Thailand / Cambodia Experience Tour

Cultural Experience

Bangkok – Siem Reap - Phnom Penh

Day 1 Arrival Bangkok

Fly into Bangkok and transfer to a boutique hotel on the river. Suggest Riva Surya. This is a prime place to be as you can explore the city via the canals and skip the traffic! Accommodation at your hotel.

Day 2 Cooking Class

Breakfast at the hotel. Land transfer to Bai Pai Cooking School Pick your own herbs from a local market, learn several recipes, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor for lunch, then return to the hotel. (B, L)

Day 3 Morning Tour

After breakfast at the hotel, we start the morning tour to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market to try local foods, take a canal tour, and shop from the floating vendors. Return to hotel to rest. Evening dinner at Cabbage and Condom's to support efforts in population control, condom usage, and HIV/AIDs prevention. Great food and fun environment. (B, D)

Day 4 Bangkok Sightseeing

After breakfast at the hotel, your private English Speaking Guide will meet you at the hotel to take you on a tour of the major sites along the river - The Grand Palace, Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn), and Wat Po (Reclining Buddha). Break for lunch. In the evening, you can board a boat to take you to Asiatique for fun shopping and dinner. (love this place!), Later we return to y our hotel.

Day 5 Bangkok to Siem Reap

Relaxing morning at the hotel. Then catch a flight to Siem Reap. Arrival check into a boutique hotel. Suggest The Pavilion D'Orient (family-owned by a famous journalist and his wife - very well run).

Day 6 Angkor Wat

Breakfast at the hotel. Sunrise at Angkor Wat. This is the best time to be there. Visit the main temple complex, then venture over to Banteay Srey, known as the pink temple dedicated to Shiva. Enjoy lunch at Bong Thom Homestay. After lunch, head over to Ta Prohm, known as the Tomb Raider Temple (due to Angelina Jolie's movie). Can stop by the land mine museum also if interested. Return to Hotel in the afternoon.

Note: Angkor Wat opens at 0500 am in the morning and other temples will be opening at 07:30 am. This will allow visitors more visible at the temple site and avoid any injury from accidents. This regulation starts from 01 January 2016 onward.

Day 7 Temple Tour by Tuk Tuk

The guide will meet you at your hotel for a leisurely day of fair trade shopping, artisan workshops, cafes, and easy exploring. Can do this via a combination of walking and tuk-tuk rides. Rest at the hotel in the afternoon. Enjoy dinner at Marun Restaurant - this restaurant is named after the Moringa, or Tree of Life, and works to create employment for former street kids. Shop their store called Friends 'n Stuff for great gifts. (B, D)

Day 8 Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

After breakfast at the hotel, a day at leisure until we transfer to the airport for y our flight to Phnom Penh. Arrival at Phnom Penh, meet and greet. Check into a boutique hotel. Highly suggest White Linen Boutique Hotel (only 5 rooms!). This is a project of Daughters of Cambodia and is one of their income-generating activities to help put an end to human trafficking. They boast the hotel is exploitation free and reviews are outstanding. (B)

Day 9 Phnom Penh Visit

Breakfast at the hotel. Begin the morning with visits to the S21 prison site and the Killing Fields. This is a sobering visit, but a must to understand the genocide that took place and the struggles that Cambodia still faces to rise up from its violent past. It is a history lesson on the importance of tolerance in this world.

Lunch will be at Friends Restaurant. Friends is an NGO-run restaurant and training center for underprivileged and former street kids. They run a school next door where proceeds from your meal go. This is an ex-pat favorite and the food is great.

After lunch, stroll to the Royal Palace for some great photo opportunities. Then, embark on a rickshaw tour run by yet another NGO that employs the poorest of the poor. This fun little tour will cycle you through town from the Royal Palace and end at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) in time for dinner and a drink. Lots of history on the walls on the FCC - this is where journalists filed their reports when the Khmer Rouge was finally toppled. (B, L)

Day 10 Phnom Penh

Today will be leisurely and super fun. Ride your own bicycle over to the Central Market for some exploring. Then head over to Daughter of Cambodia for fair trade shopping, pedicures at Hands 'n Feet salon, and lunch at Sugar and Spice Cafe. All three of these places are housed in the same building and support victims of human trafficking.

They are also part of the project your hotel supports. Rest at the hotel in the afternoon. Walk through the French Quarter in the evening and enjoy lunch at Romdeng Restaurant -everything here is locally made by Cambodians - from the tables and chairs to the silk pillowcases and table cloths.

Day 11 Departure.

Breakfast at the hotel. Relaxing morning at the hotel. Then catch a flight.

Included:

All transportation per program mentioned

Air-conditioning Van or coach

Accommodation per program (based on double/twin sharing room)

Meals including (B = breakfast; L= Lunch; D= Dinner)

Services English speaking stations guide per the itinerary mentioned

Entrance fee on a day tour

Drinking-Water & cool tower

Domestic flight – see the separate cost.

Asia Expeditions Departure gifts

Not included

Travel Insurance

Personal expense/Visa

Local & International flight

Early check-in/late check out