Cambodia Adventures 22 Days

Day 1 Departure

Today you will leave for Cambodia to embark on a special adventurous motorcycle journey on a Honda or Baja enduro motorcycle through the jungle, rivers and numerous remote villages as well as seeing the impressive temples of Cambodia.

Day 2 and 3 arrival Phnom Penh - Accommodation

Over the course of the first day, you will meet your motorcycle and the tour guide. The next day we take a ride through Phnom Penh. This is how you get used to your motorcycle and Cambodian traffic rules. In the afternoon we visit the Toul Sleng (S21) Museum. Here, between 1975 and 1979, thousands of citizens accused of counter-revolutionary thoughts were interrogated, tortured and all but 7 were killed. The former school leaves a dreary impression on you.

Following this, we will go to the "Killing Fields" of Chuoeng Eck. The prisoners of S-21 were killed in the most brutal ways to save bullets. To commemorate the events, a temple has been built on the site containing the skulls unearthed so far. If we have time, we visit the atmospheric Wat Phnom temple. After this impressive day we end up on one of the many terraces along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh.

Day 4 Phnom Penh - Kratie

An early start for a beautiful varied day. After only 1 kilometer of motorcycling we take a ferry to cross the Mekong. By doing so, we avoid the traffic of Phnom Penh and immediately enter narrow paths and roads. We will drive along the Mekong, through villages and pass many temples. We will have a local lunch around Kampong Cham. Then we will continue our way. We will literally drive through the backyards of the locals. After visiting the beautiful Han Chey temple, with its magnificent view of the Mekong, we continue our way to along the river, which we will cross once more on our way to Kratie. While enjoying a drink, you can watch the sun set in front of the hotel, sitting by the river.

Day 5 Kratie - Sen Monoron

Today we drive to Sen Monorom. This small town in the former jungle is the capital of Mondulkiri province. Former jungle has been cleared for rubber plantations, rice fields and other agricultural production. First we take the recently improved NH7 toward Snoul, occasionally going off the trail to sniff gravel between rice fields. Then we drive east. We deliberate which route to take next the final stretch to Sen Monorom.

Day 6 Sen Monoron - Ban Lung

Today we drive to Ratanakiri province, which is tucked away in a corner bordering Laos and Vietnam. This is a sparsely forested area with mountains, waterfalls, crater lakes and ethnic minorities ("Kmer Loeu," or called "highland Kmer"). There are also many gemstone mines here. The road has recently been renewed and on a good asphalt road we drive north until Tonle Srepok River. Then we drive on wider gravel roads, through small villages, forests and plantations to Ban Lung, where we can have our arrival drink overlooking a small lake.

Day 7 Ban Lung - Ta Veang

Today we dive deeper into the province, also leaving the asphalt behind. Through narrow gravel mud roads and winding mountain trails, we drive to the feet of Virachey National Park. In between, we stop at the Yeak Lam Crater Lake. This is a 4,000-year-old lake, which is very popular with local families for picnicking. Ta Veaeng is a small village located on the south side of the TonLe San River. It is base for the Virachey Park. Ta Veaeng district was also the guerrilla base of the Khmer Rouge in the 1960s. We sleep here with a local (Brau) family.

Day 8 Ta Veang - Stung Treng

As nature awakens us, we get ready for another adventurous day. We leave in time to make our way through the mountains to Stung Treng. If the water level is low enough, we will drive to Siem Pang and cross the Tonle Kong there, and continue toward the Laos border. Alternatively, we could drive a little further south, via the recently paved Route 78 .

This area was bombed a lot by the Americans during the Vietnam War. Several "Ho Chi Minh" trails ran here, routes the North Vietnamese used to supply and man the southern lines. Stung Treng is a characteristic place with its own atmosphere.

Day 9 Stung Treng - Accommodation

Today we can recover from the efforts of the past few days. We have plenty of time to look around, do laundry (or have it done), and/or take a boat trip (or kayak) to the flooded forest, possibly with a bike ride back. Or grab the bike for a trip or relax and read a good book.

Day 10 Stung Treng - Ta Seng

This morning we rise in time to cross the Mekong River. Then we drive west. We ride mainly on bumpy and narrow paths through rice fields and dense vegetation to Anlung Chrey. Here we take a break. Our adventurous ride continues through the countryside. We drive past the Boeng Peae Wild Life Centre to end in Ta Seng a very remote place. Here are impressive temples where few tourists come.

The follow car cannot ride the whole behind us, the mechanic will probably come on the back of the tour leader's bike for part of the route.

Day 11 Ta Seng - Sra Aem

Another challenging day through the countryside over narrow paths we head north, there is the border with Thailand. Here high on top of hill is the temple complex Preah Vihear. This complex is more than 1,000 years old. Then we get a taste for our next destination to the temple city of Angkor Thom. The big difference here is that we are almost alone and can quietly enjoy the beautiful scenery. This temple was the reason Thailand and Cambodia clashed in the 1980s. Thailand claimed the temple belonged to them. So few tourists come here, it is too far off the beaten path.

