CAMBODIA CLASSICAL TOUR 6 DAYS
No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian soil since well before the 1st century ad. The first Cambodians likely arrived long before either of these dates. They probably migrated from the north, although nothing is known about their language or their way of life.
Day 1: PHNOM PENH – ARRIVAL (-/-/D)
Meet upon arrival at Phnom Penh airport, transfer and check-in at your hotel. Visit the National Museum displaying a collection of pre-Angkorian and Angkorian sculptures, the Royal Palace with the Silver Pagoda, and then Vat Phnom, the namesake of the capital city of Cambodia. If time permits, stroll through the bustling Central Market, famous for its Art Deco architecture. Night in Phnom Penh.
Day 2: PHNOM PENH (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the so-called ‘Killing Fields’.
The term is a misnomer because it implies a single location. In reality, the process of genocide under the Kh’mer Rouge involved a large network of interrogation prisons linked to extermination centres. The most infamous is Phnom Penh’s S-21 Prison and the Choeung Ek extermination centre.
S-21 Prison was originally the Tuol Svay Pray High School on the outskirts of the capital. It became an interrogation, torture and execution centre under the Kh’mer Rouge. Today it is the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide. The name means ‘poison hill’, an apt description.
Choeung Ek, the ‘killing fields’, was the final destination of nearly all the inmates of S-21. The helpless victims were slaughtered in their thousands and thrown into more than a hundred shallow burial pits dug by the prisoners. The total number of men, women and children buried at Choeung Ek is estimated to be around 15,000. It was one of many extermination centres spread across the entire country – and by no means the largest!
A visit to Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek presents a stark picture of Cambodia’s recent past. However, it’s also a profoundly harrowing experience and likely to distress anyone of a sensitive disposition.
In the afternoon, your time will be free for souvenir shopping, sightseeing or whatever. You’ll have time to relax before Mekong Sunset Cruise along Mekong and Tonle Sap River…Night in Phnom Penh
Day 3: PHNOM PENH/SIEM REAP (B/L/D)
After breakfast, transfer to the domestic airport for flight Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Upon arrival, pick up and transfer to visit at the antique capital of Angkor Thom: the South Gate, the Bayon with 54 towers, each carved with four faces of the compassionate Boddhisattva, the nearby temple-mountain of Baphuon, the Royal Enclosure with the Phimeanakas temple, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King, Lunch at local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit Angkor Vat (early-mid 12th century) dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. This huge temple-mountain, built by King Suryavarman II, is considered as the masterpiece of Khmer architecture and art. Sunset from Phnom Bakeng Hill, offering an outstanding view over Angkor. Night in Siem Reap.
Day 4: SIEM REAP (B/L/D)
After breakfast, transfer to explore the monastic complex of Preah Khan whose name means « SacredSword », the small island temple of Neak Pean, and then Ta Som. These three temples were built by King Jayavarman VII and illustrate the preeminence of Mahayana Buddhism during his reign. Lunch at own account. In the afternoon, continue to visit the twin temples of Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda (early 12th century), the unfinished temple-mountain of Ta Keo, the Srah Srang holy pond, Bantey Kdei and then the scenic Ta Prohm monastery, left to the devouring jungle. Diner and night in Siem Reap.
Day 5: SIEM REAP (B/L/D)
After breakfast, you will transfer to visit the famous temple of Bantey Srey “the Citadel of Women”. This small pink sandstone temple (late 10th century) is considered as the crown jewel of classical Khmer art with the delicate beauty of its carvings. Continue to Bantey Samre (mid 12th century), which has been admirably restored. Lunch at local restaurant, then transfer to discover the floating villages where traditional fishing techniques are still preserved before reaching the fishing village of Chong Kneas, Return to Siem Reap. En route, stop at the “Chantiers-Ecole, Les Artisans d’Angkor”, a vocational training center, which revives the classic Cambodian techniques and styles of wood and stone carving and polychromy. Then stroll through the Old Market…Diner and night in Siem Reap.
Day 6: SIEM REAP/DEPARTURE (B/-/-)
After breakfast, free leisure until your transfer to Siem Reap the airport for your departure flight…