Phnom Penh Battambang and Siem Reap Unveiled

Itinerary Details

Day 1 - Phnom Penh Airport Pick up and Sunset Cruise

Upon arrival Phnom Penh airport you will be welcomed by our English speaking tour guide and transfer you to your hotel for checking in.
Phnom Penh was once considered as Pearl of Asia, One of the most elegant cities in South Eastern Asia. Despite it went through the past turbulent history, the darkest period of the Khmer Rough Regime, the recent development brings back its beauty with a lot of brand new and modern style high rise buildings standing along with the old colonial structures. This capital is a hustling bustling city located at the confluence of the mighty Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River. Wide Boulevard and promenade with some French colonial Buildings reflecting the glorious days and add to the allure of the city.
This evening, enjoy a breathtaking view and atmospheric sunset river cruise along Tonle Sap and Mekong Riser before you will be treated with an authentic welcome dinner at Malis restaurant, a renowned five stars for local Khmer cuisines in the capital. Mr Luu Meng the leading chef, is a Cambodian celebrity and been worked with international chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Luke Nguyen during filming for their cookery series in Cambodia.
Overnight in Phnom Penh

Day 2 - Phnom Penh City Tour with Cyclos

This morning you will be greeted by your tour guide and the driver at your hotel lobby. Cyclo is one of the old form of transportations in this capital. The first stop will be Wat Phnom shrine which is located on the top of 27 meters-hill, the only hill in the city and Phnom Penh is the name derived from this hill. The shrine itself was first constructed in 1373 but has been reconstructed several times (1434, 1806, 1894, 1926 and recently.) The shrine houses many statues of Buddha and decorated with the paintings of the Buddha stories on the walls and the ceilings. There is a huge stupa just right behind the shrine housed the cremated ashes of the king who relocated the capital city from Angkor to here. There is a big clock placed on the foot of the hill and on the right side of the shrine there is another shrine for the ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese.
Continue to the palace with a short drive along the lively river front. The royal palace was constructed twice in 1400s and 1800s but most of the buildings in the compound were reconstructed in 1900s. There are several significant buildings included the Silver pagoda which is housed thousands of artifacts made out of gold, silver, bronze and other materials. The whole floor of the pagoda is covered with 5329 silver tiles. Among those thousand artifacts, the most elegant one is the future Buddha statue made of solid gold 90kgs and decorated with 2086 diamonds and the emerald Buddha.
Next visit is the national museum which was built in 1917 and the inauguration ceremony was held on 13th April 1920. It was designed by French but constructed by Cambodian craftsmen. It was first called The Phnom Penh Museum then Krong Kampucher museum, Albert Saraut Museum, Archaeological Museum and today is known as The National museum of Cambodia. The museum is divided into 4 galleries, East, south, west and north gallery with thousands of statues and art works are on display. East gallery is housed the statue of Hindu gods, Buddha and many other artifacts made from bronze keep in the small glass cases which the gallery also called bronze gallery. The south gallery is contained stone statues from 6th to 11th century AD. West one housed the statues from 11th to the early 13th century and the north gallery dedicated to the ethnology with some prehistoric ceramics display in the glass cabinets. In the middle of the museum there are four fish ponds with a beautiful garden.  After lunch we will move on to S-21 Genocidal Museum which once was a school constructed in 1962 but converted to prison cells, tortured center and the killing field in August 1975 by the Khmer Rough. Approximately 17000 people were sent to there but only around 12 survived. Thousands of victim’s photographs remain there included infants and children. It is a grim and very confronting but crucial to see that will allow you to dig below the surface to get a much better understanding Cambodia recent history.
Last stop for today will be Russian market known as Toul Tompoung by the locals and it is one of the most popular markets in town to shop in the city where you will find souvenir, clothes, scarves, jewelry, silk products, food stands, fish, vegetables, etc.
Later of the day is free of leisure.
If you wish to explore more, please just take a tuk tuk from the hotel or walk to the riverfront area, a pleasant French style promenade which is normally in the evening varies of activity taking place Aerobic dance and Khmer dance, exercise class, kids playing soccer, vendors. You can participate the dance if you wish.
Overnight in Phnom Penh.

Day 3 - Venture to Battambang (290 Kms)

Today we depart early for Battambang via Kampong Chnang and Pur Sat. Your first stop will be Koh Chen Island in the Tonle Sap River which can be reach via a new bridge. Koh Chen is known as Silver Village due to its silver jewelry and craft production. Explore the village to see the many workshops in the local family houses. Photos is allowed.
Next stop will be Udong hill one of the former Khmer capital cities dates between1618 to 1866. To get up the hill you’ve got to climb the 509 steps stair where you can get the most scenic and panoramic view. Several old stupas are still there but some other were destroyed by the recent war. The new stupa is housed the Buddha relics with several hundreds of Buddha statues in it. Be aware of the monkeys and please take off your shoes before entering the shrine.
After the lunch break, then we will visit the pottery village where the local villagers have their own factories or kilns manufacturing their own clay pots, pans, stoves and many other stuffs out of clay.
After another stop for rest room then we head straight to Battambang.
Overnight in Battambang

