Angkor Temples Discovery

Welcome to Siem Reap! Your dedicated guide and driver will greet you in the arrival hall at the airport and then drive you to our well-selected hotel.

Have a rest in the hotel, and get to the first spot in our private Siem Reap tour package - Angkor National Museum. You can learn about the diversity of the Angkor dynasty (802-1431) through numerous exhibits with themes of age, religion, and royalty with the help of touch-screen videos and the professional commentary of your guide. Look up at the wall to see architectural and sculptural features from different eras, which will prepare you for visiting Angkor temples in the following days. Besides, you will be surprised by a panoramic model of Angkor Wat and certain original artifacts not seen in Angkor ruins. After the visit, your guide will escort you back to the hotel.

► Nightlife Recommendation in Siem Reap: Riverside Night Market
Most night markets are available after 5:00 pm. A widely-known night market is 500m south of the Angkor National Museum, on the riverside east of the Royal Independence Garden, and another famous one is 500m further south. Freshly roasted steaks, grilled ribs, palm sugar-flavored fruit shakes, pancakes, and sweet glutinous rice balls with coconut strips are worth trying. It takes less than 10 minutes to return to the hotel by tuk-tuk or taxi.

Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

The sunrise over Angkor Wat is a must-see in Cambodia. We will transfer you to Angkor Wat in the early morning to view the haunting sunrise. This best-preserved temple in Angkor ruins combines two basic layouts of Khmer temples - altars and cloisters, famous for its grand architecture and detailed reliefs. Your guide will lead you to the best point for viewing and photography - an open pond reflecting the architecture and sun on one side of the approaching corridor to Angkor Wat. If you come during the spring equinox (Mar. 21- Mar. 23) or the autumn equinox (Sep. 21- Sep. 23), you will witness the spectacle of the sun rising just above the most central tower of Angkor Wat’s five towers.

Generally, we will drive you back to the hotel for breakfast, but you can also pack food from the hotel and have a breakfast picnic at Angkor Wat in the rising sun, which will be a unique experience. Don't worry if it’s too cloudy to watch the sunrise since your guide will make a flexible change according to the weather during your days in Siem Reap.

★ Why is a Private Car Tour Superior to Others?
1. We will spend three days in Angkor Wat small, grand, and outer circuits, among which the temples are distant from each other in grand and outer circuits. The convenient and fast private car allows you to save energy and devote more time to your visit.
2. It is able to flexibly adjust the tour schedule, visiting at the best time of each temple as much as possible and avoiding the hottest time at noon.
3. An air-conditioned car is more comfortable than an open-air tuk-tuk and can protect you from dirt on dusty roads.After breakfast, continue to Bayon Temple in the center of Angkor Thom. Its 54 pagodas are all carved with giant four-faced smiling Buddha statues, praised as the “Khmer Smile.” When walking in Bayon Temple's corridors or climbing steep stairs, casually look up, and you will see the smiling Buddha. Step northward to the Terrace of Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King, where the ancient Angkor King chose his mount and held public ceremonies, bringing the scene of how he stood on the platform to welcome triumph troops to mind.

Take a short break at lunchtime and come to the Ta Prohm Temple, which keeps the original appearance of dilapidated temple ruins engulfed by jungles. In front of a towering Kapok tree that swallowed a pagoda, you can take photos with the same backdrop as an iconic scene in the movie Tomb Raider. Then follow your guide to view the sunset at Bakheng Temple atop the Bakheng Mountain. The 67-meter-high (220-foot) mountain is not high at altitude but high enough to overlook the whole of Angkor Thom, giving any Khmer person who once stood here a heroic feeling of dominating the world. Do you feel the same as the Khmer people at that time when standing here now? If we are lucky to catch sight of the evening glow, we’ll have a good chance of seeing the sunrise the next day. Be careful when going down the mountain, and finally, you will be escorted to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

Today, we will explore more Angkor temples with different characteristics. Preah Khan, meaning “sacred sword” in Khmer, was built in the 12th century by Jayavarman VII, king of the Khmer Empire, to honor his father. A two-story stone building featuring a unique Mediterranean style rarely seen in Angkor is the must-see in this temple. Continue to Neak Pean, named after statues of two entwined snakes on the central pool surrounded by four small ponds. In the ancient Khmer Empire, people take herb baths to treat their ailments in these ponds.Have lunch, and then let’s explore Ta Som, which manifests in an unrestored appearance. The scene of a tree root penetrating the porch and reaching into the ground has become the favorite of tourists' photos. East Mebon, east of Ta Som, was then on an artificial lake, and what was a wharf is now left only stone steps, where you can still find drainage holes in lion-shape on the outer edge of each stage. Pre Rup is the end of today’s Angkor Wat tour, which used to be a royal crematorium and is also translated as “Transformation Tower” since the ancient royal families believed to become deities after cremation. Ascending to the top to gaze out, the broad view of the forest at sunset and red-brick architecture bathed in golden light will etch in your memory.

After all visits, we will drive you to the well-selected restaurant for a buffet dinner with an Apsara Dance Show. Do you remember the numerous reliefs of goddesses Apsara, with beautiful figures and graceful dancing postures we visited in Angkor temples? Deeply influenced by Khmer culture, Apsara in Angkor temples is distinct from its original image in Indian mythology. The Apsara Dance thus originated in such vivid carvings and rich imagination and later became Cambodian classical court dance.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Apsara Dance Show
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)

This morning, we will drive northeast for around 40 kilometers (25 miles) to Banteay Srei, one of the most elaborate temples in Angkor ruins. Banteay Srei was built of red sandstone with brilliant colors, and the superb sculptures on the walls earned it the reputation of “the Jewel of Angkor Art.” You will have enough time to admire the delicate carvings of the temple and take good pictures. Then head to Beng Mealea, meaning “lotus pond,” an unrestored Hindu Temple deep in the jungle. The mysterious and original beauty here makes it irresistible for adventure lovers. Follow your guide to walk through the ruins littered with lots of rocks, and the wooden walkway built later will make your walking much more effortless.

Keep your strength, and we will get to Roluos Group of Temples in the afternoon. Built in the 9th century, the Roluos temples complex is commonly regarded as the beginning of Khmer art. Bakong Temple, the largest temple in the Roluos sites, was the earliest state temple of the Angkor Dynasty and the first Khmer temple in the shape of Mount Meru, the sacred mountain and center of the universe of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology. Preah Ko Temple was named after the three sacred cattle before it, symbolizing the faith in the Hindu God Shiva. Lorei Temple was the first Angkor temple built on a lake - the first artificial lake of the Angkor Dynasty.Drive back downtown to the Old Market to experience authentic local life. Shuttle among stalls selling agricultural products, snacks and souvenirs in the bustling market, no one fails to be captivated by the assortment of wood carvings, cloth woven scarves, hand-embroidered silk shawls, silver jewelry, and incense. We can send you to the hotel, or you may have dinner around the Old Market and return to the hotel by yourself.

► Where to Have Dinner in Siem Reap: Lotus Dosa Corner
100m west of the Old Market, it serves Indian dishes and is highly praised for its delicious cuisine, good service, and reasonable prices, costing about $10 per person. Chicken Samosas, Garlic Naan, Lamb Korma, and Butter Chicken are all worth tasting. Besides, the most exciting thing about the restaurant is that the owner has an ambition of denuclearizing and preventing global warming. He and his family have travelled around the world eight times, once even by bike; along the way, they were greeted by many state leaders, and their photos of global tours have occupied the walls.

Meal: Breakfast
Accommodation: Anantara Angkor Resort (5 stars) or Tara Angkor Hotel (4 stars)