Day 12 Sra Aem - Siem Reap

Today we follow a beautiful route through the Dangkrek mountains. We drive through the town of Along Veng. Just outside the town is the house where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge lived their last years in the 1990s. Most of the Khmer red soldiers went to the regular army.

Then we head south to Siem Reap. Arriving in the Angkor Wat area, we try to penetrate the temple city of Angkor Thom and pass by the world-famous temple Angkor Wat.

Siem Reap is one of the liveliest cities in Cambodia. In the center you will find numerous good restaurants and many cozy bars. Moreover, this is the perfect place to store for souvenirs, send an email or pamper yourself with a massage. And of course this is our base to visit the temples of Angkor Wat.

Day 13 Siem Reap - Accommodation

Angkor Wat sightseeing. The temples of Angkor are a source of inspiration and pride for all Cambodians and also capture the imagination of most visitors. The period of the Angkor empire spans some 600 years and during that time more than 70 temples, palaces, libraries and other buildings spread over 350 square kilometers were built. Actually, Angkor Wat is just one of these temples, but today people use that name to refer to the entire area. To see all the temples of this gigantic complex, one day is actually not enough. But your tour guide can advise you which temples are best to visit at what time and which temples you should definitely not miss. This day at Angkor Wat will certainly be one of the cultural highlights of your trip!

Day 14 Siem Reap - Poipot

Today we drive to the western border with Thailand. Trying to avoid the chaotic Highway No. 6 as much as possible, we drive through the agricultural lowlands of northern Cambodia. The roads alternate from asphalt to well-traveled gravel paths. We get a good impression of rural activity and Cambodian friendliness. Arriving in Poipet, we briefly visit Thai border. Poipet, under the influence of Thailand's ban on gambling in recent years, has developed into a kind of Las Vegas of Cambodia.

Day 15 Poipot - Pailin

We descend south along the Thai border and drive through the Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary to Pailin. Pailin province is known for its gems, timber and for housing Khmer Rouge pensioners. Pailin town is a wild-west town where a great "gold rush," or rather "gems rush," once prevailed. It is the northern gateway to the Cardamom Mountains. You can also recognize Thai and Burmese influences here, both in the clothing, and in the food and physical characteristics of the locals.

Day 16 Pailin - Veal Veng

It could be a strenuous day today as we head to and through the Cardamon Mountains, driving, crossing, plodding. Although Cambodia has been welcoming tourists for a good number of years, the Cardamon Mountains are still visited by few foreigners. The mountain range forms the border between Cambodia and Thailand and has long remained a Khmer Rouge stronghold. At first the gravel roads are still wide and flat, but then they become bumpier and hillier. The agricultural plains turn into tropical rainforest. We spend the night in the small village of Veal Veng, in a simple guesthouse. We will have to order food and drink in advance so that the guesthouse can stock it in time.

Day 17 Veal Veng - Koh Kong

The trail can get quite tough today especially if a rainstorm can turn the ground into slippery red clay; then we slither and slide forward. We take our time on this adventurous red route through the green forest. The inhabited world will be very far away for a while. So we will have a makeshift lunch along the way. After lunch we will look for the new Chinese road, a concrete block path that will take us to Koh Kong.

Koh Kong is a small town on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand a few kilometers from the neighboring country.

Day 18 Koh Kong - Accommodation

We can recover from the strenuous mountain rides of the past few days. A walk along the promenade and through the nearby mangroves or optionally a day trip to the Koh Kong island of the same name for swimming and or snorkeling. A motorcycle ride to the Thai border is also a possibility.

Day 19 Koh Kong - Chiphat

We leave Koh Kong and take another narrow road through the jungle to Chi Phat. We won't see the follow car again until this afternoon because this road regularly cannot be followed by the car. Driving through dense forest, past waterfalls, we continue our way to Chi Phat. This is a small and very remote village. Here we enjoy a cold drink and a beautiful sunset.

Day 20 Chiphat - Kampot

Today we plow through the jungle one more time, we are now slowly returning to civilization. More villages and agricultural land and more life around us with people busy.

We eventually arrive in the town of Kampot. Kampot is known for its pepper and for its French colonial architecture. You can walk around here, take a dip in the river and/or take a boat ride around sunset to spot firefly nests. Kampot is a very convenient place to review all the adventures of the past few weeks.

Day 22 Departure

In the morning you still have time to say goodbye to the city and to Cambodia. Your tour guide still has good tips for interesting sights. It will take some getting used to riding in a van to the airport again. One last look at the city and then board the plane, on your way to the cold Netherlands.

Day 21 Kampot - Phnom Penh

On our last motorcycle day, we ride between rice fields, over dusty roads and mostly paved roads into the capital. We do this with a detour, first heading east to visit the Vietnamese border. Then we ride north to Phnom Penh. The versatility of Cambodia's roads are again evident. We take another look at life in the countryside and then exchange it again for the hustle and bustle of the city.