Day 1: Veun Khan - Stung Treng -
Ratanakiri (L,D)
Customs and immigration formalities at
Veun Khan (Laos-Cambodia border).
Welcome by your guide at Cambodian side
and departure by boat to Stung Treng
(1½ hours navigation by speed boat).
Note: Currently it is not possible to
obtain Cambodian visa upon arrival at
this border! Guests arriving at Veun
Khan border must apply for Cambodian
visa at an Embassy or Consulate abroad
prior to arrival! Arrive in Stung Treng
and lunch at local restaurant.Then,
departure by road to Banlung, capital of
Ratanakiri, nicknamed The Red City
because of the omnipresent laterite (4
hours drive). Check-in at Terres Rouges
Lodge. Dinner and accommodation at
Terres Rouges Lodge (14 rooms only).
Day 2: Ratanakiri (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the Lodge. We head north
today, in the direction of Laos and the
village of Taveng. We first cross the
curious extent of volcanic rocks of
Veyrum Plang: a lava field in the forest
with a small waterfall nearby (only in
the wet season though) and what locals
call tiger caves. As we go north to
Taveng, we cross a variety of
landscapes: primary forest, clear
forest, bamboo forest and African bush.
We stop at a few nice Kroeung villages
located quite far away in the forest.
The Kroeung people have the peculiar
custom of erecting bachelor houses
standing on very long bamboo poles.
These houses will remain so till the
young man finds a wife, then they are
destroyed. The right time to see them is
usually from February to August. We have
lunch at a small waterfall lost in the
forest and we go on to visiting
villages. Dinner and accommodation at
Terres Rouges Lodge.
Day 3: Ratanakiri (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the Lodge. We go in a
northwest direction today, crossing
bamboo forests before reaching the
village of Voeune Sai located on the
left bank of the Se San River. The view
of the Chinese village on the other side
of the river is quite pretty. Besides,
this place is nearly a Chinese enclave
in Cambodian territory. Most villagers
don’t even speak Khmer. Upstream of
the Se San are a certain number of
Tampoun villages that practice funeral
statuary; if it is possible, we will
rent a boat to go to the village of Ka
Chaoan that has superb totems, if not we
will reach it by jeep. Dinner and
accommodation at Terres Rouges Lodge.
Day 4: Ratanakiri - Stung Treng -
Kratie (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the Lodge. Early morning,
departure by road to Stung Treng. Lunch
at local restaurant. Then, continuation
by road to Kratie. Stop in Sambo to
observe the river dolphins until sunset.
Then, continue to Kratie, a small
colonial-style town. Dinner at local
restaurant. Accommodation at Oudom
Sambath Hotel (2-star, best available).
Day 5: Kratie - Kompong Cham (B,L,D)
Breakfast at local restaurant. Departure
by car to Kompong Cham. On the way to
Kompong Cham stop at Chhlong, a small
and peaceful village on the Mekong River
Bank with both Khmer and Colonial
architecture. Continue to Chhup, a
rubber plantation first established in
the region by the French tire maker
Michelin. Lunch at local
restaurant in Kompong Cham. Tour of
Kompong Cham to view examples of
colonial architecture and check in at
Mekong Hotel. Visit the silk-weaving
village of Prek Chang Krane. Visit Wat
Nokor with its ancient temple and modern
style pagoda (12th century). Dinner at
local restaurant. Accommodation at
Mekong Hotel (2-star, best available).
Day 6: Kompong Cham - Phnom Penh (B,L,D)
Breakfast at hotel. Depart by car to
Phnom Penh via Preak Kdam. Take the
ferry across the Tonle Sap river. Then,
stop at Prek Kdam to visit Kôh Chen, a
small silver handicraft village Drive to
Udong where a picnic lunch will be
served. Visit the various temples
and the three large stupas where the
ashes of three former kings are
preserved. Continue to Phnom Penh and
transfer to the hotel. Dinner and
accommodation at hotel.
Day 7: Phnom Penh (B,L,D)
Breakfast at hotel. Morning, visit the
Victory Monument, and the National
Museum, also called Musee des
Beaux-Arts. A French archaeologist and
painter, Georges Groslier, designed it
in Khmer style in 1917. The museum
contains a collection of Khmer art -
notably sculptures – from throughout
the ages. Visit the Royal Palace, built
by King Norodom 1866 on the site of the
old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located
within the Royal Palace, the Silver
Pagoda is so named because of its floor,
which is made up of 5000 silver tiles.
The treasures found include a solid gold
Buddha encrusted and weighing
90kilogramss and a small 17th century
emerald and baccarat crystal Buddha.
Lunch at hotel.Visit the Notorious Tuol
Sleng Museum. In 1975 Tuol Svay Prey
High School was taken over by Pol Pot
security forces and turned into a prison
known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). It
soon became the largest such center of
detention and torture in the country.
