Day 3: Bike the Angkor Hidden Temples & Floating Villages

This morning, cycle on the Siem Reap backroads to the former Angkor city of Roulous Group. The temple was the center of Khmer civilization and was built by the Angkorian king in the 8th century. We explore the three main temples here: Lolei, Preah Ko, and Bakong Temple.
We’ll eat lunch at a local house before we continue another 12 km to Tonle Sap lake to take a short cruise to Kampong Phluk to see the floating villages, where you’ll have an opportunity to learn about life on the water.

Tonle Sap Lake is the largest lake in Southeast Asia and offers a unique way of life for those living on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, which is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Once we reach Kampong Phluk, we will take a tour around the area to explore the houses. The houses are built on stilts, adapted to withstand flooding, experienced during the rainy season. From your tour guide, you will learn about daily life in the area.

After exploring the village, we will take a boat and further discover the village life from the water, such as the schools, market, pagoda, etc. At the end of the day, we will watch the sunset on the lake with some snacks and cold beverages.

Day 4: Siem Reap – Kampong Thom – Phnom Penh

Today, we’ll head to Kampong Thom and visit the temple of Sambor Prei Kok, one of the most important pre-Angkorian sites in Cambodia, soon to become the next UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple was built in the Chenla period between the 6th and 7th centuries. After our guide leads us on a tour through the temples, we enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, we have a beautiful ride through rice paddies and small villages, with locals greeting us as we cycle by. We then hop back into our van for a 4-hour transfer to Phnom Penh. The city is considered one of the most beautiful in the country as it still retains a colonial charm. Cambodia’s capital is a bustling city, majestically located at the confluence of the mighty rivers of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Lake. The city contains many colonial-era buildings that reflect the glory days and add to the allure of the city, where Asian and Western traditions meet in a fascinating way.

Day 5: Cycle to Silk Island & Phnom Penh City Tour

Today we escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and cross the river by ferry boat, making our way towards the north of Phnom Penh and the Silk Islands.

After arriving on land, we will bike through orchards and vegetable farms, enjoying the peaceful farmland and learning about the lives of the people who call the Silk Islands home. Along the way, we will park our bikes for some interesting cultural stops as we check out traditional village industries and get a better sense of authentic Cambodian life on these islands. Learn more about Cambodia’s silk weaving history, stroll through quiet villages, relax on the riverbank, or go for a dip.

Then we head out south of the main center of the tourist side to Toul Sleng. Toul Sleng was a former high school that was used as Security Prison 21 (S21) under the control of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 – 1979. We tour the complex for an hour before heading back.

Day 6: Phnom Penh – Chau Doc Boat Trip

Today, we spend the morning exploring Phnom Penh, then we board an international boat that takes us down the Mekong River where we will cross into Vietnam via Chau Doc, a bustling Delta town that specializes in salted fish. We’ll get a chance to rest our legs as we see many scenes of local daily life along with one of Asia’s great rivers.

Chau Doc is a place where you can find a mixture of many communities, such as Chinese, Cham, and Khmer. There are many temples to explore, many churches, as well as mosques, which will make your journey even more interesting.

Day 7: Chau Doc – Can Tho

This morning, we begin our exploration of the Mekong Delta and keep boating to visit the Cham village, where they are weaving crafts to keep their ancestral tradition. After a short boat ride, we’ll cross canals by bridge and boat and make our way through the maze of waterways. Then, we’ll take to our bikes again, to meander our way down narrow lanes following the river, to experience a little more of rural Vietnam. Cycle from village to village on quiet cycling paths where you can see farmers growing vegetables, watering rice plants, and fishing on natural creeks.

Lunch today will be in a local restaurant, and then we’ll pay a visit to the Killing Fields of Vietnam at Ba Chuc, where Pol Pot’s regime massacred over 3,000 Vietnamese in 1978. Afterward, we’ll transfer by van to Can Tho, the capital of the Mekong delta. Can Tho is also famous for the floating market, which attracts more than 10 million travelers annually.

Day 8: Can Tho – Tra Vinh

Today, the route is peaceful, and the road is scenic all the way to our destination of Tra Vinh. This gives a great first impression of the heart of the Mekong.

We’ll take the first short boat trip to Vinh Long, one of the famous fruit towns in the Mekong. Afterward, we cycle along narrow country lanes, easy dirt tracks, and trails. This is cycling at its most glorious-through tiny orchards, witness colorful life along the riverside, pedal past picturesque delta homes, pause to chat with welcoming villagers, clack across innumerable wooden bridges. Then, we’ll cross narrow canals on a local sampan, before finishing at the main ferry for refreshing boat trips across the expansive Co Chien River. Our ride takes us the final few kilometers to the very pretty Khmer town of Tra Vinh.

Day 9: Tra Vinh – My Tho & Saigon

After breakfast, today’s ride will take you deep into the rural Mekong. We’ll start with a section of biking that cuts off the road onto gravel and dirt lanes and weaves around hamlets, across water channels, and through dense vegetation plantations. This will make for superb biking after a ferry across the gaping expanse of Cổ Chiên river from Tra Vinh, the pretty tree-lined town with a large population of ethnic Khmer. Then we’ll take another section of crossing rivers and canals by numerous, ubiquitous, fascinating ferries as we pedal down narrow roads and lanes, past banana plantations and fields of sugarcane of the delta. The ride takes us right into the heart of the rural Mekong before arriving at Mytho, the gateway of the Mekong delta, to end our cycling trip. From Mytho, we’ll transfer approx. 2 hours to Ho Chi Minh City to avoid the busy traffic.