Family Soft Adventure Cambodia

Welcome to Siem Reap, the charming gateway to the famed Temples of Angkor. You will be greeted by your local English speaking guide, who will accompany you to your hotel for check in.

Take a rest from your flight or discover Siem Reap on a stroll through its beautiful wats and the colorful markets on your own.

Today, depart on a scenic cycling tour through the most beautiful Cambodian countryside. You will pass rice fields and villages, where you will stop for refreshing breaks and a few chats with the locals. The road is all flat and easy to cycle, and the tour is fully supported.

Your destination is Kampong Phluck, a village where you will see houses on stilts that are submerged when Tonlé Sap Lake extends. Embark on an interesting boat trip on the Tonlé Sap Lake, where you will have the opportunity to learn about life on the lake. You will pass floating houses and impressive flooded forests, portraying life on the water. Tonle Sap is South East Asia’s largest freshwater lake with its size varying greatly depending on the season, as it is swelling to about 4 times its size in during the wet season. Enjoy a picnic lunch on one of the local houses (Note: Due to low water levels during the dry season, the boat trip is only possible from June to March. However an alternative floating village at Chong Kneas can be arranged instead).

Get up early this morning for a transfer to Banteay Chhmar (duration ca. 5 hours). You will stop on the way as much as you like.

Welcome to Banteay Chhmar and enjoy lunch at the community center. Then head out to visit Banteay Chhmar, a place of exceptional atmosphere which gets very few visitors. A notable feature of this temple that is applying for UNESCO World Heritage Site status is the magnificent bas reliefs on the outside of the inner sanctuary walls. Almost every step within this vast ruin; gives another fabulous picture of stone being consumed by nature. It is a spectacular sight with its Bayon Style towers, walls and enclosures cloaked with vegetation. Late afternoon take a local transport similar to a tractor called ‘kuyon’ to the Banteay Top temple to see the sunset. A fun way to travel Khmer style amongst some lovely scenery!

In the evening enjoy a simple but memorable dinner at the temple. 

After breakfast, visit the local market in Banteay Chhmar and experience a typical Khmer village. Your local guide will explain about some of the traditional life that takes place, including fishing, beekeeping, weaving and rice farming.

Enjoy your picnic lunch before your return to Siem Reap. Arrival late afternoon.

Enjoy the day free at leisure activities.

A short transfer will bring you to the beginning of your temple exploration experience at the East entrance of Angkor Wat. You set out like the first explorers did on foot, trekking through the dense jungle of the magnificent temples of Angkor on a 6km trek. Walking from temple to temple is a unique way to see these magnificent ruins:

After a few kilometres you will reach the city of Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Great Khmer Empire under the reign of Jayavarman VII. This city is surrounded by an 8m high wall, drawing a perfect square.

Continue on foot to Bayon Temple in the exact center of the city. This 12th century masterpiece is a study in grandeur and is well-known for its 54 towers with enigmatic faces representing the 54 provinces of the Great Khmer Empire.

Finishing the walk with a visit to the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, both known for their intricate bas-reliefs.

Drive to Sra Srang (Pool of Absolutions) for a picnic lunch in a local house away from other tourists.

After lunch visit Ta Prohm temple built between the mid 12th to early 13th centuries. Ta Prohm is unique in that it has been left largely as it was found: overgrown by jungle trees and vines, with many parts of the temple crumbling to the ground. This makes the ‘Tomb Raider Temple’ one of the most picturesque and memorable of the Angkor temples.

This evening attend a performance of ‘Phare, the Cambodian Circus’. Starting at 7pm, professional artists of Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) will perform an inspiring show suitable for people of all ages. Set up in Battambang in 1994 by young returnee Cambodians from the refugee camps who learned about using art as a means of coping with trauma, PPS has played an influential role in promoting and developing Khmer culture over the years after the Khmer Rouge genocide. The hour long show mixes traditional and modern theater, music, dance, acrobatics, juggling and contortion performed in a story about Cambodian lives and society. Student performances can still be seen twice weekly in Battambang but now the circus has arrived in Siem Reap!

Enjoy some time at leisure to relax at the hotel or to discover Siem Reap town on your own until the transfer to the airport for your onward flight.