafe shop that has been in business since October 1988 and not spoilt by tourism. This is where you will learn about the lifestyle of Khmer men and women in which mostly men hang out at the cafe while women are working or doing shopping at the market nearby. Next, walk through the central Market of Kratie where you will see the local trades and see some of the old colonial building which remain from the French colony. Before we leave Kratie, we might visit local rice whiskey production.

Afterwards, we leave behind the sleepy town of Kratie and travel southeast towards the small junction town of Snuol, our gateway to the wilds of Mondulkiri. We turn left and leave behind the surfaced roads of civilization to take on the red earth roads of hill country. The first half of the journey from Snuol is flat, passing through patches of lush forest and areas of cultivation and plantations. Lunch break in a local restaurant at Kau Sima.

After Kau Sima district, the road snakes up through the mountains that give Mondulkiri its name of ‘where the mountains meet’.
Before we check in to your hotel, we visit coffee farm resort, one-of-a-must visit place in Sen Monorom where you can see many different fruits including coffee plantation, dragon fruit and durian.
+ O/N: in Sen Monorom – Mondulkiri (2nts)
Day 5:Mondulkiri – Eco-friendly Elephant Experience at BEP.

[Guided Tour] Today, we will have a full day visit one of the Eco-friendly elephant project, called Bunong Elephant Project (BEP) where elephants are being rescued from hard work like pulling the tree out from the farm and carry heavy things up the mountain. We travel by road out of Sen Monorom to one the hill top where we will start walking around 40 minutes through the valleys and forests to the project field work. You will be introduced to the herd of elephants and get to know more about their history, character, behavior, body language and relationship with mahout family. You will be able to feed the elephant buckets of bananas. At noon, the elephant must be taken to pastures for at least 2 hours in order to make sure they get enough food for the day. Elephants eat up to 300 kg of vegetation per day in order to sustain themselves. While the elephant is grazing, you will have a lunch break. Then, you will learn more detail about elephant and the community from the elephant guide.

In the afternoon, the mahout will bring the elephant to the river for a wash. You are welcomed to get in the water and give them a hand. Afterwards, we leave the elephants and start walking out different way towards a village where your driver is waiting for. Closer to the village, there is a big hill so you will challenge yourself.

+ O/N: in Sen Monorom – Mondulkiri
+ Included meal: Lunch.
Day 6:Bou Sra Waterfall. Drive to Ratanakiri. Yeak Loam Crater Lake.

After breakfast at your hotel in Sen Monorom, we leave Sen Monorom and head east towards the double drop waterfall of Bou Sraa, one of the most famous in Cambodia. Afterwards, we leave behind the wilds of Mondulkiri and hit the road towards the red earth of Ratanakiri. We travel north on the newest highway that connects Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri via Koh Nhek. Along the way, there is lush jungle hugging the road and locals claim to see tigers on this stretch whereas some parts of the jungle are giving way to clusters of pine trees and rolling grasslands. The scenery is unique for Cambodia and dotted with traditional indigenous hill tribe villages. We arrive to Ban Lung town of Ratanakiri and check into a comfortable hotel. Later in the afternoon, we enjoy the refreshing waters of the beautiful crater lake of Yeak Loam, set amid a pocket of lush jungle.

+ O/N: in Ban Lung – Ratanakiri (2nts)
Day 7:The Indigenous Lifestyle.

[Guided Tour] We start our day at 6:30am before breakfast to explore the origin of Ratanakiri and learn about the indigenous people life who form up the region for thousands of year. Our visit includes Banlung market. It’s most colorful in the early morning, when local indigenous women (Chunchiet) set up around outside of the market, puffing on bamboo pipes of large cigars made from tobacco rolled up in leaves.

