12 DAYS SAIGON & SIEMREAP
OVERLAND (VIETNAM – CAMBODIA)
Private tour (DINA-CRO12) |
ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrvial
HCM city
Transfer to Hanoi
domestic airport and fly to Ho Chi Minh City.
Transfer to hotel and overnight.
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,L)
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,L,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,L)
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.
HOTEL ADDRESSES:
|
First Category |
|
|
Grand Hotel
(superior room) |
8-24,
Dong Khoi St., Dist. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Tel:
08 8230163; Fax: 08 8235781
|
|
Victoria Can Tho
(run-of-house room) |
Cai Khe Ward,
Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho, Viet Nam
Tel. (84 71) 810 111, Fax (84 71) 829 259 |
|
Victoria Chau
Doc
(run-of-house room) |
32 Le Loi, Chau
Doc town, An Giang province, Viet Nam
Tel. (84 76) 865 010, Fax (84 76) 865 020 |
|
Sunway Hotel
(superior room) |
No. 1, St. 92,
Sangkat Wat Phnom, P.O. Box 633, Phnom Penh.
Tel. (855 23) 430 333 Fax (855-23) 430 339 |
|
Stung Sen Hotel
(2-star) |
Downtown,
Kompong Thom Province, Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel. (855 62) 961 228, Fax (855 62) 961 228 |
|
Angkor Century
Hotel(superior room) |
Komay Road -
Khum Svay Dangkom, Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel. (855 63) 963 777 Fax (855 63) 963 123 |
|
Deluxe Category |
|
|
Equatorial Hotel
(superior room) |
242 Tran Binh
Trong Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel. (84 8) 839 7777, Fax (84 8) 839 0011 |
|
Victoria Can Tho
(run-of-house room) |
Cai Khe Ward,
Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho, Viet Nam
Tel. (84 71) 810 111, Fax (84 71) 829 259 |
|
Victoria Chau
Doc
(run-of-house room) |
32 Le Loi, Chau
Doc town, An Giang province, Viet Nam
Tel. (84 76) 865 010, Fax (84 76) 865 020 |
|
Amanjaya Hotel
(deluxe room) |
1, Rue 154, Quay
Sisowath, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel. (855 23) 214 747 Fax (855 23) 219 545 |
|
Stung Sen Hotel
(2-star) |
Downtown,
Kompong Thom Province, Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel. (855 62) 961 228, Fax (855 62) 961 228 |
|
Victoria Angkor
Hotel
(superior room) |
Central Park,
Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel. (855 63) 760 428 Fax (855 63) 760 350 |
|
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Trip includes
Our tour prices are inclusive of
transfers and tours with local English or French speaking guides.
(Guides in other languages are on request and may be subject to
supplements). Entrance fees, boat fees, meals as specified in the
program (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner), accommodation in twin shared
rooms with private bathroom, domestic air tickets and domestic airport
taxes Luang Prabang - Vientiane - Pakse and Phnom Penh - Siem Reap,
service charges, room tax and baggage handling
Trip excludes:
International airfare; airport taxes, Visa, meals not indicated,
personal expenses Christmas and New Year's Eve Dinners.
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