Best of Cambodia – 6 days

Day 01: Arrival Phnom Penh (L)

Upon your arrival in Phnom Penh international airport, our guide and driver welcome you and transfer you to hotel.

After your rest, visit to the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town. Visit the Silver Pagoda, located within the grounds of the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is so named because of its floor, which is made up of 5000 silver tiles.

Continue your visit at the National Museum. This is one of Phnom Penh’s true architectural gems. The Museum is instantly recognizable with its warm red terracotta and its gracefully cured roof topped by dozens of guardian nagas. It was designed in Khmer style in 1917 by famed French architect Georges Groslier & Ecole Des Arts Cambodgiens.

Overnight at hotel in Phnom Penh.

Day 02: Phnom Penh Tours (B,L)

Morning, visit the notorious Choeung Ek Killing Fields 15km southwest of Phnom Penh. This one is the site of brutal executions of more than 17,000 individuals, most of whom first suffered through interrogations, torture and deprivation in Toul Sleng Prison during Pol Pot regime (From 1975–1979). Continue your visit to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S21 prison). This prison was a high school, and used as a prison by Pol Pot’s security forces and became the largest center for detention and torture during the rule of the Khmer Rouge.

After lunch, transfer to Siem Reap. Arrival in Siem Reap, check in hotel. Rest of the day is your leisure. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap.

Day 03: Siem Reap (B,L,D)

In the morning, visit Angkor Wat, the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor. 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. Continue to view a wonderful sunset from the Top of Phnom Bakhen Hill.

In the afternoon, visit to the antique capital of Angkor Thom (literally: “Great City”), located in present day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. Continue your visit at 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 Phimeanakas, the Royal Enclosure, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King.

Buffet Dinner and enjoy Khmer Traditional Dance Show at local restauran. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap.

Day 04: Siem Reap Tours (B,L)

In the morning, drive to the typical Khmer countryside and visit Banteay Srei temple (10th century), regarded as the jewel in the crown of classical Khmer Art. Continue to visit Banteay Samre, one of the most complete complexes at Angkor due to restoration using the method of “anastylosis”.

Aftenoon, visit to the unique interior brick sculptures of Prasat Kravan, Srah Srang, Banteay Kdei and Ta Keo. See the overview:

• Prasat Kravan, “The Royal Baths” was once used for ritual bathing, is a small 10th-century temple consisting of five reddish brick towers on a common terrace, located at Angkor, Cambodia, south of the artificial lake.
• Srah Srang is a baray at Angkor, Cambodia, located south of the East Baray and east of Banteay Kdei.
• Banteay Kdei, surrounded by 4 concentric walls, meaning “A Citadel of Chambers”, also known as “Citadel of Monks’ cells”, is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia.
• Ta Keo – constructed in late 10th early 11th century C.E, the first temple to be constructed wholly of sandstone. Ta Keo is a temple-mountain, in Angkor, possibly the first to be built entirely of sandstone by Khmers.

Back to hotel. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap.

Day 05: Siem Reap (B,L)

Morning, visit Ta Prohm, one of the most beautiful temples in Angkor. Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Neak Pean, a fountain built in the middle of a pool (representing the paradisiacal Himalayan mountain-lake), Ta Som, built in late 12th century C.E. the most distant temple on the grand circuit, small but classic.

Continue your visit to Preah Khan temple, built by the King Jayavarman VII. Preah Khan is, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulder hugging corridors. However, the temple of Preah Khan is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration efforts should maintain and even improve this situation.

Afternoon, take a boat trip for sight-seeing on Tonle Sap Lake, the Great Lake of Cambodia. It is one of the largest lakes in Asia. Here, enjoy a brief cruise past floating villages complete with schools, restaurants, and hospitals.

Back to hotel. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap.

Day 06: Siem Reap – Tonle Sap Lake (B)

After breakfast at your hotel, enjoy your leisure time to do whatever you wish until your transfer to the airport for your departure flight.