Welcome to Cambodia
A Place of excitement, an Old World Legacy with a New World Vibe
Cambodia – a Remarkable cultural history, a modern day terror and current rebuild
Phnom Penh’s history is both riveting and tragic. 
While Cambodia has breath-taking oldest cultural artifacts and world heritage sites, for instance, in Angkor Wat in the North of Cambodia, the rest of the country tends to be very agricultural and rural. Phnom Penh has international fame, however, not for its monuments necessarily, but for its bloody history, as headquarters for the Pol Pot regime during the 70s. Phnom Penh's history begins when King Ponhea Yat abandoned Angkor Wat, the palatial colony in 1422, decided to begin his capital, Phnom Penh, on the strategic shores where two huge rivers in Cambodia join. For the next four hundred years, the reigning kings moved the capital several times, until it was recognized as the official seat of government until 1866. At this time, however, Phnom Penh was nothing like the bustling city it is today. Instead, it was really just a few, informal, huts lining the riverbed and most of the locals were fishermen or farmers. When the French colonialists entered Phnom Penh, they gave the city the civic structure that it has now. The French built canals for irrigation, roads and buildings, most of which still remain. Thanks to this energetic construction, daring Europeans flocked to Phnom Penh, which was thought to be exotic and glamorous, hence nicknamed the “Peal of Asia”. This allure and popularity continued to burgeon until it abruptly ended in the 1960s when the Vietnam War erupted. At the tragic date, April 17, 1975, known as the Cambodian New Year, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. (This day and the events to follow was commemorated in the Oscar-winning film "The Killing Fields"). Phnom Penh was completely evacuated by force so that all the foreigners in the city were forced to return back home and all the residents were pushed up into the farm lands of Cambodia where they were forced to labor for the Khmer Rouge. At this time the Khmer Rouge believed intellectuals and teachers, essentially any one who was not a farmer, was a dissident, and those they could find, they captured, tortured and killed. As the Khmer Rouge turned Phnom Penh into their headquarters, the Pol Pot regime converted Tuol Svay Prey High School into a grisly torture and prison camp, where Cambodians of all ages were imprisoned and brutally tortured. (Visitors can see pictures of the thousands of Cambodians imprisoned on these grounds today as the camp has been turned into a prison, where the beds with blood stains and nearby torture weapons are exposed for all visitors' view, so this terror can not be forgotten.
The Khmer Rouge was eventually forced out of Phnom Penh in 1979 and have been rebuilding ever since, with the help of foreign investment and foreign aid. Today, it is a bustling city and the heart of Cambodia's political, economic and social action.
Day 1: Phnom Penh 29 OCT
Flight arrives into Phnom Penh. On your arrival at the airport, please ensure that you have 1 passport photo + your passports with you and have completed the visa application form on the flight in order to ensure that this process is as quick and efficient as possible.
Our airport rep will meet you inside and once you have passed through Customs and Immigration, our guide will be waiting to greet you in the Arrivals Area and will then transfer you to the hotel for check in Raffles Le Royal
Check in to Hotel
14:30 hrs: Visit the Royal Palace, located on the shores of the Mekong. Inside its walls are the Throne Hall, the Chan Chaya Pavilion, used for performances of classical dance, the Napoleon III Pavilion, and the King and Queen's residential quarters. Next stop will be the Silver Pagoda, home to a glittering array of Buddhist statuary. The Silver Pagoda is also called the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha, which is located in the walls of the Royal Palace. Inside, its floor is made up of 5,000 silver blocks. In the center of the pagoda, there is a magnificent 17th century emerald Buddha statue made of baccarat crystal. The walls enclosing the pagoda are covered with frescoes depicting episodes from the Khmer version of the Ramayana.
Visit the National Museum of Cambodia
Rest and relax at the Hotel
20:00 hrs: Dinner at Topaz Restaurant – transfer by Tuk Tuk
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Day 2: Phnom Penh 30 OCT
07:00 - 09:30 hrs: Enjoy breakfast at hotel
09.45 hrs: Depart the hotel by Cyclos to visit the S21 or, where thousands of innocent Cambodians were tortured and interrogated.
10:15 hrs: Tour of the Toul Sleng Museum
Guided Tour of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
We visit to the harrowing genocide museum at Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek, both enduring memorials to the gruesome and brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge.
The visit to this former torture camp may be an emotional experience for some. It is a moment to reflect and count one’s blessings.
Turning suffering into beauty by capturing the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable brutality has been a hallmark of Vann Nath's life and work. As one of only three living survivors from the Tuol Sleng prison, his paintings provide an artistic record of the genocidal regime. His works transcend mere documentation - his paintings seek to both illuminate and give meaning to the collective suffering of Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge.
After we visit the Killing Fields
12:00 hrs: Visit the Central “Russian” Market, where you have a chance to get real bargain with nice handicrafts and silverware.
