06 Days 05 Nights S.I.C. Phnom Penh & Angkor

English speaking guides, individual arrivals and departures, minimum 2 persons

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Day 01

Phnom Penh

Arrival at Phnom Penh international airport.

After immigration and customs clearance meet the assigned driver and transfer to the hotel.

Check in time is normally at 14:00, however the guests will be accommodated as soon as the rooms become available.

Rest of the day at disposal for a first individual approach of the capital city of Cambodia.

Overnight at hotel.

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Day 02

Phnom Penh       B, L

Breakfast at hotel.

Spanish speaking guide. Meet the guide and start the visit with the temple that gives the city its name, Wat Phnom: located atop a hill, attended by the faithful who come here to pray and get to predict the future by many fortune-tellers.

Then proceed to the Royal palace and Silver Pagoda, so called for more than five thousand silver tiles from which the floor is formed, all enriched by the gifts offered to the royal family from all over the world.

Proceed to the National Museum, built around 1918 and totally devoted to Khmer culture.

There are wonderful exhibits on display dating back to pre-Angkorian and Angkorian, including important Angkor statuary and many everyday objects found in various areas and eras.

Drive to the Toul Sleng, the prison museum tragic witness to the bloody regime of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide perpetrated against the Cambodian people themselves, guilty of being able to read and write, wear glasses, be teachers, doctors, professionals, speak foreign languages​​, it is estimated they have been tortured and killed about three million people over twelve in four years until 1979.

If time permits visit the famous Russian Market.

Lunch at restaurant.

Overnight at hotel.

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Day 03

Phnom Penh – Siem Reap     B, L

Breakfast at hotel.

Departure from the capital by land, cross the Japanese bridge and head to Kampong Thom

After about an hour drive, short break at Skhun village, famous for its edible giant spiders, cooked in many ways for whoever dares to taste them, which are served just in all ways to those who want it of course,.

Sellers turn their baskets to the sun in order not to cool delicious the food, offering delicate spiders, sold in small bags from which they may be taken and enjoyed one by one, as they were chips.

Continue to Kampong Thom for lunch in a simple local restaurant.

Then proceed to Siem Reap, the trip will take about three hours on excellent roads.

Landscapes are splendid with scene reflecting the images of rice fields and untouched villages., which can be seen just if traveling by land.

Once upon a time this used to be the Royal Way, as it may be seen by the stone bridge of Kampong Kdey, dated to the Khmer empire period.

Arrival at Siem Reap by afternoon and check in.

Overnight at hotel.

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Day 04

Siem Reap             B, L

Breakfast at hotel.

Departure to visit the walled city of Angkor Thom, passing through the South Gate, and continuing to the spectacular temple of Bayon, which, with its more than two hundred enigmatic faces, is the central building, both in the location and in the design of the city itself.

It is a masterpiece from the amazing structure consisting of 54 towers and has beautiful bas-relief depicting the daily life at the time of the kingdoms of Angkor and in which they were counted more than ten thousand figures carved in stone.

Then continue by passing in front of the imposing Baphuon and see the pyramid-shaped temple linked to the legend and the king and the snake, Pimeanakas, then to the area where the Royal Palace was located and end with the beautiful Terrace of the Elephants and Leper King.

In the afternoon excursion to discover the Bantey Srey temple, which means the citadel of women, famous for the beautiful bas-reliefs carved in almost all pink sandstone and considered by many, even greater delicacy and precision to those found in Angkor Wat.

The temple is located about 40 km from Siem Reap and it is reached while passing through an enchanting landscape characterized by rice fields and villages.

Before returning, visit the temple of Bantey Samre, named after the legend of the peasant who became king.

Lunch at local restaurant.

Overnight at hotel.

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Day 05

Siem Reap      B, L

Breakfast at hotel.

Morning spent at Angkor Wat, the masterpiece of all Khmer art, the most famous and impressive temple in the area, considered one of the wonders of the world.

It is a structure that dazzles in its spectacular, extraordinary example of architectural wisdom, decorated with extremely refined sculptures and bas-reliefs, through which the main scenes of the Indian epics are described in masterly fashion.

Lunch at restaurant.

In the afternoon proceed to visit the Grand Circuit of Angkor, beginning with the vast and majestic temple of Prae Khan, also known as the temple of the Holy Sword, which had the functions of a religious and cultural center and, for a period, it was also used as royal residence. At its maximum development, more than ten thousand people were living in the compound, including many of the important teachers and the Apsara dancers, the celestial dancers.

Continue to Neak Pean, the only circular structure in memory of a mythical lake which arise from the four rivers of Hindu mythology. At the time this sacred space was used as a place of purification by water.

Then head to one of the most suggestive and fascinating temples, the Ta Phrom,

It is totally immersed in the jungle and deliberately left in same condition as when it was discovered by French archaeologists in 1860.

Partially covered by vegetation, the roots of trees magically embrace the sculptures and stone blocks of galleries, signing a marriage between history and the unbridled force of nature itself.

Overnight at hotel.

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Day 06

Siem Reap             B, L

Breakfast at hotel.

Departure for the visit of the pre-Angkorian Rolous archaeological complex, located about 15 km south-east from the town.

The temples of Prae Ko, Bakong and Lolei are the main and first to be built in the area during the ninth century, they represent the link between the kingdom of Chenla, whose capital were situated where now there are the remains of Sambor Preikuk and the new kingdom of Angkor, marking the beginning of the summit of power and Khmer art.

Then proceed to the Angkor complex and see the Prasat Kravan, the only example a the temple that consists of five towers in the line. In the middle see one of the most beautiful decorations dedicated to the god Vishnu.

In the afternoon proceed to the Bantey Kdey temple, also called the citadel of the cells that served as a meditation retreat for Buddhist monks. After admiring the reservoir of Shree Shrang or royal bath, climb the mountain temple of Pre Rup that marks the beginning of a new era in the Khmer architecture. It is built in red bricks and it is’ particularly impressive at sunset time, when the reddish bricks are constantly changing their colours.

Lunch at local restaurant.

Transfer to the airport.

 

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End of services.