Southeast Asia Express

Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City, a thundering, frenetic introduction to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. There's a welcome briefing with your leader this evening, followed by an optional group dinner at a local restaurant. However, the rest of the day is free. If you're itching to explore, you can visit the nearby sites, such as Ben Thanh Market, where thousands of sellers offer a dizzying assortment of goods, or the French-built Notre Dame Cathedral, an intriguing insight into the history and architecture of this fascinating city. .

After breakfast, we leave Ho Chi Minh City and drive (approximately six hours including a lunch stop) to Chau Doc on the Mekong Delta. After checking into our hotel, we transfer out of town for a 30-minute walk to the top of Sam Mountain for sunset, enjoying views over temple-studded countryside and into Cambodia from the summit. Alternatively, there is a cable car to the top, which costs 75,000 Vietnamese dong (US$3. 30) one way. The evening is free to explore town, perhaps visiting the lively Chau Doc market where vendors dish out a spectacular range of foodie treats. .

After driving approximately one hour to the Tinh Bien-Phnom Den land border, we bid Vietnam farewell, cross into Cambodia and meet our Cambodian tour leader. Our drive then takes us via Phnom Chisor, a mountain-top temple built in the Angkorian era, where we enjoy wonderful countryside views before stopping for lunch. We then transfer to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to check into our centrally located hotel, our base for the next two nights. Please note, today's transfer time is approximately seven hours.

This evening, we tour the energetic capital by cyclo – a three-wheeled bicycle taxi and the quintessential way to see the city. .

Despite the devastating Khmer Rouge regime and subsequent civil war, Phnom Penh is a fascinating city to explore with fine French colonial architecture and a gastronomic scene to rival any. This morning, we tour the Royal Palace – official residence of King Sihamoni – and the dazzling Silver Pagoda, a Buddhist temple and architectural wonder.

In the afternoon, we visit two sites that give us a vivid impression of the past horrors here. First is the city-centre Genocide Museum, which is located within the former Khmer Rouge prison known as S-21 or Tuol Sleng. And 9mi (15km) out of town is the Killing Fields, a mass grave and execution site for S-21 inmates. Visiting these two sites is a sobering experience but provides an essential understanding of what the people here endured just a few decades ago. .

This morning, we depart Phnom Penh and transfer to Battambang – pronounced Battambong – the second-largest city in Cambodia. The drive, which passes paddy fields and farms, will take approximately six hours but we stop for lunch and to visit a pottery village. Battambang itself is an attractive riverside hub with traces of French elegance, friendly Khmer people and well-preserved colonial architecture.

There are also striking examples of art deco architecture at the central market, the Victory swimming pool and the train station. Before sunset, we take a short drive out of town and visit Phnom Sampov (a limestone mountain and pilgrimage site), known for having spectacular views of Battambang and a massive cave home to millions of bats that pour into the sky at sunset. .

Following breakfast, we have a leisurely half-day bike ride through the Battambang countryside. Stop along the way to learn about rural life and discover cottage industries producing ripe paper, dried bananas and bamboo sticky rice. The 15mi (24km) cycle is easy riding on flat terrain with lots of stops along the way. If you would like to opt out and hop on a tuk-tuk instead, let the leader know at the beginning of the trip so they can make alternative arrangements. After, we transfer (approximately two hours) to the village of Banteay Chhmar and experience true Cambodian hospitality by staying with local families in traditional wooden-stilted Khmer houses.

This afternoon includes a village walk followed by an authentic home-cooked dinner. .

After a home-cooked breakfast, we visit the market with our hosts to pick fresh vegetables, meat and herbs before returning to help them prepare and cook a delicious lunch. We enjoy our creation before departing the village in the early afternoon and transferring to Siem Reap (approximately three hours).

Upon arrival, we walk past the Royal Gardens and along the Siem Reap River to the Old Market, helping us to get our bearings in this small town. You may like to finish with a visit to the Artisans d'Ángkor workshop, a not-for-profit organisation that provides vocational training for young people in traditional Cambodian arts. The rest of the evening is free for you to enjoy Siem Reap at leisure. .

This morning, we tour the standout attraction in Cambodia: Angkor, the one-time capital of the Khmer empire. Rediscovered in the 1870s and described by French explorer Henri Mouchot as ‘grander than anything of Greece or Rome', this Unesco World Heritage site is one of the most spectacular archaeological zones in the world. To make the trip extra special, we rise early to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat, a spectacular Khmer temple complex thought to be the largest religious building on the planet.

We then visit the many structures inside the royal city of Angkor Thom, including the magnificent Bayon, which comprises 54 intricately carved towers in a single temple. We also see the less-visited outlying Ta Prohm temple, which is still covered in jungle as it was first found. .

This morning, we continue our exploration of Angkor with a visit to the small 10th-century temple of Banteay Srei, located 22mi (35km) from Siem Reap town and containing fine examples of Khmer sculpture. The afternoon is free for you to independently explore Angkor, wander around Siem Reap town or enjoy an optional boat ride on Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and a sanctuary for wildlife including the critically endangered Siamese crocodile. .

We have an early start to travel from Siem Reap to Bangkok (approximately 10 hours). After the border crossing (which usually takes up to an hour), we meet our Thai tour leader and have our first taste of Thai food at a local restaurant before continuing onto Bangkok. Famous for tuk-tuks, khlong boats and incredible street food, the capital is an assault on the senses and provides a real contrast to Cambodia. .

The tour ends this morning after breakfast. Catch your free transfer to the airport to begin your journey home. Alternatively, speak to your sales representative to extend your stay in this thrilling city.