Discovery Tour In Thailand & Cambodia With Jungle Raft House Stay

Arrive Bangkok and check-in at hotel. The afternoon is left free for you to get to know this fascinating city at your own pace. Being a city of rivers and canals, Bangkok is best explored from the water and so you may wish to take an optional longtail boat excursion along the busy ‘klongs’, whilst pausing to visit Wat Arun – the Temple of the Dawn.

Overnight Standard Hotel

Our sightseeing tour this morning is on foot and includes the Grand Palace with its stunning Emerald Buddha and Wat Po (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). The afternoon is left free, then in the evening we board the overnight train for Chiang Mai.

Overnight Basic Train Included meals: Breakfast

Chiang Mai offers a complete contrast and relief from the heat and noise of Bangkok. Its elevation is just over 300m, so the climate is most agreeable. Founded in the 13th century, it owes its prosperity mainly to the teak trade. Our sightseeing will include the famous Doi Suthep temple and an orientation walk of the old town.

Overnight Standard Hotel

Our second day in Chiang Mai is left free. In the morning there is the option to visit the Lampang elephant sanctuary, the largest elephant conservation centre in the country, hosting an elephant hospital caring not just for the sick, but also for abandoned elephants. In the afternoon you may choose to take a Thai cooking course, where an expert cook will teach even the most inexperienced the fundamentals of Thai cookery. Chiang Mai is easy to get around so you may decide to hire a bicycle, or alternatively spend time visiting the markets in the city reputed to be the handicraft capital of Thailand.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Today we head south to Si Satchanalai the twin city to Sukhothai. Although architecturally very different, it is just as impressive in many ways with a variety of outside influences noticeable in the construction of the wats and chedis (religious memorials). The most impressive and most sacred is Wat Chang Lom. Situated in the heart of the old city it is decorated with 39 standing elephants and is unusual due to its Ceylonese-style chedi – the earliest of its kind in Thailand. After visiting the site we make our way to nearby Sukhothai.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Today we explore (Old) Sukhothai by bicycle, the first capital of Siam; which was at the pinnacle of Thai civilisation for over 200 years up to the end of the 1400s. It then went into decline as Ayutthaya took over as the most important city in the area, and was deserted until it was discovered as a ‘lost city in the jungle’ in the 19th Century. The city has now been fully excavated and it comprises 21 historical sites within the city walls and a further 70 outside. Leaving Sukhothai by bus, we drive to Phayuha Khiri where we embark on a leisurely cruise down the river aboard our converted rice barge. We enjoy dinner before disembarking at Uthai Thani for the night.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This morning we plan a visit to a local market before re-boarding our rice barge once again. We will stop en route as we drift down the winding Chao Phraya river, giving us a real insight into the authentic life of the indigenous river dwellers and boat people. There’s plenty of time to relax and enjoy the passing scenery. After lunch we arrive at Haopraya Dam and disembark. Heading south by bus we reach another of Siam’s stunning ancient capitals, Ayutthaya. Situated on an island at the confluence of three rivers, the Chao Phraya, Pa Sak and Lopburi rivers, Ayutthaya had a very strong defensive position and retained its power for over 400 years, during which time it became extremely wealthy. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, the city is still a stunning complex of palaces, shrines, stupas and monasteries. We will include a walking tour to visit the Royal Palace and a few wats.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch

An early morning drive, by-passing Bangkok takes us to the River Kwai and Kanchanaburi, where we visit the war cemetery and the famous ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’. The building of the bridge and the ‘Death Railway’ as it has become known, is one of the most infamous episodes of the Second World War. The Japanese built the railway to link Siam and Burma (Myanmar) using Prisoners of War between June 1942 and October 1943. It was to carry supplies to their fast expanding empire and by doing so it would cut almost 1300 miles off the sea route from Japan. The working conditions were atrocious and over 16000 allied troops lost their lives as well as an estimated 75,000 Asian forced labourers. We then take the train along part of the original route.  We continue by bus to the ‘Hellfire Pass’ and visit the Memorial Museum. Finally we transfer to longtail boats for a journey up the River Kwai to our Raft Houses, set in a tranquil location on the river’s edge.

Overnight Simple Hotel Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We spend a full day here exploring the jungle and the river by elephant and bamboo rafts. A visit to nearby ‘Mon’ minority villages will also be organised or you may choose to relax with an optional Thai massage. Alternatively you may prefer to simply relax in your raft house and watch the world go by.

Overnight Simple Hotel Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We head back by longtail boat to Pak Sang Pier this morning and join our vehicle for the drive to Bangkok.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

From Bangkok a flight takes us to Phnom Penh, then in the afternoon we take a guided tour to include the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, and the ‘Killing Fields’, a huge glass tower memorial filled with human skulls, sombre reminders of the scale of Pol Pot’s atrocities. You should be aware that many people do find Tuol Sleng and the ‘Killing Fields’ quite distressing.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning we continue our sightseeing in Phnom Penh with a guided city tour to include the National Museum of Arts, which contains a notable collection of Khmer Sculpture and the ornate Royal Palace with its stunning Silver Pagoda. After free time in this vibrant city we drive to Siem Reap (approx 6 hours).

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Over the next 3 days we explore the ancient temples of Angkor. This amazing ruined city, built between the 9th and the 13th centuries, deep in the Cambodian jungle, is spread out over some 155 square kilometres, scattered with magnificent carved stone temples, elegant sculptures and incredible bas reliefs. Our exact sightseeing programme may change slightly to avoid crowds, coincide with sunsets etc but today we plan to visit the ‘Roulos Temple’ group including Bakong, Preah Ko and Lolei. Later in the afternoon we visit the 2nd Angkor capital which includes the temples of Sta Strang Ko, Pre-Rup, Takeo and East Mebon.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

On our second day we visit the Temples of Banteay Srei, Ta Phrom lying half consumed by the jungle, and the best known and most breathtaking of all the sights, Angkor Wat. Later in the day we drive to Tonle Sap, the Great Lake of Cambodia and one of the natural wonders of Asia. We take an excursion on the lake to the floating villages of Chong Kneas, before returning to our hotel.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

We continue our exploration today with a visit to the temples of King Jayavarman Vll, which includes the fabulous Bayon and the Terrace of Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King before taking an evening flight back to Bangkok.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Included meals: Breakfast