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Cambodia Essentials & Beach Break
Overview
Start your trip from Siem Reap - the city where the famous Angkor Wat temples are located. Spend 3 days here to discover the amazing constructions of this man-made masterpiece. Followed by a scenic drive to the capital city of Phnom Penh where you will learn about the unbelievable history of this country. The remainder of your trip will be by the beach of Sihanoukville. Situated on the eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand, Sihanoukville is a peninsula and has several beaches and small, offshore islands. It is the most beautiful beach in Cambodia.
Day 01: Arrival in Siem Reap - Overnight in Siem Reap
Day 02: Early Angkor & Local Ecology (Cycling) - Overnight in Siem Reap
Day 03: Further Discovery of Siem Reap - Overnight in Siem Reap
Day 04: Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - Overnight in Phnom Penh
Day 05: Phnom Penh - Killing Field - Overnight in Phnom Penh
Day 06: Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville - Overnight in Sihanouville
Day 07: At Leisure in Sihanoukville - Overnight in Sihanouville
Day 08: Sihanoukville - Departure from Phnom Penh
Click on the map to view larger image!
DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN SIEM REAP
Welcome to Siem Reap, Cambodia!
On your arrival at Siem Reap Airport, get picked up and driven to your hotel in town for check-in. The remainder of your first day will be spent on the Angkor temple complex, of which Angkor Wat is a key element. Stroll around to explore Angkor Wat, the largest, and for most people, the most impressive temple in the complex. Late in the afternoon, a walk to the summit of Phnom Bakheng Hill will offer you an amazing sunset panorama of the whole complex. (If the weather permits of course). Back to the hotel. After the refreshment, enjoy the welcome dinner at a nice restaurant.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
/No Meal
DAY 2: EARLY ANGKOR AND LOCAL ECOLOGY (CYCLING)
Set out to start the day at 7 a.m. Today, you will have a cycling tour around to visit the Rolouse temple group, the dawn of Angkor. From there, move on to Kampong Pluk floating village, about 13km or so to go. On the way, you’ll see the daily life of Cambodian people living a cyclical existence of annual floods and droughts. On arrival at the pier, take a boat ride to Kampong Pluk. It takes about an hour to reach the village. Lunch is served on a floating house.
In the afternoon, try to paddle a small canoe through flooded mangrove forests by yourself, witness the variety of indigenous wildlife and birds. Later in the afternoon, return to Siem Reap via Chon Kneas, another floating village en-route. If the weather supports, you would enjoy a beautiful sunset view across Tonle Sap Lake. Spend the remainder of your day riding back to Siem Reap. It is about 17 km. In case you feel a bit puffed, a vehicle will be arranged to take you to the hotel.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/ Lunch/
DAY 3: FURTHER DISCOVERY OF SIEM REAP
After breakfast, you will begin with a visit to Angkor Thom, starting with the Bayon, a bizarre structure of several architectural changes reflecting a switch from Hinduism (the foundations) to Buddhism (the superstructure). Followed by a visit to the Elephant and Leper Emperor Terraces. And then to the Baphoun Temple. End the day with an interesting visit to Ta Prohm, strangled by massive tree roots, and Neak Pean, a Himalayan-style lake and sanctuary. Get back to the hotel for the third night in Siem Reap.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/ Lunch/
DAY 4: SIEM REAP – PHNOM PENH
Breakfast at the hotel as usual. This morning, you will be driven around Siem Reap town. Thence, go to visit the “Chantiers Ecoles – Les Artisans d’Angkor” which provides training to young Cambodians in an effort to revive the ancient Khmer traditions of stone carving and wood sculpting. Stroll around the local market afterwards and visit at Silk Farm of Phouk. At the silk farm, you can see the entire silk weaving process…. Afterwards, take an ox-cart ride around the village of Aranh. The village is poor, ox-cart riding service is arranged by local tourism authority with the aim to contribute some income to the villagers. The ride lasts for about 30 minutes along the bank of the Siem Reap River. Along the way, watching the local daily life. The late-afternoon flight take you to Phnom Penh. Get picked up and transferred to the hotel on your arrival in Phnom Penh. Dinner on your own account and stay overnight.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/ Lunch/
DAY 5: PHNOM PEND- KILLING FIELD
After breakfast, start your historical tour of Phnom Penh by a drive 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 Khmer Rouge involved a large network of interrogation prisons linked to extermination centers. The most infamous is Phnom Penh’s S-21 Prison and the Choeung Ek extermination center. 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 centers 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. After lunch, you’ll visit the National Museum and the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, followed by a sunset cruise on the Chatomouk River.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/ Lunch/
DAY 6: PHNOM PENH – SIHANOUKVILLE
In the morning, you will drive from Phnom Penh to the premier beach of Sihanouk Ville. The drive takes about 3 hours. Upon arrival, check-in and get ready for the rest of your trip at a beautiful resort and relaxing on this sandy beach.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/ Lunch/
DAY 7: SIHANOUKVILLE BEACH LEISURE
Spend the day on the beach & enjoy the resort facilities. Situated on the eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand, Sihanoukville is a peninsula & has several beaches, offshore islands. It's also known as "Kampong Som", a coastal city in Cambodia. With its beaches and casinos, it has become a primarily tourist attraction.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/
DAY 8: SIHANOUKVILLE – PHNOM PENH
Today you still have the whole morning at leisure. Check-out at noontime.
