First-timers to Cambodia

On arrival in Phnom Penh, your guide and driver will welcome you in the arrival hall and escort you to our well-selected hotel downtown by private car, which will serve you in the following days in Phnom Penh. What to do for the rest of the day is up to you - relax at the hotel or ramble in the city.

► Money Tip in Cambodia:
The US dollar is welcome and commonly used in Cambodia, so you don’t have to exchange the currency. You will get Riel, Cambia's official currency, if there is a change under $1 when shopping. Kindly remind that broken paper money may be a concern since most sellers refuse to accept it.

► Things Worth Doing in Your Free Time
Walk for about 15 minutes from the hotel to the River Boat Harbor, and you can take the local transportation ferry- which costs only 500 Riel for a single trip- to cross the Mekong River, not only enjoying the sunset but also gaining a unique river-crossing experience with cars and motorcycles.

Accommodation: Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh (5 stars) or Sunway Hotel (4 stars)

Today, you will comprehensively explore Phnom Penh. The first site, the Royal Palace, a group of golden-roof buildings surrounded by yellow walls, consists of over 20 palaces, among which the Throne Hall is the grandest and equipped with a hall devoted to treasures, and the Silver Pagoda, the most gorgeous floored with over 5,000 engraved silver bricks. Near the north is the National Museum of Cambodia, which has about 15,000 collections, with about 2,000 on display at a time, including stone implements, bronze ware, porcelain, and woodware.

Keep heading north, and we will get to Wat Phnom, a Buddhist Temple regarded as the birthplace of Phnom Penh, the most prosperous and one of the oldest temples in Phnom Penh. Located on the nearly hundred-meter mountain, it overlooks the whole city. Please take off your shoes and hats to enter the hall, where there is a Buddhist music performance and many Buddha statues. The submontane park is a place for large-scale festivals and residents’ daily leisure.

In the afternoon, we will have close touch with the astounding Khmer Rouge history by visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Killing Fields. Tuol Sleng was initially a school but was turned into a prison with nearly 200 cells for detention and interrogation by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. You will see Cambodia once immersed in darkness and suffering here and perhaps understand why Cambodia is the way it is now. If you are lucky to meet two survivors, you can take pictures with them. Besides, you can write down your feelings in the guest book, where worldwide tourists have left messages after visiting. Choeung Ek Killing Fields is the execution place for prisoners in Tuol Sleng. Although many of its facilities were taken apart by impoverished locals to rebuild their homes, macabre pits filled with blindfolds for prisoners and bones, a “murder tree” draped with beads and bracelets, and a stupa storing numerous skulls are still here to tell the devilry of the Khmer Rouge. You will watch a short documentary in the viewing room at the end of the visit here.

After returning to the hotel by private car, rest well, and you will leave for Siem Reap tomorrow.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

This morning, you will be escorted to Phnom Penh Airport and arrive in Siem Reap in an hour’s flight. Your guide and driver for the following Siem Reap tour will meet you at the arrival hall and transfer you to the hotel.

► Transportation Choices from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
Beyond airplanes, a bus or private car is also available, and our travel consultant will arrange it in advance and adjust the itinerary price accordingly. However, it takes 6 hours to drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, which will be tiring, and the poor rest may affect your physical strength for the Angkor Wat visit the next day, so it is suggested to take an airplane.

Take a short break in the hotel, and we will visit the Angkor National Museum, whose cultural relics are accompanied by multimedia graphic stories to show the royal history of the golden age of the Khmer Empire (802-1431), giving you a deeper understanding of traditional customs and different beliefs of the ancient empire. Your guide will provide a richer and more vivid introduction during the visit.

At the last stop today, let’s experience authentic Cambodian life in the Old Market. As the largest and oldest traditional market in Siem Reap, it’s crowded with shops of various kinds selling snacks, fruits, clothes, souvenirs, baubles, and so on, with prices mostly from $1 to $3. You can bargain as much as you like here, but you are better off buying it if you two have agreed on a price; otherwise, the seller will be very angry.