Return to your hotel for breakfast, then we travel to Kachon where we’ll take a scenic boat ride for about on Sesan river to a remote village of Kaoh Piek. It is home to a traditional Kachoch burial ground complete with carved effigies of the deceased. Family groups are buried side by side and elaborate ceremonies held after a period of mourning. There are wooden men and women statues standing in front the tombs to guard and likeness of elephant tusks and beautiful decorated tombs. You will also take a walk through the village, visit school. You will learn about the animist belief of Kachoch hill tribe from you local guide in the area.

Return to Ban Lung and we will visit the local gem mining somewhere around town as they always move their mining location, we don’t really know which point exactly but our local guide will find accordingly.
+ O/N: in Ban Lung – Ratanakiri
Day 8:Ratanakiri to Preah Rumkel – Mighty Mekong Falls.

[Guided Tour] We leave behind Banlung and travel southwest towards O’Pongman before veering north towards Stung Treng before we cross the river by bridge to Tala Borivath and continue north to Preah Rumkel. We will be welcomed into a local family on the bank of the Mekong River for a traditional. In the late afternoon, we survey Sopheakmet Waterfall; that thwarted the grand designs of French imperialists (and which now mark the Lao border). If time is available, we will take the boat across the river to visit Hang Khone, which is the southernmost tip of Laos. The French used this as a ferry port where goods were then transferred back to the ferry by train before they continued their travel by river. Sunset here is some of the most beautiful sunsets across the Mekong River.

Tonight, you will stay in a traditional Cambodian home under mosquito net at one of the local family who live on the bank of the Mekong River, experience bucket shower like Khmer people.
+ O/N: Homestay at Preah Rumkel Community (1nt)
+ Included meal: Lunch & Dinner.
Day 9:Stung Treng – Kayaking Through Mekong Flooded Forests.

[Guided Tour] After breakfast at homestay, it’s time to say goodbye to the family. Then, we enjoy a short boat trip down to O’Svay where we will start our paddling tours to explore the Ramsar Wetlands area. It stretches south along the Mekong River from the border with Laos to Stung Treng. Only accessible by boat, it is a haven for critically endangered mammals, birds and fish and a unique riverine flooded forest system that is a photographer’s dream. With only birdcalls announcing our presence, we maneuvered our way leisurely downstream for a couple of hours. Our paddling tour of the forest continue until one point that you feel enough, then we return to O’Svay by boat before we travel by road to the provincial capital of Stung Treng. We check in to a comfortable local hotel for the night.

+ O/N: in Stung Treng (1nt)

+ Included meal: Lunch.
Day 10:Stung Treng to Sra Em. World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear.
Today, we enjoy breakfast outside the hotel by going to a famous restaurant for typical Laos breakfast. Then, we leave behind the remote Stung Treng, head west to explore an imposing mountain-top temple guards the border between Cambodia and Thailand, Preah Vihear temple, which was registered to be the world heritage 2008, perched on a pinnacle overlooking Cambodia and the object of recent battles with Thailand. We climb to the top of the Preah Vihea temple via the snaking road up the mountain which is very steep in places, and we eventually emerge at the second enclosure of this king of the mountain temples. [Guided Tour] We explore the temple on foot and continue onwards to the final level, clinging to a cliff face in the Dangrek Mountains, towering hundreds of metres above lowland Cambodia below. The views from this most mountainous of temple mountains are breathtaking. Later we come to Sra Em and check in a comfortable hotel.

+ O/N: in Sra Em – Preah Vihear
Day 11:Sra Em to Siem Reap.
After breakfast, it is time to depart Sra Em and travel to Siem Reap. We journey west to the mountainous border region to the last of the Khmer Rouge at Anlong Veng with a chance to visit the house of the former military strongman Ta Mok. Anlong Veng was the last Khmer Rouge stronghold to surrender to government forces in the late 1990s. We then travel south towards Siem Reap. We arrive to Siem Reap and check into a comfortable hotel.

This evening we can enjoy a classical dance performance with buffet dinner, where we will see many of the most popular Cambodian dances, including the graceful Apsara dance, scenes from the Ramayana (known as Reamker in Cambodia), the coconut dance and more. The classical dances include elaborate costume and date back to the time of Angkor, while the folk dances are connected to the harvest and the cycle of the seasons.