Day 4 - Exploring Battambang

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia, the most fertile province in the country and also known as the rice bowl in Cambodia which most of our rice are produced here. The city itself was established since 11th century and today almost 80% of the town buildings are from the colonial time. Battanbang is located by the Sangke River, a quiet and small river that winds its way through.
Today we begin our tour with the bamboo train ride then head to Phnom Banan, the 11th century temple located atop the hill with 358 steep steps to reach. It was constructed by a Khmer king Udiyaditya varman 2 for the Hindu god and completed by King Jayavarman 7 which he added some Buddha images and the statues on. This beautiful sandstone and laterite temple is still in good condition. After lunch breaks, we will make another visit to Wat Koh village and temple. Some of the houses in that village are made from teak woods and over 100 years old. Today last visit will be Phnom Sampov hill with some beautiful shrines up there and also a killing cave where many thousands of people were killed by dropping into the cave alive. Phnom Sampov literally means Ship Hill. due to its distinctive shape is one of the few hills standing out in this otherwise pancake alike-flat plain. You will get a panoramic view over the paddy field and sugar palm trees. Since it is home of a notorious killing cave, the cruel reminders of Cambodia in recent past dark age and peaceful shrines for monks and nuns doing meditation in present day, this serenity and very humility represented in a same place made this interesting visit. Walk back down to enjoy watching the wrinkled lip bats flying out of their cave to search for insects or rice hoppers. 
Overnight in Battambang

Day 5 - Cruise to Siem Reap

Today we will cruise all the way to Siem Reap along the Sangke River and the Tonle Sap lake in a small but comfortable boat carry with the packed lunch (The boat trip is only available in the high water season August to January) and duration 6 to 7 hours. We will venture through the stunning landscape of flooded forests, farming land, villages with some houses are float and other are on the tall stilts. If you are lucky enough you will see many water birds along the way such as egrets, herons, pelicans, Asian open bills, Asian blue tailed Bee eaters, king fisher, darters, crows, cormorants, greater and lesser adjutants, fish eagles and many other species.
Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia and is an exceptional unique water system in the Kingdom. It shrinks in the dry season and expand up to 5 times in the wet. This particular water system required the people there to adapt their living condition.
Upon arriving the shore, we will have a 20minutes drive to get to the hotel for checking in and enjoy the remainder of the day free at leisure.
Overnight in Siem Reap.

Day 6 - Temple Exploration

Set off a very early start to witness the sunrise over Angkor Wat which is one of the highlights of the tour by viewing the first sun beam glow over this largest religious building on the planet. 
Enter the building in the dark from the causeway through the moat until you get to the edge of one of the ancient library’s pond before hopping into the interior of the main building, creeping along a part of hoary cloistered corridors then crawling up a steep stair after observing some of the magnificent bas-reliefs stretching along the galleries by hearing your local expert deciphering the myriad of the myths and stories behind it. After spending a thorough couple hours exploring this main structure then return to the hotel for your breakfast. Head back to the Angkor Thom city which is located a few kilometers orth of Angkor Wat. Upon arriving the south gate, take a moment to consider its grandiosity before venturing through the gods and demons flanked causeway and enter the ancient city gate that topped by gigantic living Buddha faces facing the main cardinal directions. This majestic site once served as the great Khmer empire’s glistening capital with so many structures were erected. Bayon is the principle building and was the state temple during the greatest Khmer king was in charged, situated right in the center of the city and it remains one of the most enigmatic temples of the whole Angkor complex with the architectural scale and composition exude grandness in every aspect. Its elements juxtapose each other to create balance and harmony. Enter the temple by first explore the bas reliefs along the galleries which presented a combination of mythological, historical and mundane scenes then climb up the stairs to the upper terraces which you will be able observe the serene smiling faces closer. Then continue to the Elephant terrace and Leper king terrace and the Tomb raider temple known as Ta Phrom by locals which was build and dedicated to the great king’s mother late 12th century. The founder Jayavarma 7th also embarked on a massive works plan of the construction and public infrastructure’s tasks. The stone stele commemorating the foundation gives a date back to 1186 AD with its original name Rajavihara (means the Royal shrine) and also mentioned that the site was home of 12640 people including 18 high ranking priests and 620 dancing girls. This temple was listed into one of the main ruins by its extraordinary state of nature and manmade together.  
The rest of the day is free at leisure

Day 7 - Beng Mealea and Artisans’ d Angkor

Today we make our visit to Beng Mealea temple which is about an hour and half away from Siem Reap. Beng Mealea is another 12th century temple means Lotus Pond located at the foot of the Kuken mountain where the Khmer empire began. It was built as Hindu temple and would probably be completed by Jayavarman 7th.Its primary material is sandstone where its quarry site is only several kilometers away and the building itself is largely unrestored with many trees, vines and some thick brush thriving amidst its collapsing tower, courtyards and walk ways of which many of its stones lying in a huge heaps. after exploring this we return to town, stopping at Artisans’ d Angkor that was set up since 1992 to provide job opportunities for the Cambodian young adults. There are several workshops such as stone carving workshop, wooden carving workshop, silver plating workshop, silk painting workshop, lacquering workshop, jewelry workshop …etc. The local expert will show you around and provide you a better understanding how it works. 
Back to the hotel for a rest and freshen up, ready for the dinner and the cultural dancing show.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Day 8 - Airport Transfer

Tour end

Note :

• Duration  8 days
• Free cancellation a month prior the tour start
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Please provide a specific dietary requirement at the time of booking
• Tour price is base on the number of people in your booking not on the size of the group.

Our services include :

• Touring with national escort and all admissions/entrance fees
• Local guides services at some spots
• Accommodation on twin sharing basis and meals as stated in the itinerary
• 3 to 4 star hotel accommodation
• Sightseeing tour by Boats, cyclo and A/C Vehicle
• Parking and toll road fees
• Local taxes
• Purified cold bottled drinking water

Our services do not include :

• Cambodian Visa and visa fee
• Personal Travel Insurance (compulsory)
• Departure tax and departure transfers
• International flights, airport tax & excess baggage charges
• All optional tours and all activities during free time
• All personal expenditures: Shopping, laundry, drinks, phone calls, etc.. 
• Other meals not mentioned in the itinerary
• Gratuities/tipping (recommended)