9 Days Self Drive Jeep Adventure To the End of the World

Welcome to Cambodia. We will pick you up at the airport and take you to your hotel, where you will receive a welcome drink and information about Cambodia and the fantastic journey you have ahead of you. Since we know that travelling can be tiring, you can take it easy today. You can freshen up in your room or relax on one of the lounge chairs in the palm garden overlooking the swimming pool. Add a cup of coffee or a refreshing cocktail and your adventure can begin. Your afternoon off. In the evening you will visit Phare, The Cambodian Circus, which tells uniquely Cambodian tales using modern circus arts and high energy music, touching on themes strong in Cambodian traditions, ethos and spirit. The performances mix theatre, music, dance, acrobatics, juggling, aerial acts, fire and contortion with an explosion of virtuosity and sensitivity. During the hour-long shows, the Phare performers share their emotions and excitement, blowing the audience away with their integrity and power.

What could be more exciting than taking a tour and not knowing which temples you will visit or which route you will take? Welcome to our mystery temple tour, Designed specifically so we can show you some different temples on specially chosen routes away from other tourists so you can experience the magic of the temples without the crowds. If we were to mention the names of the temples, it would not be a mystery or a secret anymore, but what we can promise you is that it will be a truly unforgettable day and with our years of experience we will bring you to temples that are sure to amaze you.

Enjoy a unique perspective of authentic Cambodian life in the countryside as you gently drift by a hot air balloon above palm trees and charming farming villages, vibrant green rice paddies, curious water buffaloes, delightful smiling children, and perhaps even catch a rare glimpse of the ancient temples of Angkor. (This is an optional tour) Phnom Kulen National Park lies approximately 50 kilometers north east of Siem reap and offers a varied range or sights and landscapes. Considered one of the most scenic and historically significant locations in the are. Phnom Kulen is a sacred mountain of special religious significance to Hindus and Buddhists, who come to the mountain on pilgrimage. Our jeeps allow you freedom to take a small, less travelled dirt roads. Explore deeper off road taking small tracks deeper into the jungle. When the roads become too narrow for even our trusted jeeps to take, the only option is to hike the last short section.

The walk allows you to connect even more closely with your magical surrounding. As you round the final corner a majestic, if a little surreal site awaits you. Deep in the trees lies Srah Damrei large, sandstone sculptures of an elephant. But also a lion and several other smaller statues stand trapped in time in the dense undergrowth. These beautiful sculptures have been dated as far back as the 8th or 9th centuries. You will visit a beautifully carved reclining Buddha resting above Preah Ang Thom temple, before visiting the 1000 lingas. Here is an array of Hindu lingas are carved into the riverbed. Your visit will conclude with one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Cambodia. At the base of the falls is a large pool where we can go for a refreshing swim. Watch the sun go down on another amazing Cambodian day. After sunset a drive through the Cambodian night will provide another new, unique experience. Your tents, a roaring open fire and a delicious BBQ diner await you upon arrival. After dinner your guide will tell you stories next to the campfire. A relaxing and fitting end to a memorable day.

Starting early in the morning, you will drive out of Phnom Kulen, away from the town and into the beautiful Cambodian countryside. Continuing your drive north you will soon arrive at the spectacular temple of Koh Ker. It is a stunning and unique pyramidal temple built in 931AD. Walking in you could almost feel you were approaching a Central American Mayan sight such as Chichen Itza. Koh Ker also has a unique political history having been set up as a ‘new’ capital away from the Angkor area by Jayavarman IV. However, its importance was short lived; after the King’s death power was returned to the Angkor area around 944 AD. A tiring climb up wooden steps to the top of the Pyramid will soon be forgotten when you take into account the breath-taking views afforded from the summit.

A short drive south will then connect you to a narrow tree lined, red dirt road which will transport you into another world. As you drive down the road, through river beds and past small local dwellings the foliage will gradually increase in density and you will truly get the feeling you are travelling far off the beaten track. Soon you will be deep inside the protected forest and will arrive at your spectacular accommodation for the next two nights; Be Treed resort. Working closely with the local community, Be Treed is a unique destination for the off-the-beaten-path travelers, nature seekers and adventurers in a small part of wild Cambodia. We are following in the footsteps of Floortje Dessing. She was here a few years ago to visit Ben and Sharyn in the TV program “Floortje to the End of the World”. Now you get the unique opportunity to stay overnight with them and learn more about what they’re doing here.