+ O/N: in Siem Reap (4nts)

Optional Activities in Siem Reap
Evening with Cambodia’s traditional shows with buffet dinner at the Kulen II restaurant. Please inform us if you are interested. We can help you to make advance booking. – USD12
watch the Cambodia’s best circus “Phare Poleu Selpak” which is Siem Reap’s most unique, authentic top rated (TripAdvisor & Lonely Planet) evening entertainment. 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Seat A: Adult (age 12+) : US$38 / Children (age 5 – 11) : $18 / Infants (age 4 and younger) no charge with no allocated seat.
Seat B:Adult (age 12+) : US$28 / Children (age 5 – 11) : US$15 /Infants (age 4 and younger) no charge with no allocated seat.
Seat C:Adult (age 12+) : US$18 / Children (age 5 – 11) : US$10 / Infants (age 4 and younger) no charge with no allocated seat. Please inform us if you are interested. We can help you to make advance booking.

Day 12:Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom Complex (Small Circuit) and Sunset (Phnom Bakheng or Pre Rup).
[Guided Tours] Your day starts at 8:00 am with the pickup from a private vehicle from your hotel and head straight to purchase the 3-day Angkor Pass – USD62 pers (Included). Today you’ll visit Angkor Thom, with a stop at the very photogenic South Gate of Angkor Thom City, where the gods and demons line the road leading to the gate, struggling in a cosmic tug-of-war.

The Gate itself is topped with four giant faces facing within the cardinal directions.
Visiting Bayon, with its fifty four towers adorned with over two hundred enigmatic smiling faces, Phimeanakas, Baphoun, Terrace of the Elephants and therefore the Terrace of the Leper King.
Lunch break in a local Khmer-style restaurant in Angkor Park.

We then move on to the world-famous and best-preserved of all temples within the Angkor complex. The ruins are scattered over an area of some 160 square kilometers; this is the biggest religious monument in the world. If the weather allows and you are not too tired, finish your day with the sunset on top of Bakheng Mountain or Pre Rup temple.

+ O/N: in Siem Reap
Day 13:Banteay Srei, Lost temple of Beng Mealea, Rolous Group, and Tonle Sap Lake.

[Guided Tours] You’ll be picked up from your hotel at 8:00 am. We drive further north to Banteay Srei, Angkor’s ultimate art gallery. This petite pink temple is that the jewel within the crown of Angkor-era sculpture. The elaborate carvings here area unit the best found in Cambodia and also the name interprets as ‘Fortress of the Women’. Then, we journey to the remote charming ruin temple covered by vegetation, Beng Mealea temple. This titanic temple is a slumbering giant lost for centuries in the forests of Cambodia. It’s confronted with a mass of ruins half devoured by a ravenous jungle. Lunch break in a local Khmer-style restaurant.

Then, we travel back in time to one of the earliest capitals in the Angkor area, Hariharilaya, now known as Roluos where you will see the first largest sandstone temple of Khmer architecture of Bakong temple and a secret bull temple of Preah Kor temple.

After so many temples, it’s time to get refreshment with a private boat cruise to experience the local lifestyles at Kampong Phluk Village and enjoying a stunning sunset over Tonle Sap, the biggest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.

+ O/N: in Siem Reap
Day 14:Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Ta Promh and Big Circuit.
[Guided Tours] Rise early for sunrise over the Mother of all temples. You will be picked up at 4:40 am from your hotel and travel straight to Angkor Wat which is believed to be the world’s largest religious building. After the sunrise, we will take you for a breakfast break. Your today’s visit includes the beautiful Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider) temple and followed by the grand circuit temples such as Banteay Samre, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Tasom, and East Mebon. Regain your energy by enjoying a sumptuous Khmer food in a local restaurant. Finish your day with a visit to the brick pyramid-shaped temple of Pre Rup and the peaceful Royal swimming pool of Sras Srang.

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