Cambodia Ground Tour 5Days/4Nights – Kulen Mountain

Upon arrival, warmly welcomed by our local guide and transferred to the hotel for check-in. The transfer takes about 15 minutes to your hotel in downtown. Arrival at the hotel, check-in and then we will have lunch at a local restaurant. Late afternoon, we will transfer you to the southern part of Siem Reap through local villages and along the rice paddy fields to Chong Kneas Floating Village where is home to hundreds of families living on their floating house on the Tonle Sap Lake.

A 2-hour boat ride will lead you through floating houses, school, market, crocodile farm, and fish farm to the open lake while being accompanied by beautiful scenery of the lake along the way. You will be greeted by small children whom keeps waving their hands and saying “Hello” to you. Return to the pier then we will take a short drive to foot of Phnom Kraom to admit a beautiful sunset over the rice paddy field before returning to the city where we will a delicious buffet dinner with Apsara Dance Performance.

Beat the crowd early morning by 7am, visit the picturesque Ta Prohm that had nearly disappeared into the jungle and remains overgrown, an oddly haunting and exotic scene. The magnificent roots of a tree, pushing between the huge stone blocks of the temple in a sort of embrace, evoke feelings that you may remember forever.

And continue to visit the intricately carved Khmer ruins at Angkor Wat – one of the world’s most impressive ruins. The temple still owns fine Apsara carvings in Angkorian era art. Lunch is at a local restaurant. Afternoon, explore the mysterious Royal city Angkor Thom. City & Bayon Its 54-tower temple is an awesome sight.

At first glance, it seems a shapeless mass of stone, but further scrutiny reveals a face, and then another and another until suddenly you are engulfed by the silent, heavy, enigmatic and silent gaze through half-closed eyes, staring out from a primitive and remote time. Further, visit the surroundings of the complex including the Baphou, Elephant Terraces, Lepper King Terrace and Royal Place area.

Your guide will meet you in your hotel lobby at 7:30 a.m. Depart Siem Reap over back roads and immediately find yourself surrounded by rural life. Enjoy the sights of children walking and cycling to school, farmers transporting their goods to the market and people working in the endless paddy fields that surround Siem Reap.

Passes several pagodas and villages where a stop can be made to get a real taste of Cambodia by talking to the villagers and monks or tasting some of the local snacks. We will ride the ox-cart to see the lifestyle and daily activities of the villagers. A short stop at one of the local house to enjoy the fresh seasonal fruits and coconut juice. Back to the city for lunch.

Afternoon, drive to Wat Thmey pagoda where it was served as the Killing Field in Pol Pot’s regime. It will help you understand of the gravity of the country’s horrific recent past and what Cambodian people had experienced. There is a glass-sided monument filled with the skulls and bones of victims collected by locals after the Pol Pot regime ended.

Then, explore the popular handicraft in Siem Reap, the Artisans D’ Angkor, where it focuses on training unschooled rural youth. Here you will have a chance to observe the artisans at work and see how the handicraft is being made. Back to the hotel for refreshment. Dinner at a local restaurant.

Located 40km north of Angkor Wat, the Phnom Kulen mountain range provides Siem Reap with water and dominates the skyline of the flat plains surrounding it. Although the highest peak of the mountain range lies at only 487m, Phnom Kulen has much to offer visitors. The Cambodian people regard the site as the birthplace of the ancient Khmer Empire. King Jayavarman II claimed independence from Java there in 802 A.D.

Travel in the morning by car through the countryside to Phnom Kulen and start the rather steep climb up by car. On top of the mountain you will visit a modern style pagoda that offers stunning views over the Angkor area. Visit the eight-meter tall statue of a reclining Buddha and wash your hands at the Linga statue to purify your mind and body.

Continue to visit the River of One Thousand Lingas and the magnificent waterfall close to it. Take a refreshing swim in the stream and pool of the waterfall and enjoy a picnic lunch served in a natural setting. If time allows, take a stroll around the area with your guide and venture off the beaten track to take in the impressive forest and scenery. Return to Siem Reap in the late afternoon. This evening enjoys a farewell dinner at a nice local restaurant.

Breakfast at the hotel then you are free until our driver comes to pick up you and transfer to the airport for your departure flight.