► Dinner Recommendation in Siem Reap: Somaha Restaurant and Wine Bar
It’s on the street east of the Old Market, mainly serving French dishes with various drinks and some classic Cambodian cuisine, costing $25 to $30 per person. Its air-conditioned environment is superior to many restaurants in Siem Reap. Beef Tartare, French Onion Soup, and Fried Spring Rolls are recommended.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

Today marks the highlight of your tour in Cambodia - you will be guided to admire gorgeous Angkor temples. Before dawn, you will be transferred to Angkor Wat to view the stunning sunrise. The five-tower and three-cloister Angkor Wat will greet the sunrise together with its beautiful reflection in the outer pond, and no one fails to gravitate toward such a breathtaking scene.

★ Special Service: Flexible Day for Angkor Wat Sunrise & Breakfast Picnic
Since we will spend two days visiting Angkor temples, the exact day to view the sunrise can be flexibly changed according to the weather. Generally, we’ll return to the hotel for breakfast after sunrise, but if you want to experience having breakfast in Angkor Wat, we can take it from the hotel.
* Notes:
1. Please wear shoulder-covered clothes with a bottom reaching below your knees.
2. Drones and 360-degree cameras are not allowed at any Angkor ruins.Angkor Thom is an ancient square city scattered with various pagodas, temples, arch bridges, and other buildings. The Imperial City has five outer gates, each 20 meters high. Walk inside through the gate, and there are doors of different levels at the connecting corridors in each temple. The most notable is the Bayon Temple, which has 54 pagodas, each with a four-faced Buddha on the top encircling the central pagoda. These enigmatic smiling faces of Buddha are called the “Khmer Smile.” North of Bayon is the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, where you can appreciate vivid animal reliefs.

We will get out of Angkor Thom to the Ta Prohm Temple, a famous location for the film Tomb Raider. The jaw-dropping scene of giant centuries-old trees incorporated into historical monuments casts a veil of mystery over the temple, mesmerizing tourists worldwide. At the end of today’s tour, we will climb up the Phnom Bakheng Mountain to view the sunset at Bakheng Temple. Bakheng Temple takes advantage of the mountain's topography, which manifests the towering majesty of the hill. As the highest site nearby, Bakheng Temple is a godsend place to enjoy the sunset, providing a commanding view of Angkor Thom.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

You will continue to appreciate several Angkor temples today. The first stop is Preah Kahn, the “Holy Sword” in Khmer, dedicated by Khmer monarch Jayavarman VII - who rebuilt the Angkor Thom and constructed many iconic temples - to honor his father in the 12th century. Nearby is Neak Pean, a small temple with five ponds, where you can see lotus on the vast mirror-like water for most of the year. It was named after two seven-headed snakes that coiled their tails with each other on the central island. Ta Som, another filming location of Tomb Raider, also has the grand scene of giant trees wrapping the entire porch of the temple’s gate. South of it is Pre Rup, a temple built on a multi-layer red-brick base, once served for imperial funeral rituals. Climb the steep stairs, and you will see the vast scenery.

After lunch, we will drive to distant Banteay Srei, epitomizing the highest level of Angkor sculpture thanks to its exquisite reliefs on rare red-hued sandstone. The main complex consists of three courtyards, with the temple in the innermost one. Be careful not to hit the relatively low lintels here when visiting.★ Local Life Experience: Khmer Family Visit
On the way back, let’s visit a Khmer village, where you can enjoy the countryside's scenery, walk into a Khmer family's house, and interact with native people. It is a precious opportunity for you better to understand Cambodian local life and the traditional Khmer culture.

For dinner, look forward to a buffet with the Apsara Dance Show. Cambodia’s Apsara Dance is a classical court dance from the Angkor Dynasty (802-1431), and we have seen many reliefs of the dance in Angkor temples. Experts have brought the endangered dance back to life by studying sculptures and murals in Angkor temples. The female performers’ graceful dance vividly tells classical mythologies and religious stories and has become the world's intangible cultural heritage.

Now comes the last spot of our Phnom Penh to Siem Reap tour package. After checkout, you will be escorted to Tonle Sap Lake and have a boat ride around the floating village. Most of the people living here are the descendants of Vietnamese refugees and are not allowed to live anywhere else on shore. Tourists have known them in recent years because of Cambodia’s efforts to develop tourism; thus, the local government has helped them build schools, police stations, clinics, and other infrastructure.

Your driver will transfer you from the floating village to Siem Reap Airport, taking about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The airport is small, and 1.5 hours is enough to complete pre-boarding affairs. Farewell, and wish you a happy trip!

Meals: Breakfast