Cycling Adventures from Angkok to Saigon

Day 1: Siem Reap – Angkor Complex (30km by bicycle) – (B, L, D)

Meet up with our Cycling team at your hotel.
We then depart from the hotel on the main road and cycling through the Angkor pass checkpoint. Cycling through the shady road with a little pumping because of the few pot-holes.
We cycle to Angkor Wat to finish the small circuit. Stop at South Gate of Angkor Thom for taking photos. Access via a causeway over the moat that is flanked by statues of Gods on the left and devils on the right. Then visit the magnificent 12th century Angkor Wat. It is visually, architecturally, and artistically breathtaking. Angkor Wat is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by five beehive-like towers rising 65 meters from ground level. Suryavarman II constructed Angkor Wat in the form of a massive ‘temple mountain’ dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu. Overnight in Siem Reap.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Savada Angkor Boutique Hotel or similar in Siem Reap.

Day 2: Tonle Sap Lake – Kampong Phluk (50km) – (B, L, D)

Depart from the hotel, crossing the bridge at Old Market to cycle 15km toward Rolous Group. The first 2km, is on the tarmac road toward the bus station. Then, passing the rice field and the village. cycling to Tonle Sap Lake passing small roads along the river through villages, pagodas, and schools. This road is good for cycling as to avoid the busy traffic. After cycling 8km, turn right across the bridge to the main road as there is no further access on the small road. Continue cycling toward the lake about 3km (July-December) where the boat stop. (Note: January-June, the water is low and the boat will stop further 3km). Board on the boat to visit the village on water, school, fishing farm. After a 1-hour boat drive. Return the Siem Reap on the main road to avoid cycling on the same road. Afternoon, free at leisure to relax. Dinner and overnight in Siem Reap.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Savada Angkor Boutique Hotel or similar in Siem Reap.

Day 3: Beng Mealea and Village Experience (59km) – (B, L, D)

Start cycling straight way and the highlight of the tour will be the villages, the enjoyable off-road track, the people, the wonderful smile of the children. The basket weaving, the palm trees useful for our farmers as they make their roof from the sugar palm leaves, they drink sugar palm juice and they can eat and cook the sugar palm fruit.
Arrive in the village community center. Meet with the community representative and local guide who share their free time from farming to help to teach the children and extra work in the community. Take the ox-cart riding to the rice field. Cambodian people use ox-cart to go to the rice field and carry the rice to their village. Meet with the farmer in the rice field to learn the rice planting process. In 2016, Cambodia has exported 550,000 Tones of rice. It is one of the main sources of economy in Cambodia apart from tourism and the garment industry. Normally it takes 3 months for the farmer to grow the rice. Experience rice harvesting with the farmers using the traditional rice cutter.
After the rice harvesting, walk through the rice field to see the vegetable planted by the farmers. Visit the farmer’s house to learn about traditional rice mill processing. Experience the traditional rice mill processing with the local farmer. Visit the local school. While their parents are working in the rice field, their children study at school.
After the visit, we cycle to a local restaurant for lunch near Beng Mealea. Visit Beng Mealea temple hidden in the jungle surrounded by its mood 900 meters by 1,200 meters. Beng Mealea is a beautiful, charming temple. It has its own character which cannot be found in any other temple. We can feel very peaceful sitting inside the temple as we can get rid of the many tourists in the Angkor area. Return back to Siem Reap. Overnight in Siem Reap. Meals include Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Savada Angkor Boutique Hotel or similar in Siem Reap.

Day 4: Siem Reap-Phnom Penh (18km) – (B, L, D)

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to board speedboat to Phnom Penh (best from July to February). This boat trip takes 6 hours; the boat has a life jacket and toilet. It is one of the best boat trips to cross Tonle Sap lake, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in South-East Asia. When the boat leaves the dock, immediately you will be able to view the picturesque floating village. This community comprises Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Muslim minorities. The market, gas station, and school are also floating. They move up and down depends on the season. In the rainy season, Tonle Sap lake reaches 10,000 square Km, but in the dry season, it’s got only 5,000 square Km. Arrive in Phnom Penh port, afternoon visit Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and National Museum. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Home Chic Hotel or similar in Phnom Penh.

