Highlights of Cambodia - Absolute Asia Tours

On arrival in Cambodia, you'll be met by your private guide, who will accompany you to your hotel.

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.

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.

Spending the day with rescued bears is probably the best possible response to learning about Pol Pot, so today you’ll visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, a sanctuary for over 100 bears. You’ll get behind-the-scenes access as you help to prepare the bears’ food and treats, and - yes - you will get an opportunity to meet the residents. 

Journey by car to Kep. The remainder of your day will be free to kick back and relax.

Your days will be at leisure to kick back and relax, hop over (sorry!) to Rabbit Island and tuck into some fresh seafood.

Start the day with a journey from Kep to Siem Reap, by car and short flight. Once you arrive, your day will be at leisure, be that a swim in the hotel pool or a wander around town - perhaps using our InspirAsian app to find a recommended local restaurant for dinner.

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 Tonlé Sap lake, or even back at your hotel pool.

Step aboard your private boat to visit Kampong Klaing, a water village built entirely on stilts in Tonle Sap, the lake at Cambodia’s centre. See the little school, church and shops before puttering off to a floating fishing village, and a flooded forest, where - if water levels are high enough - you can pass amongst the branches by boat. The voyage will finish around mid-afternoon, leaving the rest of your day at leisure.

Return to Angkor, on two wheels this time as you take a leisurely loop around the temples, taking time to appreciate the ancient craftsmanship and humour in the bas reliefs. Break for lunch at a local restaurant, and see the fabulous Ta Prohm Temple overtaken by 100 year old fig trees and giant creepers. Afterwards, there’ll be more time to relax back in Siem Reap.

Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.