08 Days Laos Border – Kratie – Phnom Penh – Angkor

Day 01

Dom Kalor – Kratie (Cambogia) L, –

After immigration and customs clearance meet the assigned tour guide in Dom Kalorat the border between Laos and Cambodia.

Transfer to Kratie passing through the town of Stung Treng.

Kratie is the province of the dolphin, and even if it is over 600 km. from the sea, the location is famous for being the city where there are more river dolphins that anywhere else in the world

Or so said a description of the colonial period, now maybe it is not more so, but there’ in any case the chance to meet the Irrawady river dolphins.

The town is big enough to have a couple of acceptable hotels and good restaurants which also provide European cuisine. In colonial times this was the capital of the whole north of the country and traces of this period are visible everywhere in the form of the roads and the residences of the lords of rubber. There are markets for all goods which remind us a bit of our emporiums time. Many traditional Khmer houses remind us of the ancient glories of this inland waterway market.

Visit the side of the river where the largest number of dolphins gathers and boat trip in order to better approach and admire these so rare mammals.

Proceed the town and its surroundings, then continue on seeing the temple of Phnom Sombok until sunset on the Mekong River.

Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 02

Kratie – Kampong Cham – Phnom Penh B, L, –

Breakfast at hotel.
Departure heading towards the provincial capital of Kampong Cham, a small town nestled along the banks of the Mekong.

Pass through vast rubber trees plantations, which are present in the area since the French colonial period, and stop to see the process of extraction of the substance.

Visit the temple of Wat Nokor, dating from the eleventh century, a temple built with a modern Mahayana and Hinayana pagodas

After a short drive, 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,.

Continue on to Phnom Penh.

Arrival at the capital city of Cambodia.

Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 03

Phnom Penh B, L, –

Breakfast at hotel.

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.

Proceed to the famous Russian market, consisting of a series of intricate corridors and passages where a myriad of stalls and sellers may be overlooked and where all kinds of merchandise is displayed to potential buyers.

Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 04

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.

There are over a hundred temples of great beauty and rarely visited, divided into three monastic complex: the South Group of Prasat Yeay Poan, the Central Group of Prasat Tor and the North Group of Prasat Sambor.

This latter includes the most important buildings and is’ dedicated to an incarnation of Shiva.

Lunch in a simple local restaurant and then almost three hours of good roads.

The landscapes are beautiful, the scenarios reflect paddy fields, villages, scenes of real life in rural Cambodia, which may be observed only along this route by land.

This was once the Royal Route, that passes on the Spean Praptos stone bridge at Kampong Kdei, dating from the Khmer period and built by King Jayavarman VII.

Arrival at Siem Reap in the late afternoon, transfer to hotel

Dinner at leisure and overnight.

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Day 05

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 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.

Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 06

Siem Reap B, L, –

Breakfast at hotel.

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.

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 and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 07

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.

In the afternoon proceed to visit part 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 centre 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.

Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at leisure.

Overnight.

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Day 08

Siem Reap B, L

Breakfast at hotel.
Departure to Kampong Khleang, a village located 40 kilometers from Siem Reap, usually avoided by mass tourism. This village is known for its houses on stilts, for its peaceful atmosphere and for the characteristic landscape of rice fields, water and forest. Through the village it will be possible to know the customs of the inhabitants who also specialize in crocodile breeding farming.

The journey continues aboard a boat, through the channels, leading to the big lake where the Vietnamese community hasi n this place its dwellings Rientro a Siem Reap.

The village consists in a myriad of floating buildings, houses, shops, add it is located, depending on periods and water depth, either along the banks of the river channel that leads to the lake or at the lake itself. Then enter in the Tonle Sap, so big that the banks cannot be seen.. The boat stops off the engine to better enjoy the silence of this “sea”

Picnic or at local restaurant lunch.

The Angkor National Museum is the one and only world class museum in Siem Reap that enhances the cultural heritage of the golden era of the Khmer Kingdom through a collection of priceless artefacts and technologically advanced multimedia exhibitions that lead to full and immediate understanding.
The museum is an important inspirational site of art, culture and history of the legendary Khmer ancient civilization.

Time permitting, visit the pleasant and charming city, its colonial centre, the old market area that stretches in the proximity of the river and a nearby Buddhist pagoda.

Picnic or at local restaurant lunch.

Transfer to the airport in time for the departure of the scheduled flight.