Lunch
At Foreign Correspondence Club – followed by a Foot massage
Dinner at Malis – a great Cambodian Fusion
Day 3: Phnom Penh 31 OCT
07:00 - 09:30 hrs: Enjoy breakfast at hotel
Depart from Phnom Pehn – get ready for a drive of 3 hours
The trip through the country side of Southern Cambodia, well if anything it’s an interesting one.
Sihanoukville – Cambodia’s port – a secluded place, home of the country’s beer distillery and some of the best beaches and uninhabited islands in Asia. For the well worn traveler this is paradise. It is how all the most famous tourist places started – with the back packers. Only 2 hotels are here along with plenty of home style accommodation.
The Independence Hotel a good 4 star hotel has more charm than the large Sokha Beach – it is the best location for an incentive group as with only 50 plus rooms the group will basically have its own hotel.
There is little to do in Sihanoukville but there are some very interesting tours.
- Beer Distillery tour – of course a great trip for the guys - Ladies a foot Massage?
- Outer Islands – a trip to the outer islands in a speed boat and a must do snorkeling or diving.
- Snake House – an experience to dine around a huge aquarium and of course in the company of snakes.
- The Airport a fantastic restaurant come club idea with its own airplane as a center piece.
- Miles and miles of beach – jet ski it, paddle it but you have so much beautiful beach here this is the best tour of all – relax!
Day 3: Phnom Penh (cont)
Check in to the hotel
Rest and relax
Dinner at the Hotel
Day 4: Phnom Penh 1 NOV
07:00 - 09:30 hrs: Enjoy breakfast at hotel
Trip to the outer islands or laze away the day on the Beach
Day 5: Phnom Penh 2 NOV
07:00: Enjoy breakfast at hotel
Early depart to Phnom Pehn stopping in Kampot to see the pepper
Arriving in Phnom Pehn Lunch at local restaurant
Flight to Siam Reap
Guides shall introduce themselves and distribute refreshing chilled mineral water and a cool face towel for everyone, as the 20-minute ride downtown commences. Your guide shall give a brief orientation of the city on the way into and through the center.
Day 5: Siam Reap
Arrival in Siam Reap
Our guides will be waiting to introduce themselves and distribute refreshing chilled mineral water and a cool face towel for everyone, as the 20-minute ride downtown commences. Your guide shall give a brief orientation of the city on the way into and through the center.
Check in to the Angkor Village
Rest and Relax
In the evening to Bar street and a BBQ dinner Cambodia style
At leisure to discover Bar Street.
Day 6: Siam Reap 3 NOV
09:00 hrs: Depart the hotel to the South Gate, flanked by demons and gods engaged in a tug of war to obtain the elixir of immortality and continue by Individual Motor bikes to the Bayon, a temple mountain built by Jayavarman VII. It is situated in the center of the city of Angkor Thom. It is a three-tiered pyramid with its entrance facing east. You also visit other important sites in this immense walled city, including the pyramid of Baphuon, Phimean Akas, and the royal viewing stands known as the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King.
10:30 hrs: Transfer to the jungle-clad Ta Prohm, this temple was a monastery built by Jayavarman VII as a residence for his mother.
Preah Palilay is one of the smallest temples in Angkor, but also one of the most post-card fit buildings in the area. Its compact size, tall stature and typical overgrowth by three tall trees is underlined by a surrounding of mossy rubble and dense forest around a clearing, not to mention the monks in their safron robes in the area...
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Lunch at Local restaurant
Then to …….
Angkor Wat Temple, which is the largest religious buildings ever constructed and is truly one of the wonders of the world. Believed to have been undertaken as a temple and mausoleum for King Suryavarman II at the peak of the Khmer empire in the first half of the 12th century, Angkor Wat is the best-preserved of the Angkorian temples.
14:30 hrs: back to the hotel
Free time or Back to Angkor for your own exploration
19:45 hrs: Meet in the Lobby & Transfer to FCC (Foreign Correspondence Club)
Day 7: Siam Reap 4 NOV
10:00 hrs: Transfer to Wat Sway village. Walking a long the quaint village along the Siem Reap river. The Village is called Wat Say, which means Mango Tree Village. You will be having a nice stroll along the shaded trees. Seeing, talking and taking pictures of the daily lives of the villagers, as well as the shops, school children – here we can play a game of shuttle cock football at the local school. A coffee stop is forseen here in various houses in the village so guests can witness the “luxuries” of the local houses - it is a wonderful and most memorable experience.
Tonle Sap - The Tonle Sap Lake 30 minutes south of Siem Reap is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Floating fishing villages offers unique scenery to see. Also an interesting ecosystem, rich with birds and other wild life.
12:30 hrs: Enjoy lunch at Madame Butterfly Restaurant
Silk Farm: 16 Kms to the west of Siem Reap; near Pouk village the silk farm is a worthwhile place to see a slice of Cambodian rural industry. Set amongst fields of mulberry trees, the silk farm is a working factory farm, producing some of the finest silk in the country
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Departure – flight & Time?