The forest is home to endangered and threatened species of Cambodian wildlife: banteng (wild cow), pileated gibbons, silver langurs, barking deer, sambar deer and many species of birdlife. The area also provides excellent opportunity for hiking through the forest. Here you can also explore Angkorian era “cave-temples”, and the quarries where the ancients carved out their stone, as well as admire the beautiful and aged trees people are working so hard to protect. There is also the opportunity to join Ben on one of his regular protection patrols. If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you can try the pair of 300 metre ziplines traversing a valley, providing you will beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding forest.

We say goodbye to Ben and Sharyn and continue our trip. You will travel south along the dirt roads leaving the forest behind you and into the plains. Your first stop is the magnificent ruined temple of Preah Khan temple of Kampong Svay. Even if you have visited some of Cambodia’s temples before, this will truly be a special experience. The secluded jungle temple is as spectacular as some of its more famous relatives, yet is a virtual unknown on the tourist trail. The temple walls seem rise up out of the undergrowth, while large trees almost engulf the temple in certain areas. Preh Khan’s secrecy allows you to explore the entirety of this impressive complex in solitude, wandering in and out with the feeling that’s time, nor people, have touched this temple in hundreds of years.

After a delicious breakfast, we will drive our jeeps through the beautiful Cambodian countryside to our first stop of the day. We will stop to see some truly impressive carvings. From huge blocks of stone, sometimes up to 8 meters tall, the stonemason chisels and carves some extremely impressive sculptures. The sheer amount of detail that goes into some of his work is extraordinary and you will have plenty of time to admire his work. We continue our scenic drive to our second stop for the day and visit a local rubber plantation. Here you will learn more about the workings of the local rubber industry, how the latex is collected, cleaned and dried before being shipped to an outside rubber factory. After this excursion, we will take a ferry north of Stung Trong and cross the mighty Mekong River. It is the twelfth longest river in the world and flows from the heights of the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, some 4,500 km from its source. It is the lifeblood of many people, and its impressive size and power can only be experienced firsthand. On the east side of the Mekong is the old French colonial town of Chloung. In this peaceful and traditional town, we will spend the night in the former governor’s mansion built in 1916, where we can experience Cambodia’s colonial past first hand.

We drive our jeeps along the banks of the Mekong River and pass some of the Muslim Cham villages. These were formed when the Cham fled the Vietnamese conquest and stayed in their new homeland, adding a new dimension to the area. At Kampi, 12 km north of Kratie, we board the boat to try to spot the Irrawaddy Dolphins. These rare, endangered freshwater dolphins live in a beautiful section of the Mekong River near a small rapids. The chance of seeing them playing in the rapids is very high, so have your camera ready. After Kampi, we will head back to Kratie where we will take a ferry to Koh Trong Island. With a local guide, you will explore this island paradise by bike and get explanations about the way of life of the inhabitants and the products that are grown there. Back on the mainland we drive back to Chloung with our jeeps.

Climb into your vintage jeep and prepare for your last day on the road. Wind your way through lush rice paddies, stretching emerald green as far as the eye can see. In Kampong Cham we will stop at the bamboo bridge. In the past, we were able to drive our jeeps over the bridge. We are no longer allowed to drive our jeeps over the bamboo bridge as there is a new concrete bridge. However, we can still walk across it. We take a combination of tarmac and dirt roads for the last stretch to Phnom Penh. We stop at another pagoda with an Angkorian-era wall. Through the rice fields and palm trees, the skyline of Phnom Penh looms up in front of us. We take a ferry boat to Phnom Penh to end our jeep tour in style.

The final journey of your trip in Cambodia will be a private transfer to the airport in Phnom Penh to catch your flight. We hope that you have enjoyed a wonderful trip through this truly beautiful country, and that you are leaving with happy memories which will last a lifetime. Cambodia has so much more still to offer, and we would be delighted to welcome you back anytime to show you more of this fantastic country and its charming people. Have a save trip and we hope to see you again.