12 DAYS SAIGON & SIEMREAP OVERLAND (VIETNAM – CAMBODIA)

Itinerary

 ITINERARY IN DETAILS:

DAY 1:  ARRVIAL HCM CITY 
Arriva; in Ho Chi Minh City ,pick up and transfer to hotel in Hochiminh.
At leisure and overnight in Hochiminh.
 

DAY 2: HO CHI MINH CITY - CU CHI - HO CHI MINH CITY (B,L)
We have a full day to visit the following places of interest.
Morning: Visit Cu Chi Tunnels
Own lunch at one of the preferred restaurants in Saigon
Afternoon: We visit the following places of interest
-          Ben Thanh Market, the city’s largest market
-          Reunification Palace, formerly the palace of President Thieu
-          Ho Chi Minh Museum
-          Museum of War Crimes

DAY 3: HO CHI MINH CITY – CAI BE - VINH LONG - CAN THO(B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Drive to Cai Be. Take a boat trip to visit Cai Be floating market, a bonsai garden, and a fruit orchard in Vinh Long.
Lunch will be served at a local house along the river. Continue driving to Can Tho & transfer to hotel. Overnight in Can Tho.

DAY 4: CAN THO – SOC TRANG – CAN THO    (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Boat trip on Mekong River to visit Cai Rang floating market, you also have the opportunity to watch local villagers producing rice paper, pop-rice, and rice husking. Proceed to Soc Trang by land.
Lunch at local restaurant en route.
Continue to visit Bat Pagoda, Clay Pagoda and Khmer Museum. Drive back Can Tho for overnight.

DAY 5: CAN THO – LONG XUYEN – CHAU DOC     (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Depart Can Tho for Chau Doc with an en route visit by boat to the Bang Lang stork sanctuary in Thot Not, which offers also the view of the local people’s vivid life on the water. Transfer to hotel.
In the afternoon, visit Sam Mountain, Lady Xu Temple, Thoai Ngoc Hau Temple, floating fish farm and boat trip to Champa Village. Overnight in Chau Doc.
 

DAY 6: CHAU DOC – PHNOM PENH    (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Early morning, board the Victoria Sprite to Phnom Penh (seat-in-coach boat transfer arranged by Victoria Hotels with minimum 4 persons traveling together) - traveling time including customs and immigration formalities at border check points takes about 4 hours. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel for lunch.
Phnom Penh city tour: Visit the National Museum, also called Musee des Beaux-Arts. A French archaeologist and painter, Georges Groslier, designed it in Khmer style in 1917. The museum contains a collection of Khmer art - notably sculptures - throughout the ages. Then proceed to the Central Market, a landmark of the city. End your afternoon with the visit of the Wat Phnom Temple, Phnom Penh’s namesake. Overnight in Phnom Penh.
 

DAY 7: PHNOM PENH      (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Visit the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located within the Ground of Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is so named because of its floor, which is made up of 5000 silver tiles. The treasures found inside include a solid gold Buddha encrusted and weighing 90kilos and a small 17th century emerald and baccarat crystal Buddha. A 1hour cyclo tour will show you the finest colonial-style architecture of the town. End the cyclo tour at the hotel.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Visit the notorious Tuol Sleng Museum (S 21 prison). This former school was used as a prison by Pol Pot’s security forces. It became the largest center for detention and torture during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Time at leisure at the Russian Market (Psah Tuol Tom Poung), a lively outdoor market where you will find antiquities, silver and gold jewelry, gems, silk, kramas, stone and wood carvings, as well as T-Shirts, CD's and other souvenirs. End your day with a stroll along the Tonle Sap River. Overnight in Phnom Penh.
 

DAY 8: PHNOM PENH – KOMPONG CHAM – KOMPONG THOM   (B,L,D)
Breakfast at hotel.
Depart Phnom Penh by car for Kompong Cham. En-route, visit Wat Nokor with its ancient temple and modern style pagoda (12thC). Short tour of Kompong Cham to view examples of colonial architecture.
Lunch at local restaurant.
Continue to Kompong Thom. En route, visit Wat Kohear Nokor (11thC). You will also visit the nearby village and its pagoda where you can observe the daily life of the monks
Continue to Phum Prasat with its single ancient temple and the nearby modern pagoda
Arrive in Kompong Thom and check-in at Stung Sen hotel (best available, 2 star). Dinner at local restaurant and overnight at Stung Sen Hotel.
 

DAY 9: KOMPONG THOM - SIEM REAP    (B,L)
Breakfast at hotel.
Depart Kompong Thom for Sambor Prei Kuk. Enjoy traditional daily life scenes of rural Cambodia. Visit the ancient capital of Chenla with its 100 temples dating from the pre-Angkorian period.
Return to Kompong Thom for lunch at local restaurant.
Continue to Siem Reap. En route, visit traditional villages and stop at the ancient Naga Bridge (Spean Pratpo), located 40 Km from Siem Reap. Arrive in Siem Reap and transfer to the hotel. First visits of Angkor complex (if time permits, and only after 17:00 hrs). Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

DAY 10: SIEM REAP   (B)
Breakfast at hotel.
This morning we use Tuc Tuc’s (motorbike-pulled rickshaws) for transportation. In the morning, visit Prasat Kravan with its unique brick sculptures and Ta Prohm. One of the area’s most beautiful temples, Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle, looking very much the ways most of the Angkor temples appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them. Visit as well Takeo, Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon.
Visit Preah Khan temple. Built by the King Jayavarman VII, Preah Khan is, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulders-hanging corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, Preah Khan is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration efforts should maintain and even improve this situation. Continue your visits to Neak Pean, a fountain built in the middle of a pool and representing the paradisiacal Himalayan mountain-lake and visit the temple of Ta Som as well as Srah Srang (“The Royal Baths”), undoubtedly used in the past for ritual bathing. Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

DAY 11: SIEM REAP    (B,D)
Transfer to the archaeological site for the sunrise from the Phnom Bakheng, one of two hills dominating the plain of Angkor, from where you will have a spectacular view of the Western Baray and Angkor Wat
Return to the hotel for breakfast.
In the morning, visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat’s five towers symbolize Meru’s five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond.
Visit the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century). See the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), until sunset.   Dinner and Apsara dance show at Angkor Village. Overnight in Siem Reap.
 

DAY 12: SIEM REAP – DEPARTURE    (B)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit Banteay Srei temple (10th century), regarded as the jewel in the crown of Classical Khmer Art.  Continue to visit Banteay Samre, one of the most complete complexes at Angkor due to restoration using the method of “anastylosis”. The name Samre refers to an ethnic group of mountain people, who inhabited the region at the base of Phnom Kulen and were probably related to the Khmers. No inscriptions have been found for this temple, but the style of most of the architecture is of the classic art of the middle period similar to Angkor Wat. The proportions of Banteay Samre are splendid. A unique feature is an interior moat with laterite paving, which when filled with water must have given an ethereal atmosphere to the temple.
Visit to “Les Artisans d’Angkor - Chantiers Ecoles” of Siem Reap or the Silk Farm of Puok. Transfer to Siem Reap airport for departure flight to the next destination.