Day 1: Arrive
in Vietnam, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
On arrival in Saigon
(Ho Chi Minh City) you
will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. After
checking-in you are free at leisure for the rest of the day.
Day
2: Saigon, Cai
Be, Vinh Long & Can Tho-Cruising & Cycling (55km)
This morning you will meet your
cycle guides and be fitted to your bicycles before being transferred to Cai
Be which is a
bustling river market and here you will enjoy a cruise along the Mekong
Delta and visit the
colourful floating market as well as visiting nearby Dong
Phu Island. Here you will explore the shady surroundings as you
spin through orchards and witness the daily life of the farmers. After
leaving the island you head to Vinh
Long and then
continue cycling through the heart of the Mekong Delta crossing
countless canals and rivers that irrigate this vivid, arable landscape.
After a few ferry crossings, always a good opportunity to interact with
the friendly locals, you arrive in Can
Tho, the unofficial capital of the Mekong Delta. It is a
friendly lively city with rice husking mills being a major source of
employment.
Day 3: Cruising
& Cycling Can Tho to Chau Doc (125km)
An early start as you take a boat
trip along the Hau
River to the Cai
Rang floating market, one of the biggest in Vietnam, here you
will witness a mass of wooden boats of all sizes converging to sell
their wares. Your small boat allows you to weave in-between these
waterborne traders getting up close and personal, great for photo
opportunities and buying some produce yourself! Afterwards it is back on
the bicycles as you pedal amongst vivid greens and friendly faces. You
are now heading deeper into the delta and the roads narrow and the
traffic becomes lighter. Absorb the sights as you cycle past endless
cottage industries, timber merchants, coconut shredders, small docks
loading/unloading rice, and tiny vibrant markets. In the afternoon you
enjoy a gentle coast through one of the most scenic parts of the delta
as you follow the Mekong through traditional villages and past fish
farms, over small bridges, a more rural fee. On arrival in Chau
Doc if time and
energy permits you may wish to hike to the top of nearby Sam Mountain
for great sunset views out across the rice fields of Cambodia in the
distance.
Day 4: Cruising
& Cycling Chau Doc to Ha Tien (80km)
B / L / D
Another early start as you board a
boat and explore the amazing riverside market with all its bustling
activity and smorgasbord of sounds, colours, and smells. The boat
continues through fish farm villages where tons and tons of fish are
bred in cages beneath floating homes, to an ethnic
Cham village with
its famous Mubarak Mosque. Here you will also witness women weaving
using traditional methods. You then cycle along a pleasant road, passing
vibrant green rice fields, crossing many bridges, seeing towering
limestone formations in the distance. There is plenty along the way to
see, from the contrasting architectural styles of ethnic Khmer homes, to
the numerous colourful Khmer pagodas now you are getting closer to
Cambodia. By the late afternoon you arrive in Ha
Tien which has a
forgotten feel but still retains a certain charm with its shuttered
terraces, crumbling colonial buildings and mats of seafood drying in the
sun.
Day 5: Farewell
Vietnam, Hello Cambodia (65km)
This morning you bid farewell to
Vietnam as you cycle the short distance to the border crossing with
Cambodia. Your introduction to Cambodia will be cycling along quiet
coastal dirt roads passing through salt flats and small villages. Your
first port of call will be the coastal resort of Kep which
is now undergoing a revival after years of neglect. You will have lunch
here and perhaps try the tasty seafood the area is renown for. After
lunch you spin the final 35km to Kampot.
The town has an undeniable charm, being a sleepy, quaint place with a
relaxed ambience and friendly locals, the streets are quiet and there is
a lot of French colonial and Chinese influenced architecture still
surviving, and it all that was not enough there is a wonderful
riverfront where you will experience possibly the most beautiful sunset
in Cambodia as the sun slips down behind the nearby mountains.
Day 6: Cycle
Kampot to Takeo (85km)
As you leave Kampot you cycle
through some inspiring limestone karst scenery, picturesque villages
including some ethnic Cham settlements, and endless rice fields. Takeo does
not have a lot to boast about being a small provincial capital made up
of many local government department buildings. However, around the
market area there are some old colonial villas in differing states, and
the waterfront promenade makes for a pleasant late afternoon sunset
stroll. A real taste of small-town Cambodia well off the tourist trail!
Day
7: Cycle Takeo
to Phnom Penh (85km)
After breakfast this morning you
have the opportunity to visit a local orphanage managed by "New
Futures" Here you
will learn more about the great educational work they are doing in the
surrounding poor villages, and how Asia Adventures is working together
with them through its"Pedal2Empower" cycle
donation project. As you leave Takeo you spin north passing through more
endless rice paddies. After some time you turn off the main road to
visit Tonle Bati,
a riverside location where you have time to explore the small, yet
picturesque Angkorian temples of Ta Prohm and Yeay Peau. You will then
avoid the main road as much as possible and upon reaching the outskirts
of Phnom Penh you will stop-off at the 'Killing
Fields'. This is where Khmer Rouge prisoners were forcibly
marched from the Toul Sleng prison in the city centre and then executed;
it is now a memorial site located in a beautiful tranquil setting. After
some contemplation you can either negotiate the rush-hour traffic into
the heart of Phnom
Penh, Cambodia's capital city, or opt for taking the support
vehicle.
