4 nights from only $995

On this pre-trip extension, you have an unrivaled opportunity to see one of the world's most haunting antiquities. Set amid lush tropical forests, the spectacular temple of Angkor Wat (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) showcases the creative genius of the Khmer empire, which reached its pinnacle between the ninth and 14th centuries. The ancient city of Angkor extends for miles around this principal temple, containing hundreds of archaeological sites. You'll have expert guidance to these elegant courtyards, intricate bas-reliefs, and monuments to god-kings as you head straight for the highlights and delve deep into Angkor's spiritually illuminated history.

Single supplement: $145.

Please note: Availability and price may vary by departure date. Please call for details.

What's Included?

• Roundtrip airfare between Bangkok and Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Accommodations—1 night in Bangkok, 3 nights in Siem Reap near Angkor
• 7 meals—4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 dinner (including 1 home-hosted lunch)
• 4 small group activities
• Services of our own resident OAT Trip Leader, who speaks English and the native language
• All transfers
• Optional tours—Dinner & Puppet Show ($30 per person); War Museum & Angkor Museum with dinner ($40 per person); Angkor Wat sunrise & Bantheay Srei ($85 per person)

Your Pre-Trip Itinerary

• Day 1Depart U.S. for Bangkok, Thailand

  You fly overnight from the U.S. to Bangkok, losing one day en route as you cross the international date line over the Pacific.

• Day 2Arrive Bangkok

  Your OAT representative meets you at the airport and arranges for your transfer to our hotel in the late evening.

• Day 3Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia/Visit Wat Bo

  Because our flight is in mid-morning, we will leave Bangkok right after breakfast and arrive in Siem Reap. We'll have time for lunch on our own before enjoying an orientation walk and a visit to Wat Bo. Tonight, we'll take in a cultural show during dinner, and return to our hotel via motorized rickshaw.

• Day 4Boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake/Optional War Museum & Angkor Museum with dinnerThis morning, join us for a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake, where you'll have a chance to glimpse a bit of the life of Cambodia's river people. Floating fishing villages sprawl across the lakefront and everything is gliding by on the water-thatched-roof houses on hollow bamboo poles, small markets, jewelry shops, even a beauty parlor floats by. Commerce goes on all across the water-women selling fruits and vegetables from a sampan, a skiff full of firewood, and fishermen selling their catch. The people who live on the water have tied their lives to the lake's cycles, and are constantly on the move as the water level rises or recedes throughout the year.
  
  Tonle Sap means "Great Lake," and indeed this is one of the world's geographical wonders as well as the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. When the rains begin here in June and July, the Mekong River begins to rise, but instead of flooding its own banks it begins to push the waters of the Tonle Sap at Phnom Penh northward, reversing the river's flow. The waters of the Tonle Sap River then flood the lake, increasing its size tenfold and flooding the surrounding forests and fields, leaving behind fertile silt for rice cultivation. In October, after the monsoon season has passed, the lake drains and the river returns to its southern flow. If you are a birder, this is a world-renowned habitat for shorebirds. We leave the lake and stop by the village to visit a local school supported by the Overseas Adventure Foundation. We end our tour with a visit to a wood-and stone-carving workshop followed by lunch at our hotel.
  
  This afternoon, join our optional tour and visit the Angkor Museum. We'll also learn about Cambodia's civil war and the sobering legacy of the Khmer Rouge during a visit to Siem Reap's War Museum.
• Day 5Angkor Wat temple tour/Home-hosted lunch/Sunset at Angkor Wat/Optional dinner and shadow puppet show Today your Trip Leader will take you 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 six by sixteen miles. The Khmer aristocrats who built the temples and monuments here between A.D. 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, pass four other temples, and make brief stops at Baphoun and the Elephants Terrace, where amazing bas-reliefs depict the huge beasts almost life-size. At the nearby Terrace of the Leper King, equally intricate wall carvings depict rank after rank of court attendants to mystical rulers. We conclude our explorations of Angkor's most notable features with a tour to the Ta Proh. We'll pause near Ta Prohm to enjoy a home-hosted lunch.
  
  Then, we explore Angkor Wat (whose name means simply "Angkor's main temple") and wait for the sunset, the most opportune moment for seeing this masterpiece of Khmer architecture. Angkor Wat is a large pyramid temple, built between A.D. 1113 and 1150, surrounded by a great moat 570 feet wide. Note the bas-relief carving 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 the universe?
  
  Tonight, dinner is on your own; or, you might choose to join us for an optional dinner and shadow puppet show. The cost of this optional dinner is $30 per person.
• Day 6Optional Angkor Wat Sunrise & Banteay Srei Tour/Killing Fields Memorial Temple/Fly to Bangkok

  On an optional tour this morning, rise early to experience the beauty of Angkor Wat at sunrise. Then, after returning to the hotel for breakfast, explore Banteay Srei, one of the oldest and most beautifully preserved temple sites in Cambodia. Built in 967 A.D., Banteay Srei means “Citadel of Women,” and it 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 and to the devoted conservation of generations of Cambodians to this site, set like a gem in a seemingly enchanted forest, about 20 miles from Angkor, it is famous for its delicate carvings, wonderful state of preservation and small size in relation to the other Angkor temples. The cost of this optional tour includes lunch.

  Or spend the morning on your own. Perhaps you'll visit one of Siem Reap's markets. There are two major markets (psah) nearby—Psah Chas (Old Market), which offers numerous sovereign shops and craft stands along the riverside, and Psah Thmei (Central Market), which sells clothes, souvenirs, and produce.
  

  This afternoon, depart for the Killing Fields Memorial Temple. It is almost inconceivable to confront the nature of true evil here in this gentle land, but this memorial, built near Phnom Penh, commemorates the 1.7 million victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot genocide. This execution site is one of many throughout Cambodia.

  In the late afternoon, we transfer to the Siem Reap airport and fly back to Bangkok. Upon arrival, we transfer to our hotel where we will stay for the next three nights. Travelers arriving for the main Discover Thailand trip (who have not taken the pre-trip extension) arrive later today at the same hotel. You meet them tomorrow as we all continue on Day 3 of the main trip. This evening you’ll have dinner on your own.