In the afternoon, get picked up and take a 3-hour drive back to Phnom Penh. Onward to the airport for your flight home or continue with more interesting destinations of Custom Asia Travel.
What's Included
Accommodation
Tour
Transfer
Guide
Breakfast/
How did people say about us!
Our Traveler's Beloved Programs
Traveler Reviews
Jay M
Date of Experience: Mar 2023
We highly recommend Custom Asia Travel for your trip to Southeast Asia! They provided a great combination of visiting historical and religious sites, temples, and also cultural connections in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia that we could have never made on our own. Our local guides were informative, and shared personal experiences that made our journey meaningful. We asked for an active trip, and Custom Asia Travel tailored our request with biking, kayaking and hiking. We enjoyed local cuisine in Laos, and were amazed by the history and significance of the temples in Cambodia, experienced via a beautiful bike tour.
Date of Experience: Mar 2023
We did a day trip in a Jeep in Ninh Binh with Thu, which included Trang An, Hang Mua, Bich Dong and Tam Coc. Thu was an amazing tour guide and was extremely helpful throughout the whole day, organising everything from start to finish and giving us insightful information about the things we saw, as well as life in Vietnam and it’s history more generally! The lunch was also great and the day turned out to be one of the best days of our trip! Couldn’t recommend Thu enough 😊
Nadine
Date of Experience: Mar 2023
We had an amazing time! Me and my friends visited the Halong/Lan Ha Bay and the Dry Halong Bay. Everything was perfectly organized & all the pick-ups were punctual. The guide and driver were very nice. The cruise ship and the eco lodge, in which we stayed, were great. The staff was very friendly and everything was clean. We can definitely recommend booking a trip with Custom Asia Travel! The organisation and contact with the company was great before, during and after the trip.
Whitney B
Date of Experience: Dec 2022
I cannot say enough positives about Custom Asia Travel! We visited Vietnam in December/January 2023 and had an amazing trip with our 3 teens. The itinerary exceeded our expectations! We travelled to Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, and Nha Trang. We had no issues with any of our transportation around the country - our drivers and guides were always there on time (early, actually), friendly and helpful. The accommodations were excellent and our guides were fantastic (Tanh, Tanh, and Viet - they were awesome!). Every place we stayed put our rooms right next to each other, often adjoining, and the kids’ room always had two twin beds and a cot, while my husband and I had a king bed. This was perfect as our teenagers did not want to share beds, lol! The activities were super fun and appealed to all of us. So many highlights - the kids loved the rice farm tour (riding the water Buffalo elicited the biggest smile we’ve ever seen from our 16 year old!), seeing the caves in Ninh Binh, the cooking class in Hoi An, and Ha Long Bay. I really appreciated that some of our itinerary was focused on less crowded activities - a couple of the temples we saw were practically empty, allowing us to enjoy and experience these beautiful sites on our own. We did a couple of bike rides which were also highlights, such a great way to explore and see the area! Minh was available and responsive while planning the trip and while we were there. I agree with others reviews about whether she ever sleeps! She was able to coordinate our luggage getting dropped off as it did not arrive with us, and contacted one of the hotels about a ring that had been left, and arranged for us to pick it up. She was warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and so helpful. We truly had a relaxing and stress free trip because of the excellent customer service from Minh and our guides. With only having 12 days to visit we were so grateful to be able to enjoy the travel and know that Minh and her team were there if and when needed. I highly recommend using this company, you will not regret it! Now I am dreaming of how quickly we can make it back!! Thank you thank you to Minh and the team, our trip was unforgettable!
Date of Experience: Feb 2022
We are over 60 yers old and for eficiency we decided to organise our trips in Vietnam with a local agency. Custom Asia Travel is the wright agency. We decided to visit Hanoi, Tam Coc, Ha Long, Da Nang, Hoi An, My son Sanctuary and Ho Chi Minh City with help of this agency. The organisation and planing of the tours, the selection of the places to visit, hotels, restaurants,cars ( clean and comfortable), drivers and guides was perfect. The drivers and guides where friendly and polite. The guides ( Cường Xi,in Hanoi and Tam Coc, Tran Thanh Binh in Ho Chi Minh as also the guide in Da Nang area) where perfect. They gave us many interesting information about the visited places, organized perfect the details of the trips. The boat arrangement done by Custom Asia Travel in Ha Long Bay - Peony 1 was perfect. The prices for the offered services are fair. We kindly recommend this agency for tailor made trips.
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