Day 5: Phnom Penh (35 km) – (B, L, D)

Breakfast at the hotel. Today be guided through this bustling city to explore the main sights by bike, including Wat Phnom and Cheung Ek killing field. Phnom Penh has got more than 1 million population and the traffic has become very busy now. There is another option to visit the city by van. In the afternoon, visit the Independence Monument, Tuol Sleng Museum, and Russian Market. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Home Chic Hotel or similar in Phnom Penh.

Day 6: Phnom Penh – Ta Keo (87km) – (B, L, D)

After breakfast. Transfer 15km out of the busy traffic in Phnom Penh. Begin to cycle to visit Ta Phrom and Yeary Pov temples (12 century). Take a break for water and a snack before heading to Phnom Chisor to visit the hilltop 11th-century temple. Enjoy packed lunch overlook the scenery of the countryside. Afternoon, cycle to Takeo passing Ta Mok’s house, the former general commander of the Khmer Rouge. Takeo is a less visited town with many relations to the past history. Board on the boat for sunset to Phnom Da to visit the hilltop temple former the capital of Khmer Empire in the early century known as Funan. Overnight in Takeo.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Veranda Natural Resort or similar in Takeo.

Day 7: Takeo-Chau Doc (78km) – (B, L, D)

Early breakfast. Fill in water and check visa for Vietnam one more time as Vietnam visa has to be done in advance. Cycle 53km to Phnom Den border crossing point. Take a break in half for a water stop. After immigration, say goodbye to our Cambodian driver. Lunch at the local restaurant at the border. After lunch, cycle to discover along the Mekong Delta road into the beautiful green countryside. Along the way, you will see rice fields and water buffalos nearby the road. Arrive in Chau Doc, those with energy to spare can climb Sam Mountain for sunset! Dinner and overnight in Chau Doc.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Chau Pho hotel or similar in Chau Doc.

Day 8: Chau Doc – Can Tho (50km+Cycling) – (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we leave for the floating houses on the upper Mekong river by boat where we can see plenty of catfishes, red snappers… breeding under right their houses. What is an amazing life! Then keep boating to visit the Cham village with about 12.000 people who those are weaving sarongs, hats…by hands as keeping their ancestral tradition. Walk to the mosques that Muslims pray and teach Cham kids in Arabic for a while. Then we start cycling along incredible country roads from Chau Doc to Bachuc along the border or re-trace back to triton (depending on road conditions). The cycling starts to gently undulate and mountains begin to loom as you ride out off Chau Doc. The presence of Thnot trees indicates the growing proximity to Cambodia and the local people speak Vietnamese as their second language. This afternoon, you will cycle to the killing fields of Vietnam at Bachuc, where Polpot’s regime massacred over 3,000 Vietnamese in 1978. Dinner and overnight in Can Tho.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Hau Giang hotel or similar in Can Tho.

Day 9: Cantho – Travinh (80km+Cycling) – (B, L, D)

After breakfast, there will be time to explore side tracks and trails as the cycling distance today is not far. This gives a great first impression of the “heart of Mekong”. We take the first short boat trip to Vinh Long, one of the famous fruits towns in the Mekong. Then you bike along narrow country lanes, easy dirt tracks, and trails. This biking is at its most glorious-through tiny orchards, witness colorful life along the riverside, pedal pass picturesque delta homes, pause to chat with welcoming villagers, clack across innumerable wooden bridges. Cross narrow canals on a local sampan, before finishing at the main ferry for refreshing boat trips across the expansive Co Chien River. Ride final few km to the very pretty Khmer town of Tra Vinh. Overnight in Tra Vinh.

🏚️ Hotel Option: Cuu Long Hotel or similar in Tra Vinh.

Day 10: Tra Vinh – Mytho – Ho Chi Minh (50km+ cycling) – (B)

After breakfast, start with a section of biking cuts off road onto gravel and dirt lanes, and weaves around hamlets, across water channels, and through quiet dense vegetation. This makes for superb biking after a ferry across the graping expanse of Cochin river from Travinh, the pretty tree-lined town with a large population of ethnic Khmer. Then another section of crossing rivers and canals by numerous, ubiquitous, fascinating ferries, we bike through the route takes us through narrow roads and lanes, past banana plantations, fields of sugar cane, through the lush green landscape of the delta. The ride leads 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 transfer a couple of hours to Ho Chi Minh City to avoid the busy traffic.