SPLENDOUR OF CAMBODIA - 7 DAYS/ 6 NIGHTS - From: 529$

You will be greeted at the airport by our local guide and transferred to the city for hotel check in. Room is available from 2.00 pm. In the afternoon, take a visit to the local markets, where plenty of meat, vegetable, fruit, and grocery are being sold. Wrap up your day with an amazing 1-hour cruise to watch the sunset on the Mekong River while enjoying drink on boat. Dinner is served at a typical Khmer restaurant. Overnight at the hotel.

Spend the whole day for the capital city of Phnom Penh. In the morning, explore the "Khmer cuisine" by joining in a cooking course. Khmer cuisine is one of the oldest remained cuisines in the world. It is mainly distinguished by its regionalism, freshness and seasonality, as well as by the unique diversity of spices and herbs used in dishes. Learning about Cambodia's cooking, food and culinary myths, you will also have an amazing travel deep into Cambodian life, into its culture and beliefs. Talk to the Master Chef who will provide you informations of the diverse Khmer vegetables, fruits, spices, herbs, meat, fish and other daily-used products. The cooking class is hands-on and interactive, so own cooking station is provided for each person. Apply your new knowledges about all kinds of Cambodian foods to prepare three traditional Khmer dishes, under the instructions of a native chef. It will be exciting to enjoy your own creation.

Spend your afternoon for a " Khmer Architecture Tour" by cyclo. Resulting for an extensive construction program, the late 1950s and 1960s was a period of Cambodia’s dynamic political and cultural ambition. That time’s new architecture, which focused on creating the combined of local traditions, climate and materials with an international style, reflected exactly the Cambodian’s bird’s-eye views of cultural and social. The “Khmer Architecture Tour” offers exploration to central Phnom Penh and some colonial buildings, as well as modern architecture of post-independence time, making it a unique ride through the “New Khmer Architecture”. Your guide will present about history for a while, and then you will stroll around the Post Office to discover surrounding districts. On the way heading to the Central Market (closed on public holidays), you will pass by some famous buildings, as well as some less clear examples of religious architecture. Dinner in on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Wake up in the morning and try a different breakfast with real Khmer noodle dishes or any other daily-cultured  dishes  at a local restaurant. After that, drive 4 hours (164km) towards Komppong Thom. Stop en route to visit Skuon, known as "Spiderville" in the local language , which is famous with foreign travellers for its special dish: fried spiders. Lunch is served in Kompong Thom at a local restaurant . After lunch, spend 4 hours more to drive to Siem Reap (147 km). Arrive at Siem Reap in the late afternoon. Find some nice local foods for your dinner. Back to the hotel to overnight.

Spend your morning to discover the authentic Khmer’s culinary art with a half-day cooking course, leaded by Mrs Kethana Dunnet. Kethana is the owner and the one to found the Sugar Palm restaurants in capital Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. She also collaborates with many celebrity TV chefs including Luke Nguyen and Gordon Ramsay. Growing up in Cambodia, she had a several years studing in New Zealand and here she met her now husband, Bruce. Living out of the country, she developed a keen knowledge of Khmer cuisine and how to cook it best in the west where it's harder to get enough ingredients. Kethana and her husband have been living here in Cambodia since 2002 and today will provide you an excellent cooking class. Dishes included over the course are those served in Sugar Palm. You will also learn about the differences between Khmer and other regional cuisines. Take this chance of being taught how to prepare Cambodian dishes by Kethana for your possibility to cook them at home. After spend about 2-3 hours for your class, have a seat for the exciting feelings of tasting your own dishes.

After lunch time, continue our trip towards Banteay Srei – a charming small pink temple, also Combodia’s best preserved temple. Dating back to 10th century and still known as the Citadel of Women, this temple owns a most impressive jewel of Khmer art. On the way back, finish your day by discovering splendid sculptured Devatas and immerse in the unique atmosphere in the ancient Ta Prohm Monastery. This site has a nickname of "Jungle Temple", because of its immense branches having taken root in the stones. Have dinner  at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning, explore the Great City of Angkor Thom, beginning with the south gate and the famous Bayon. Dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, the Bayon is dedicated to Buddhism and composed of 216 smiling faces of Avalokitesvara on 54 gigantic towers. Move to the north od Bayon for Baphuon temple – a pyramidal representation of legendary Mont Meru. Afterwards, pay visits to the Terrace of the Elephants. In the past, it was served as a base for the king’s grand audience hall and used as a gigantic reviewing stand in occasion of public ceremonies. Then come explore the Terrace of Leper King, dating back the 12th century. An artistic and sexless nude statue stands 7 meters in height on the top of the terrace. Wrap up your morning trip with Phimean Akas temple (means “Celestial Palace”), devoted only to Hinduism. Lunch is served at a local restaurant.

After lunch, visit the very famous world heritage site of Angkor Wat. Built up in the 12th century in honour of Vishnu, with incredible bas reliefs and soaring towers, Angkor Wat is known as one of the most amazing monuments made by mankind in the world, also the best preserved. The temple of Phnom Bakheng perching on a natural stone mountain is our next destination, before watching the sunset view on Angkor Wat and on the other sites . Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

In the morning leave for the titanic legend of temples, the lost temple of Beng Mealea, a sleeping giant left in the forests of Cambodia for centuries. Like a reflected image of Angkor, this temple is the most reachable of Angkor’s lost temples, but completely swallowed by the insatiable nature. Erected in the 12th century by Suryavarman II, the constructor of Angkor Wat, the forest has run riot here and it is hard to realize the monument’s shape in the middle of the intimidating ruins. Move to local restaurant for lunch.

Then, departure towards southeast for Tonle Sap Lake, Kompong Khleang (55km from Siem Reap), where lies one of the biggest and remote villages . 10,000 of inhabitants here are living depending on the fishing industry. Up to the season, we will make choices of travelling by canals (wet season) or on foot (dry season) along this amazing town. In the dry season, you will see soaring stilt houses, making associations of wooden skyscrapers. But in the wet season, the house's pillars are hidden under the vast water-field, making the houses look like being floating. Cruising into the open water, you will see a small floating village and discover this extraordinary natural flood barrier. Transfer back to Siem Reap after that by road.

You’re free until being transfered to the airport for your onward flight (without guide). Room is at your dispesal until noontime only. Meals on your own. Our services end here.