Cambodia: Angkor and Siem Reap Short Break

Arrive in Siem Reap and cook Khmer food

Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport to central Siem Reap, then the Old Market and a cooking class

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Siem Reap
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

At about 4 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the next three days: the sunrise start, what to wear at the temples and how the hot middle of each day is kept free.

Soir

Then we walk along the river past the Royal Gardens and the Royal Residence to the Old Market, where your guide shows you the ingredients of tonight's dishes, from lemongrass and kaffir lime to prahok, the fermented fish paste. At a cooking school in town you pound a kroeung spice paste and cook dishes such as fish amok and a green mango salad, and what you cook is the welcome dinner.

Compris

• Pick-up at Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Riverside walk past the Royal Gardens to the Old Market
• Khmer cooking class, with the dishes you cook as the welcome dinner

Angkor Wat at sunrise, Ta Prohm and the Bayon

Angkor ticket office to Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, then Angkor Thom and the Bayon

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Siem Reap
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

When most people head back for breakfast at about 7, we eat ours, packed by the hotel, and go in with a licensed Angkor guide along the carved galleries, the Churning of the Ocean of Milk among them. The steep upper level opens at 7:30 am and takes a limited number of visitors through a queue, so your guide orders the galleries around it; it closes on Buddhist holy days. Next is Ta Prohm, where the roots of silk-cotton and strangler fig trees grip the walls, before it is at its busiest.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a restaurant near the park, then the hotel for a rest through the heat. At about 3 pm we return through the South Gate of Angkor Thom to the Bayon and its carved faces in late light, then the Terrace of the Elephants.

Compris

• Three-day Angkor pass
• Sunrise at Angkor Wat
• Angkor Wat with a licensed Angkor guide, and the upper level when open, subject to its queue
• Ta Prohm
• Lunch near the park
• Angkor Thom in the late afternoon: the South Gate, the Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants

Activités en option

• Phare, the Cambodian Circus, in the evening; your guide can book seats

Banteay Srei, the Landmine Museum and the Tonle Sap

Siem Reap to Banteay Srei and the Cambodian Landmine Museum, then Kampong Phluk on the Tonle Sap

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Siem Reap
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is at a village restaurant nearby, then the middle of the day is free at the hotel. At about 3:30 pm we drive south-east to Kampong Phluk, a village of stilt houses on the edge of the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia and a UNESCO biosphere reserve. We go with an operator that works with the village and pays its community fee.

Soir

People from the village paddle us in small canoes through the flooded forest, then we watch the sun set over the lake before the farewell dinner in Siem Reap.

Compris

• Banteay Srei near opening, with your Angkor guide
• The Cambodian Landmine Museum
• Lunch at a village restaurant
• Kampong Phluk by boat, with a canoe through the flooded forest and the community fee
• Sunset on the Tonle Sap
• Farewell dinner in Siem Reap

Activités en option

• A Khmer massage in town during the free middle of the day

The Roluos temples and depart

Your hotel in Siem Reap to the Roluos temples, then Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Your last morning is free. Walk to the Old Market for silk scarves and Kampot pepper, visit the Angkor National Museum to put the temples you have seen in order, or swim and pack. Your three-day pass still has a day on it, so if your flight leaves after about 1 pm, your guide takes the group to the Roluos temples on the way to the airport, about 13 km east of town: Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei, among the earliest temples of the Angkor period, built in the late 9th century when the Khmer capital stood here. Bakong, the largest of the three, is a stepped temple-mountain of sandstone. Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport is about 50 km east of town, so the transfer takes around an hour and is timed to your flight. Hotel check-out is usually around noon; if you need the room for longer, we can book a late check-out at cost. Plan to reach the airport two to three hours before an international flight. If you would like to stay on in Siem Reap, ask us for extra nights when you book.

Compris

• The Roluos temples on the way, for flights after about 1 pm
• Drop-off at Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)

Activités en option

• Angkor National Museum