At approximately 13.30 arrive at the downtown boat pier from the Vietnam river border and transfer directly to our Hotel for check-in and lunch. 

In the mid afternoon we visit the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21), a former high school close to the centre of town. In the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979) the school was used as a detention centre for political and civil prisoners, the majority of whom perished under cruel interrogation and torture. The Museum stands as a testament to the deceased and the brutal ideology of the Khmer Rouge movement.

After this sobering experience, we then take a stroll through the nearby Russian Market (Psah Tuol Tom Pong), a lively indoor and outdoor market where you will find antiquities, silver and gold jewellery, gems, silk, kramars, stone and wood carvings, as well as T-Shirts, and cheap designer clothing and accessories (of varying quality) that have found their way there from the Phnom Penh Garment factories. 

In the evening we venture out into the exotic tropical night to enjoy the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and atmosphere of Phnom Penh on a ride around by tuk tuk, known locally as a ‘remork’. Led by your informative Travel Expert, start with a cocktail while soaking up the stunning panoramic views of this fast-developing city, before making multiple stops to local markets and small street-side vendors; tasting the very best of Cambodian street food. For the main meal, sample traditional cuisine while listening to songs from the 1960s, Cambodia’s golden era of music, at a vibrant live music restaurant. After one final secret dessert stop, return to the hotel or continue to one of Phnom Penh’s trendy late-night spots if the mood dictates.

Just a short boat ride away from Phnom Penh river bank lies a different world. Across the Mekong we area instantaneously transferred 100 years back in time - from a fast-developing vibrant, chaotic modernising city to very traditional and simple ,rural Cambodian life. 

At the Mekong River Island of Koh Dach, also known as ‘Silk Island’ we explore this slice of rural Cambodia and learn how the silk-weavers produce those beautiful sarongs and scarves. We travel to a small village where silk weaving is their livelihood and where there is a loom under every house. We can see the weaving techniques first-hand and experience the realities of village life up close and personal. 

The handicraft production is one of the most recognised attractions for the (few) visitors that venture here, but throughout the day we see many other traditional industries of the local villagers such as corn, sesame, bean and banana farms, manufacturing of mosquito nets, silk sarong, phamuong, hol and silk karmas. 

We pass through these rural communities by bicycle, accompanied by your Travel Expert, perhaps with a stop at one of the three working pagodas until we reach the Mekong River sand bank with it’s local style bamboo huts for relaxing and eating - this is the one opportunity to have a dip in the Mekong to cool off. From here we are picked up by a local boat and taken across the Mekong to arrive at the luxurious riverside wellness retreat of The Bale. Here we enjoy a delicious riverside lunch (with champagne option) and then relax for the rest of the afternoon for as long as we wish - perhaps indulging in one of the fine Spa treatments of The Bale or simply open a good book and relax by the pool, before we are picked up in the mid afternoon to return to Phnom Penh. Evening is free at leisure to relax or explore Phnom Penh on your own. Our Travel Expert is always on standby.

Breakfast at your hotel. Today we rise early to ensure we reach the Laos border in good time.\

First you will head north following the path of Mekong River to a small town called Kampi. This town is one of the best places along the Mekong River to see the rare and elusive Irrawaddy River Dolphin. 

Take a local ‘sampan’ boat on the Mekong River and try to get up close to these beautiful, rare creatures. The boat driver will skilfully navigate the boat as close as possible before stopping and drifting. 

After being almost completely wiped out in Cambodia and Laos due to various human-related factors such as net fishing, after intervention by various conservation organisations and cooperation with the locals, the Irrawaddy Dolphin population in Cambodia now stands at it’s highest level for 20 years. 

With a relatively small area of the river where they tend to reside, while we can’t guarantee sightings, there is nevertheless a very high chance of spotting them from quite close up. 

After Kampi, we continue by road north towards the Laos border stopping for a local lunch in Stung Treng before reaching the border in the early afternoon. 

We make a diversion to see the Sopheakmit waterfall, Cambodia’s wildest. 

This part of the Mekong River where Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces meet transforms into a system of raging rapids - on the Cambodian side of the river, the Sopheakmit waterfalls reveals the power of the Mekong, embodied in a frothing rush of water over 26 meters of limestone rocks.  

 We wave goodbye to our Cambodian Travel Expert and cross the border into Laos. Alternatively, we stay overnight in Stung Treng and drive back to Phnom Penh the following day to complete a Cambodia only program.