More than 17.000 people held at S-21
were taken to the extermination camp at
Choeung Ek to be executed; detainees who
died during torture were buried in mass
graves in the prison ground. The museum
displays include room after room of
these photographs of men, women and
children covering the walls from floor
to ceiling; virtually all the people
pictured were later killed. Visit the
Russian Market (Psah Tuol Thom Pong), a
lively outdoor market where you will
find antiquities, silver and gold
jewelry, gems, silk, kramas, stone and
wood carvings, as well as T-Shirts, CDs
and other souvenirs. End your afternoon
with the visit of the Wat Phnom Temple,
Phnom Penh's namesake. Dinner at local
restaurant and accommodation at hotel.
Day 8: Phnom Penh - Siem Reap (B,L,D)
Breakfast at hotel.Morning, transfer to
Phnom Penh International Airport and
flight to Siem Reap. Arrive in Siem Reap
and transfer to the hotel (rooms may not
be available until the afternoon). In
the morning, visit the most famous of
all the temples on the plain of Angkor
until the sunset: Angkor Wat. The temple
complex covers 81 hectares and is
comparable in size to the Imperial
Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five
towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian
flag and the 12th century masterpiece is
considered by art historians to be the
prime example of classical Khmer art and
architecture. Angkor Wat five towers
symbolize Meru five peaks - the enclosed
wall represents the mountains at the
edge of the world and the surrounding
moat, the ocean beyond. Visit the
antique capital of Angkor Thom (12th
century): the South Gate with its huge
statues depicting the churning of the
ocean of milk, the Bayon Temple, unique
for its 54 towers decorated with over
200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara, the
Royal Enclosure, the Phimeanakas, the
Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the
Leper King and Bayon Temple (unique for
its 54 towers decorated with over 200
smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), until
sunset. Dinner at local restaurant and
accommodation at hotel.
Day 9: Siem Reap(B,L,D)
Breakfast at hotel. Morning, drive to
the remote Beng Mealea temple through
the typical Khmer countryside (60Kms
from Siem Reap). There is a lot to see
in the approximately 2½ hours drive as
it takes you through many lively
villages and along kilometers of rice
paddies. Explore the long abandoned
temple (11th C), strangled by the
jungle. Lunch box will be provided at
the site.Proceed to the Banteay Srei
temple (10th century) regarded as the
jewel in the crown of classical Khmer
art. Then visit Banteay Samre, one of
the most complete complexes at Angkor
due to restoration using the method of
anastylosis. The name Samre refers to an
ethnic group of mountain people, who
inhabited the region at the base of
Phnom Kulen and were probably related to
the Khmers. No inscriptions have been
found for this temple, but the style of
most of the architecture is of the
classic art of the middle period similar
to Angkor Wat. The proportions of
Banteay Samre are splendid. A unique
feature is an interior moat with
laterite paving, which when filled with
water must have given an ethereal
atmosphere to the temple. Drive back to
Siem Reap. Dinner at local restaurant
and accommodation at hotel.
Day 10: Siem Reap (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning,
visit Prasat Kravan, with unique
interior brick sculptures and the
mountain-temple of Pre Rup. Continue
your temple tour with visits to Mebon
Oriental, Ta Som, Neak Pean, a fountain
built in the middle of a pool and
representing the paradisiacal Himalayan
mountain-lake. Finally, visit Preah
Khan, built by the King Jayavarman VII
and, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered
enclosures and shoulder-hugging
corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, the
temple of Preah Khan is in a reasonable
state of preservation and ongoing
restoration efforts should maintain and
even improve this situation. In the
afternoon, transfer to the
archaeological site and continue the
temples tour with Srah Srang ("The Pool
of Ablutions"), undoubtedly used in the
past for ritual bathing, Takeo,
Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda and Ta Prohm,
one of the most beautiful temples in the
area, as it has been relatively
untouched since it was discovered and
retains much of its mystery. Its appeal
lies in the fact that, unlike the other
monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned
and swallowed by the jungle, looking
very much the ways most of the Angkor
temples appeared when European explorers
first stumbled upon them. Dinner at
local restaurant and accommodation at
hotel.
Dat 11: Siem Reap - Departure (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel. Visit the floating
village of Chong Khneas, located 10
kilometers south of Siem Reap. Visit the
village and take an excursion in a
traditional wooden boat on the Tonle Sap
Lake, the Great Lake of Cambodia
and the largest in Asia. Note: From
Feb-July, the visit to the Tonle Sap
lake is not recommended because of the
low water level. The below visits will
be provided instead: Visit the Roluos
Group. The monuments of Roluos, which
served as the capital of Indravarman I
(reigned 877-89), are among the earliest
large, permanent temples built by the
Khmers and mark the beginning of Khmer
classical art. Preah Ko erected by
Indravarman I in the late 9th century
dedicated by the King to his ancestors
in 880. Bakong the largest and most
interesting of the Roluos group temples,
with his active Buddhist monastery just
to the north of the east entrance. Lolei
built on an islet in the center of a
large reservoir (now rice fields) by
Yasovarman I, the founder to the first
city at Angkor.Afternoon, visit Les
Chantiers-Ecole, les Artisans d'Angkor
of Siem Reap or the Silk Farm of Puok.
Then, transfer to Siem Reap
International Airport for departure
flight to the next destination
