Overland Cambodia (8 days)

• DAY 1 Siem Reap You’ll be cordially greeted upon arrival and transferred to hotel for check-in and tour briefing. Time allowing, we’ll take an orientation tour around the city centre. This evening you’ll be honored guests at the Welcome Dinner with entertainment from Apsara dancers. Free time afterwards allows an exciting walk to see the lively Pub Street and the lucky Night Market.
• DAY 2 Siem Reap Today we start exploring the wonders left by a highly complex civilization that controlled the greater part of Southeast Asia for four centuries.Enter the Great City of Angkor Thom through the South Gate and traverse to admire Baphoun and Phimeanakas temples, Terraces of Elephant and Leper King, and especially the mysterious smiling Bayon. After a break we’ll visit the fascinating temples of Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Takeo, Thommanon, Chau Say Thevoda, and the Royal Bath of Sras Srang. Hike up Phnom Bakheng to behold the magnificent sunset into the land of temples.
• DAY 3 Siem Reap We’ll be touring the epic temples of Angkor Wat - a vast rambling complex of diverse temple structures dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Many are adorned with exquisite carvings and bas-reliefs; some are so entwined with trees and vines that they almost returned to the jungle. Afternoon, we drive out of town to Pour Krom and walk through this lovely village to see rural Khmer life. Experience an ox cart ride before a cruise on Tonle Sap Lake – a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997. We’ll see floating villages and get a taste for life ruled by monsoonal rains and water-based agriculture.
• DAY 4 Battambang This morning we transfer overland to Battambang province. The five hour drive affords a great opportunity to see local life along the way around the Tonle Lake. After refreshment we’ll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. This afternoon we’ll explore Phnom Banon with its five sandstone towers on top and enjoy a magnificent view of the surrounding plains. Return hotel and sample the idyllic tranquility for reading and contemplating.
• DAY 5 Battambang This morning we travel to Odam Bang village, some 3km from the town, to experience take the narrow gauge Bamboo Train through the rice fields to Osroy Lov, and then back. Pay a visit to the Angkorian temple of Wat Ek Phnom, dating from the 11th century. Afternoon we take a cooking course in a family house at Ch\'Ngainh (Delicious). After shopping at the local market, we go to the familial house to learn how to cook some delicious Khmer dishes. You’ll have a cooking lesson, marvelous time with a charming couple, a cooking book, a very good dinner, and may be some snake wine to drink.
• DAY 6 Phnom Penh A long day as we have 290 km to drive before reaching Phnom Penh.
• DAY 7 Phnom Penh This morning we pay a visit to the opulent Royal Palace with the dazzling Silver Pagoda, the flowery National Museum, the hilltop temple of Wat Phnom, and the central Independence Monument. Afternoon time is for the notorious Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the infamous Cheoung Ek Killing Field. We also browse the Central Market before a leisure walk along the riverside Sisowath Boulevard to conclude the day.
• DAY 8 Departure Free till transfer to the airport for departure flight