Day 8: Phnom
Penh City Cyclo Tour (0km!)
On your first morning in charming Phnom
Penh you will may be
pleased to discover that today it is someone else's turn to do the
pedaling as you are treated to a fun cyclo
tour, a traditional mode of transport. Your first stop will be
the terracotta red National
Museum which offers
a charming setting for a comprehensive collection of Khmer artifacts.
After this you will visit the nearby Royal
Palace, on the banks of the mighty Mekong river. Inside the
Palace walls you will be treated to the Throne Hall, the Chan Chaya
Pavilion, and the King is residential quarters. You will then move onto
the neighboring Silver
Pagoda, so named as it is claimed its floor is made up of over
4,000 silver tiles! After lunch it is back in the cycles as you are
pedaled through the streets of Phnom Penh to the Toul
Sleng Genocide Museum (also
known as S21), ironically a former school, located in a quiet Phnom Penh
suburb, this was the infamous Khmer Rouge prison / torture centre. You
will then visit the Russian
Market an excellent
place for picking up souvenirs.
Day 9: Phnom
Penh to Kompong Cham (65 - 105km)
This morning you leave the busy
streets of Phnom Penh and after 40km turn off the main road and enjoy a
shady ride following the course of the Mekong
River along a mostly
unpaved, and at times bumpy road toward the town of Kompong Cham.
Foreigners are rare through these parts so expect a few surprised faces
as you cycle through the many traditional villages where you will
witness people busy with their everyday lives: cooking, cleaning,
playing, leading the cows to the river, cycling school kids, pagodas &
monks, and the sun-drying of bright red chillies, pepper, rice, and fish
by the side of the road, and of course the river life on the mighty
Mekong which keeps coming and going from view. There are plenty of cool,
shady, scenic spots for rest breaks where the curious locals are sure to
want to say 'Hello'. Kompong
Cham retains a
number of French influenced buildings and trader shop fronts - while
often badly dilapidated they retain an austere grace so totally lacking
from the more modern concoctions that invariably flank them. Given its
small size its easy to explore by foot, which you are free to do after
you have checked-in to your hotel.
Day 10: Kompong
Cham, Beng Mealea & Siem Reap (105km)
An early start this morning as you
leave Kompong Cham and soon turn off the main highway and follow a road
which gradually climbs and passes through shady rubber
plantations. After 75km you reach the small town of Prey Thom
Tratrav and rejoin the main highway. From here you will travel in the
support vehicle for the 150km drive to the market town of Dom Dek. From
here you will re-mount your bikes and cycle the 30km to the temple
remains of Beng
Mealea, a truly atmospheric experience. Only recently
re-discovered the temple has been consumed by the voracious appetite of
nature and is largely overrun by vegetation, the trees that have forced
their way through the stone towers and galleries make it a shady and
cool place to relax. As you explore you feel like a true adventurer!
Afterwards you drive to Siem Reap and check-in to your hotel
Day 11: Exploring
the Magnificent Angkor Temples by Bike (40km)
This morning you begin your cycle
exploration of the incredible Angkor temples. Today focusing on the
Small Circuit which features temple greats such as: the pyramid of Takeo,
the jungle-clad Ta
Prohm made famous by
the Hollywood blockbuster 'Tomb Raider' Sras
Srang known as the
King's bathing pond; and the impressive Royal City of Angkor
Thom, where you will find the Bayon,
a temple famed for its many gigantic carved faces smiling beguilingly
down at you. You will also visit other important sites in this immense
walled city. After lunch it is time to take on the majesticAngkor
Wat, the world’s largest religious building. After being
initially inspired by its overall size you will explore in more detail,
getting up close and personal to fully appreciate its architecture and
intricately detailed bas-reliefs. After returning to the hotel you are
free at leisure to experience Siem Reap’s nightlife which includes many
fine restaurants and lively bars.
Day
12: Cycling to
Beautiful Banteay Srei Temple (80km)
Today you pedal north towards Banteay
Srei. This cycle ride is a real delight as you pass through
pleasant Cambodian countryside and its friendly villagers. On route we
will stop off at a couple of villages to get a closer look at the wooden
stilted homes and every day life. One thing you will notice for sure is
large black pots in people’s gardens containing a thick light brown
bubbling mixture - this area is famed for its sugar palm tree sweets,
sure to give any cyclist a much needed energy boost! On arrival at
Banteay Srei you will be struck by its delicate beauty. It is an
elaborately decorated temple, embellished with floral motifs and scenes
from the Ramayana, all carved from pink sandstone. It is said the
carvings must have been done by women as the detail is too fine for the
hands of a man. You will have lunch at a local restaurant, after which
you cycle back towards Siem Reap, and depending on the time explore some
of the temples on the Grand Circuit such as : Preah
Khan or 'Sacred
Sword', one of the largest temples at Angkor; Neak
Pean surrounded by
fountains and ponds; and Banteay
Kdei. This evening you will enjoy dinner and a mesmerizing Apsara
dance performance.
Day 13: Free until
departure
Today you are free at leisure until
it is time for your transfer to Siem Reap / Angkor International Airport
for your onward flight, leaving the home of the mighty Khmer Empire with
many wonderful cycling memories…
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