Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia (2012)

Fly overnight from the U.S. to Bangkok, losing one day en route as you cross the International Date Line over the Pacific.

Arrive in Bangkok late in the evening. You'll be met at the airport and escorted to your hotel.

After breakfast at our hotel, enjoy a tour of Bangkok. Step into the Old Kingdom of Siam at the Grand Palace of Thailand, a sprawling compound of ceremonial halls, gilded spires, and ornate buildings. The ancient city’s defining landmark since 1782, the palace became the centerpiece of a new Thai capital called Krung Thep ("City of Angels"), known outside of Thailand as Bangkok. It was King Mongkut (or Rama IV) who ruled from this palace, expanded trade with the West, and was romanticized in the musical The King and I.

The focal point of the palace is the Emerald Buddha. Carved out of jade and adorned with gold, the Emerald Buddha made a dramatic appearance in 1434, when it was found hidden in a temple stupa. Since 1785, the Emerald Buddha—the most highly revered image of the Buddha—has resided in the Royal Chapel of the Grand Palace.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll visit one of the workshops for which Bangkok is known: the Gems Gallery, with a fine selection of jewelry and colored stones.

This evening, we’ll enjoy a Welcome Dinner.

Enjoy a free day to acclimate and to explore Bangkok. Or, perhaps you’ll join us today on an optional tour to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was the capital of Thailand for nearly 500 years and was home to 33 kings from many different dynasties. The capital of Siam from 1353 to 1767, Ayutthaya was once a place of such fabulous wealth that early travelers described “2,000 spires clad in gold.”

After lunch on your own, we begin with an optional cruise on a motorized “long tail” boat—so named for its long, thin design. As we cruise, we peek into daily life by the river: the temples, schools, markets, and even churches and mosques. We disembark at Wat Chai Wattanaram (Wat is Thai for temple) where we tour the beautiful ruins, set in a tranquil green park. The temple complex, which was begun in 1630, resembles Cambodian architecture, which some scholars believe was a deliberate reference to the rival Khmer capital, Angkor.

Next, we continue on to Wat Mongkol Bophit, which houses the largest seated bronze Buddha statue in Thailand and Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. Here we have a chance to walk around the local market with a variety of products, from local food and snacks, to beautiful artifacts and handcrafts. Finally, our tour finishes with a stop at the Elephant Camp to visit with Thailand’s national animal. We may even be able to feed some of these amazing and endangered animals before returning to Bangkok in time for dinner on your own.

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for the airport for our flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.

Luang Prabang is the ancient, royal capital of Laos, located on a peninsula between the Mekong and Khan rivers with lush green mountains all around. The city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered one of the wonders of Southeast Asia.

After checking into our hotel, we have an orientation walk around the neighborhood. Set in spectacular scenery, Luang Prabang is famous for the more than 30 active temples and hundreds of architectural treasures that reside here. This is a working city, not a museum, and we will mingle with monks and local people heading to market and going about their daily business. Notice the many 19th-century French colonial villas mixed in with the more traditional Lao-style homes.

We see the Royal Palace Museum, which was built from 1904-1909 during the reign of King Sisavang Vong and served as his palace. Today it is a museum where you can see the royal throne and other artifacts. The building itself is a fine example of the French beaux-arts style and traditional Lao artwork. The ground floor of the museum is divided into several halls and rooms displaying gifts from other countries to the Lao kings and collections of swords and Buddha images.

We’ll continue to the royal temple Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest in the city. Originally built of wood in 1513, it was reconstructed in brick and stucco following a fire in the late 19th century.

Then, depart for Phousi Hill, in the center of the old town. Here you’ll climb the 328 steps and at the top, overlook most of Luang Prabang. You’ll enjoy views of the Khan and Mekong rivers, and if the weather obliges, enjoy a colorful sunset.

We’ll continue on to the night markets, and then we’ll have dinner at a local restaurant.

Today we rise very early to witness and participate in an ancient Buddhist tradition—alms-giving to local monks. In the quiet of early morning (around 5am), we watch as hundreds of monks from the nearby Buddhist temples parade slowly and single-file through the streets of Luang Prabang, collecting food offerings from the citizens who, in turn, receive prayers for their families and friends from the monks. Dressed in traditional Lao orange robes, the monks provide a fluent sense of calm and solemnity to the inhabitants of the city each morning.

Next, we’ll enjoy an in-depth look at what life is like in present-day Laos. We’ll head to the nearby Kia Luang village where we’ll get to meet young students a local school, supported in part by Grand Circle Foundation—part of the World Classroom initiative. We'll then enjoy a Home-Hosted Lunch with villagers.

