On arrival in Cambodia, you'll be met by your private guide, who will accompany you to your hotel.
Welcome to Cambodia! This level of personal service (such as private transfers, private tours etc) is what you can expect throughout your trip. A few services (eg boat cruises) will be shared, but we'll always make sure you're aware of these.
Begin your exploration of Angkor Wat, and the complex of ruined temples and palaces around it. You’ll be driven between them, so you can fit quite a few in (if you want to), and our guides know when to see the ruins at uncrowded times. If you wish, start the day with the magical (but popular!) sunrise over Angkor Wat, and let your guide know what kind of pace you prefer, whether you want to fill your day with archaeology, or spend some of it on Tonle Sap lake, or even back at your hotel pool.
Explore the Tonlé Sap Lake aboard a private boat, visiting a floating fishing village, and a flooded forest, where - if water levels are high enough - you can kayak amongst the branches, and paddle out over the lake to enjoy the scenery, keeping an eye open for its diverse birdlife. Much of Cambodian rural life takes place on rivers and lakes, and you can only truly comprehend what this lifestyle is like by taking to the water yourself. Once you're back in Siem Reap, your afternoon will be at leisure.
Enjoy one last wander around Angkor Wat before jumping on a plane to Phnom Penh, where your afternoon will be at leisure until 5pm, when your guide will arrive in a tuk-tuk for a food-focused tour of the city. Stop for a cocktail in the Foreign Correspondents Club, a famous hub for foreign journalists and aid workers during the Khmer Rouge era, before heading to the roadside stalls selling a variety of edible bugs - your guide will be on hand to decipher the surprisingly tasty offerings. At the Russian Market, food stalls draw local diners with typical Khmer food such as Banh Chheo, chicken rice porridge and beef skewers. Choose what you fancy, pull up a plastic stool alongside the locals, and soak up the atmosphere. Your final food stop for the evening will be freshly barbecued seafood, before you return to your hotel, probably ready to loosen your waistband...
This morning your guide will escort you around the Royal Palace complex, with its lavish ceremonial buildings. You’ll also have the option to visit the National Museum, which is full of intriguing artefacts from several millennia of Cambodian culture. Lunch will be at ‘Friends’, a restaurant which trains ex-street children and other vulnerable groups in the hospitality trade. The food also happens to be excellent! The afternoon will be a far more sombre experience: Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes and the Cheung Ek ‘killing fields’ will open your eyes to the true brutality of the Pol Pot regime. There’s no sugar-coating this deeply disturbing insight into human capacity for cruelty - but it’s essential to understanding Cambodia and its people today. Your guide will have almost certainly lost loved ones to the regime, and will answer your questions as you try to comprehend what you’ve learnt.
You’ll make the border crossing by boat today as you travel down the Mekong River into Vietnam, winding through the stunning Mekong Delta scenery before arriving at Chau Doc. Much of this low-rise settlement is on stilts over the water, and it’s a great place to ease into the pace of Delta life and watch river life go by. On arrival, you’ll be taken straight to your riverside hotel, where you can enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.
Spend the morning exploring Tra Se Cajeput Forest, a rescued eco-zone which is flooded to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the season, and home to an impressive array of species. Your tour will be on foot and by boat, and afterwards you’ll be driven to the outskirts of Can Tho, stopping en route for lunch. Hop on a bike for a leisurely ride through Mekong villages, orchards and markets, before being driven into Can Tho, the Delta’s economic capital, to find your hotel.
Although it really isn't as impressive as it used to be, you may wish to make a very early morning visit to the famous Cai Rang floating market before you transfer to Can Tho Airport for the short flight to Phu Quoc, where the rest of your stay will be at leisure to enjoy the beach and resort facilities.
Time to kick off your shoes and sink your toes into the sand!
Relax on Phu Quoc
Relax on Phu Quoc
Fly to Ho Chi Minh City in the morning, where you'll be driven straight for a visit to the famous Cu Chi tunnels - an underground network, over 150 miles long, built by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence. Some of the remaining tunnels have been opened to tourists, offering a unique insight into what underground life must have been like during the Vietnam war. Continue on to central Ho Chi Minh City, where the remainder of your day is at leisure.
Spend the day visiting some of Ho Chi Minh City’s key highlights, with your guide by your side to offer local insight, starting by exploring the back alleys and aromatic markets of District 1. We’ll tailor your tour to suit you, but we particularly recommend visiting the Reunification Palace, the Notre Dame Basilica, and the pink neoclassic confection that is Saigon Central Post Office (designed by Gustave Eiffel). Stop to observe a Viet Cong secret weapons store, now recognised as a National Historical Site, and continue to Cho Lon (HCMC’s Chinatown) to taste the locals’ favourite noodle dish, and visit the ornate Quan Am Pagoda, before finishing in fine style with a sundowner at the top of the Bitexco Tower.
Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.
