3-Day Siemreap Temple and Tonle Sap Tour | Small Group Tour

Start your journey morning at 7.30 am depart your hotel for the journey through the countryside to the world's second largest freshwater Tonle Sap Lake.

The Tonle Sap one of the world's most productive bodies of fresh water. In the wet season, the Tonle Sap Lake swells to 12,000 km². During the dry half of the year, the lake shrinks to as small as 2,500 km², draining into the Tonle Sap River. Each year, millions of fish come to spawn in the seasonally flooded forest surrounding the lake, attracting a myriad of water birds as well as people, who have settled in villages along the shores and who live with the rhythm of the water. This ecosystem was classified as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997.

Take a boat trip to 'Kampong Phluk' a collection of three small fishing villages in an atmospheric flooded forest setting.  Cruise through the village and see unique houses on stilts, and Cambodians at work in the floating forest. Our boat will meander slowly through forest canals, allowing you to catch glimpses of flora and fauna, and see a truly beautiful eco-system. Enjoy Khmer lunch (at your own expense) at local restaurant and rest after Tonle Sap Lake. 

Note: Alternative from the Tonle Sap Lake during the dry season from 01 Mar - 31 June the group will visit Phare The Cambodia Circus instead. Siem Reap's most unique, authentic top rated evening entertainment. More than just a circus, Phare performers use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell uniquely Cambodian stories; historical, folk and modern. The young circus artists will astonish you with their energy, emotion, enthusiasm and talent.  

This afternoon start your fist temple Roulous temple group. The ruins of Roulous are among the oldest Khmer monuments in the area, dating back to the 9th century reign of King Indravarman I. Witness the evolution of these magnificent temples from the early days of the Khmer empire up to its peak with the Angkor temples in the 13th century. There are three key Hindu structures that remain at Roulous; Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko, which were all part of the ancient city of Hariharalaya. You will peacefully explore the temples and soak up the local atmosphere away from the crowds. Walk a total distance of 3km from one temple to another and meet local friendly villagers on the way. Transfer back to Siem Reap town.

We begin with a pre-dawn departure from your hotel for sunrise outside Angkor Wat. Enter the great temple in darkness (please bring a torch) from the little-visited eastern side, and creep along hoary cloistered corridors past the longest stretch of bas-relief carvings in the world. Soak up the atmosphere of dawn at Angkor, from the edge of one of the ancient library pools. We then explore the interior of the great temple, spending a thorough two hours discovering the corridors, central chambers and upper terraces of this truly great temple. Your expert local guide will decipher the myriad of stories behind the bas-relief carvings, and give you an insight into life during the height of the Khmer empire.

We end our touring at Angkor with breakfast outside the temple (breakfast is not included), and a short rest. Continue the morning visit the southern Gate of Angkor Thom, flanked by a row of 54 stone figures on each side - gods to the left and demons to the right - and the fortified city of Angkor Thom.  At 'The Bayon' (12th century) we see its beautifully crafted central towers, covered in more than 200 enormous faces, then explore the famous Terrace of the Leper King, and the Terrace of Elephants.  After lunch and a rest break we set out for the jungle-enveloped Ta Prohm - one of the most atmospheric of all temples in Angkor. Once home to 2,740 monks, Ta Prohm today looks much as it did in the early 1850s, when French explorer Henri Mouhot 'rediscovered' this crumbling site.

Today we visit the most interesting temples outside Angkor Thom city. Departing your hotel around 8.00 am, you begin with first stop at Pre Rup Hindu temple built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction. 

Continue a drive for the intricately carved and well-preserved Banteay Srei. The detailed reliefs on this smaller sandstone structure are regarded as the finest, most skillfully crafted in Cambodia. Banteay Srei has only been accessible since the late 1990s, when the Khmer Rouge left the area.

Return your journey back and visit Neak Pean temples, an artificial island with a Buddhist temple on a circular island in Jayatataka Baray and continue your afternoon to Preah Khan temple, a ruined but highly atmospheric mélange of tree roots and crumbling stone structures. Construction of this site was commissioned by the great 'temple builder' Jayavaraman VII (in honour of his father) and a visit to this smaller site makes for an interesting contrast with the more imposing Angkor Wat. Preah Khan is currently being restored by the World Monument Fund and in places is in remarkably good condition.