Later, we’ll take a Mekong River excursion that begins with a boat ride on one of the longest rivers in the world. The Mekong, or “Mother of all Rivers,” supports 90 million people who produce 54,000 square miles of rice every year. Also home to more species of giant fish than any other river, this majestic river is said to produce balls of light along its surface, which the locals attribute to the Phaya Naga, or Mekong Dragons.

This evening, we gather together for dinner.

After breakfast at our hotel, we begin our lengthy journey overland to Vang Vieng. We'll stop at a few small villages en route to meet members of the local hill tribes, and we'll also stop for lunch at a local restaurant.

After arriving and checking in at our hotel in Vang Vieng, we enjoy dinner at our hotel this evening.

After breakfast at our hotel, we travel overland to Vientiane. There is some spectacular scenery along the way as we leave Vang Vieng.

We’ll stop to visit an organic farm that produces tea on the banks of the Nam Song River. Profits from the farm are used to support and educate the local villagers by providing an English school and a community center. Founded in 1996, the farm aimed to replace destructive agricultural techniques with more environmentally friendly, organic methods.

When we arrive in Vientiane this afternoon, we’ll have lunch together at a local restaurant and then visit Phra That Luang (Great Sacred Stupa), a national symbol of Laos which was built in the 16th century and is distinguished by its gold-leaf dome.

The rest of the afternoon will be yours to spend as you like. Dinner this evening is at our hotel.

We have breakfast at our hotel and then set out to explore Vientiane. Pronounced “Vieng Chan,” the capital of Laos is a slow-paced, friendly city of some 600,000 people.

The city was built around the twelfth century as an early center for commerce in the region. We start our explorations with a visit to the Patuxay Victory Gate Monument. We also visit the Haw Phra Kaew (House of the Emerald Buddha), which contains some of the best Buddhist sculptures in Laos. Nearby stands Wat Sisaket, the oldest monastery in Vientiane, which dates back to 1818. The temple contains a total of 6,840 Buddha statues in varying sizes and positions. The inner walls of the temple itself hold thousands of Buddha statues in specially carved niches.

You are free to spend the afternoon and evening exploring Vientiane at your own pace.

After breakfast at the hotel, we head to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the country’s largest city.

While many locals still call the city Saigon, the city was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976. We embark on an included city tour this afternoon, discovering the French Quarter and the Catholic Cathedral of Notre Dame. Dressed in beautiful stained glass, the church was completed in 1880 and is said to stand on the site of an old pagoda. We also see the architecture of the majestic Post Office, built during the same time period and featuring two enormous murals depicting maps of Vietnam as it was many decades ago.

Later, we visit the Minh Phuong lacquer workshop, where we learn how local craftsmen create their specialty products, and explore the landmark Ben Thanh market, where local merchants peddle everything from carved wooden animals and coffee beans to delicately painted cookware to take home as a souvenir.

Dinner is at the hotel tonight.

After breakfast this morning, we visit the Cu Chi tunnels—a 125-mile-long underground maze where thousands of fighters and villagers hid and fought during the Vietnam War, referred to by locals as the “American War.” The South Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, built this vast network of tunnels in and around the district of Cu Chi and worked continually over 25 years to expand the multi-level network. The tunnels—which include mess halls, meeting rooms, an operating theater, a tiny cinema, small factories, and vast ammunition stores—allowed the Viet Cong to control large areas near Saigon. Today, the Cu Chi tunnels provide invaluable insight into the war era. We return to Ho Chi Minh City in time for lunch.

Afterwards, we’ll have a chance to explore the War Remnants Museum for the Vietnamese perspective on the War.

You can spend the balance of your day at leisure, or later this evening, perhaps you’ll join our optional tour to take a cyclo-rickshaw ride and enjoy the open air and sites of the narrow streets of the city the way the locals do. Your destination is a local theater, where you’ll watch a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show, or Mua Roi Nuoc, which uses water for the stage and depicts humorous tales from Vietnamese folklore.

After breakfast, we begin a day-long drive to Chau Doc. We stop en route for lunch in Cantho. After lunch, we continue via Long Xuyen, the capital of the An Giang province, to Chau Doc with a stop along the way to see the Cao Dai Temple, or Great Temple of the Holy See. Meaning "high palace," Cao Dai stands nine stories high and wildly mixes the styles, colors, and designs of every Asian religion and culture.

Chau Doc is a beautiful town bordering Cambodia, and as such, it is a rare melting pot of religions and cultures including ethnic Khmer, Cham, Vietnamese, and Chinese people. This evening, we'll visit the home of a local family, with whom we'll share a special dinner.

We rise early this morning for a cruise around a local floating fish farm and meet boat people living on the river. Then we bid farewell to Vietnam as we board a speedboat in Chau Doc and travel along the Mekong River into Cambodia. On this breathtaking ride, we’ll pass through the thatched-roof villages and modern towns, glittering pagodas, and lush palm-fringed shores dotted with wooden fishing boats.

After arriving at our Phnom Penh hotel in the afternoon, we have lunch together and take an orientation walk of the neighborhood to get our bearings. Later, we visit the Toul Sleng Prison Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek—both grim reminders of Cambodia’s bloody past under Pol Pot. It is almost inconceivable to confront the nature of true evil here in this gentle land, but the Buddhist memorial at Choeung Ek commemorates the 1.7 million victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot genocide. This execution site is one of many throughout Cambodia.

Dinner this evening is at a local restaurant.

After breakfast, we visit the Royal Palace, where King Norodom Sihamoni and former King Norodom Sihanouk live today. The palace was opened in 1870 under King Norodom, and now contains the Royal Residence, the Throne Hall, the Silver Pagoda, and other buildings. Wat Preah Keo Morokat (the Silver Pagoda) is one of the city's most visited sites and offers a display of priceless Buddhist and historical objects. The pagoda draws its name from the more than 5,000 silver tiles that cover a floor in the temple. The building serves less as a functioning shrine (no monks currently reside here) than a repository of cultural treasures such as the famous Emerald Buddha and many other valuable statues. We’ll also view the National Museum’s collection of Khmer art, which displays more than 5,000 objects including statues and other artifacts from Angkor Wat.

After lunch in a local restaurant, you are free to spend the rest of the day exploring on your own.

This morning, we depart for Siem Reap. En route, we'll stop in Kampong Thom for lunch, and we'll also explore the local market and view the ancient Bridge of Kampong Kdei.

After checking into our hotel in Siem Reap late this afternoon, we take a brief tour of the surrounding area, pausing to admire the grounds of the Royal Residence before strolling the lush Royal Independence Gardens nearby. The cry of flying foxes and the sweet smell of lotus flowers will likely welcome us to this lovely park of lily ponds and lush green space. We’ll enjoy dinner tonight at a local restaurant.

Today we'll venture into the heart of ancient Angkor, a holy city that took centuries to build and whose scale is still breathtaking today—it sprawls across an area of roughly 96 square miles. The Khmer aristocrats who built the temples and monuments here between AD 800-1200 were motivated by their Hindu and Buddhist beliefs.

We’ll begin at the South Gate of Angkor Thom, the capital city of Khmer rulers. We’ll see the Bayon, and make brief stops at Baphoun and the Elephants Terrace, where amazing bas-reliefs depict the huge beasts almost life-sized. At the nearby Terrace of the Leper King, equally intricate wall carvings depict rank after rank of court attendants and mystical rulers. We conclude our explorations of Angkor’s most notable features with a visit to Ta Prohm. Unlike Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm has been left the way it was found, covered by a dense jungle of trees and roots and allowing you to discover this archaeological treasure just as it was found by the French in the mid-1800s.

After lunch at our hotel, we’ll visit Angkor Wat and wait for sunset, the most opportune moment for seeing this masterpiece of Khmer architecture. Angkor Wat is a large pyramid temple, built between 1113 and 1150, surrounded by a great moat 570 feet wide. Note the bas-relief carvings throughout the temple. Who knows what you might feel as you stand in the courtyard of this temple whose towers represent Mount Meru, the center of all physical and spiritual universes and the home to many gods in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies.

Dinner is on your own tonight.

This morning, we depart for a local village, where we'll have the opportunity to explore Tonle Sap Lake—which translates to "Great Fresh Water Lake." Here, we'll visit the home of a farmer and take a ride in his water buffalo cart to gain a glimpse of the daily life. After lunch on your own, you can choose to enjoy the afternoon at leisure to explore Siem Reap.

Or, you can join our optional tour to visit Banteay Srei, one of the oldest and most beautifully preserved temple sites in Cambodia. Built in AD 967, Banteay Srei means “Citadel of Women,” and is recognized as a tribute to the beauty of women. The structures here have been carved in painstaking detail out of sandstone. Amazingly, the detail is as intricate as a woven tapestry, a testament to the craft of the original artisans. The temple is set like a gem in a seemingly enchanted forest, about 20 miles from Angkor.

Dinner is on your own this evening.

After a morning at leisure, we'll transfer to the Siem Reap airport and fly to Bangkok, where we stay overnight. In the evening, we board a traditional wooden rice barge for our Farewell Dinner. We’ll cruise past the Temple of the Dawn and the Grand Palace, both of which are spectacular by moonlight.

This morning, you’ll rise early for your morning flight back to the U.S. Or, begin our optional post-trip extension to Chiang Rai & Chiang Mai, Thailand.