9 Day Cambodia Highlights Guided Motorcycle Tour

Day 1: Arrival Phnom Penh

You will arrive at the airport of Phnom Penh. The hotel is around a forty-five minute drive from the airport to the city centre. The journey to the hotel gives a first impression of the crowds, the hustle and bustle of the city and the buildings. The tour leader will outline the rules governing travelling by motorcycle and will go over the details of the full journey again. If you have time, you can explore the city. We will meet you again in one of the many cafes along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh.

Day 2: Phnom Penh - Kratie

An early start for a beautiful and varied day. After just a kilometre of motorcycle riding, we take a ferry to cross over the Mekong River. By doing this, we avoid the busy traffic of Phnom Penh and find ourselves immediately on narrow paths and roads. We ride along the Mekong River, passing through villages and many temples.

We will enjoy a local lunch somewhere in the vicinity of Kampong Cham. We continue on our way, literally passing through the backyards of the local population. After visiting the beautiful Han Chey Temple, with its scenic views over the Mekong, we continue our way along the river, which we cross again towards Kratie. While enjoying a drink in front of your hotel, you can watch the sunset along the river.

Day 3: Kratie – Kompong Thom

We will backtrack along the Mekong so we can cross the river with a ferry. Now we start a challenging journey of 190 kilometres unpaved and off-road. The track leads us straight through rubber and fruit plantations and goes through a landscape where you can imagine yourself in the African Savannah. You should bring along sufficient water for the journey as there are not many places to have a drink.. Halfway in the middle of nowhere, the road is suddenly blocked with a chain, and we have to pay toll for the bridge that can hardly carry us. We look for a simple lunch along the route as soon as we get back to civilization. If we have time, we will go in Sambor Leek Kuk to the overgrown temple ruin for a cool group photo that would not be out of place in an Indiana Jones film.

Day 4: Kompong Thom - Siem Reap

There is a main road to Siem Reap, but we will soon leave this road in search ofgravel and little dirt roads to visit small villages and local markets. As we arrive in Siem Reap from the south, we will soon spot the first impressive temple complexes of Angkor Wat. Siem Reap is one of the liveliest cities in Cambodia. In the centre you will find countless good restaurants and many charming cafés. Moreover, this is the perfect place to shop for souvenirs, send an email or spoil yourself with a massage. This afternoon you have the time to visit the large temple complex of Angkor Wat. The temples of Angkor are a source of inspiration and pride for all Cambodians and also appeal to the majority of visitors. The period of the Angkor empire covers around 600 years and in that time more than 70 temples, palaces, libraries and other buildings spread over 350 km were built. In fact, Angkor Wat is just one of these temples, but nowadays the name refers to the entire area. To view all the temples of this gigantic complex you actually need several days. Your tour leader can advise you on the optimal times to visit each temple and which you should definitely not miss.

Day 5: Siem Reap – Battambang

After breakfast we ride through the Angkor Wat area towards Battambang. We will try to avoid the busy chaotic highway as much as possible. In the direction of Sisophon, 100 km from Siem Reap, this part of highway no. 6 is still easy to ride on, but from Sisophon onwards major road constructions are carried out on Highway no. 5 to Battambang. Partly because of this, it is an incredible chaos and a real challenge. We try to avoid the highway by taking minor (dirt) roads towards Battambang. In Battambang, the second biggest city of the country, there are many UNESCO-protected French colonial houses along the river.

Day 6: Battambang - Veal Veng

If it has been raining recently, today can be a strenuous and challenging day. Riding to and crossing through the Cardamom Mountains can be a muddy event . Even though Cambodia has received lots of tourists for many years, the Cardamom Mountains is discovered by very few foreigners. The mountains form the border between Cambodia and Thailand and has long been a Khmer Rouge stronghold. At the beginning, the gravel roads are wide and flat, but they will be getting more bumpy and smaller when we get into the mountains. Agricultural plains turn into tropical rainforest. We spend the night in a simple guest house in the small village of Veal Veng. We will need to order food and drinks ahead of time so that the guest house can prepare these for us on time.

Day 7: Veal Veng - Koh Kong

Today the route can get pretty challenging as well, especially when a rain shower has changed the surface into slippery smooth red clay. We take our time for this adventurous route through the green forest. The civilized world will be very far away for a while. We will also have a provisional 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. If we have time we will see if we can take a refreshing dive in the sea somewhere along the way. Koh Kong is a small town on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, a few kilometres from the neighbouring country.

Day 8: Koh Kong - Phnom Penh

We leave the mountains on a freshly surfaced road in the direction of Sre Ambel. It is still reasonably quiet on this section. After lunch, we continue our way to Phnom Penh. We take a look at life in the country and exchange it again for the hustle and bustle of the city. In the evening we take a moment on the boulevard to review all the adventures of the preceding week. The “Night Market”, located at the beginning of the promenade, offers the opportunity for some last souvenirs.

Day 9: Departure Phnom Penh

You will have to get used to taking a bus again as you head back to the airport. Enjoy one last opportunity to soak in the city’s vibrancy before entering the airport and setting off on the journey home.

Extension:

You can extend your stay in Phnom Penh, during which you could visit the famous “Killing Fields” of Chuoeng Eck. Roughly ten kilometres outside the city, the prisoners of S-21 were killed in the most brutal manner in order to save on bullets. Remains of clothing, teeth and bones are still scattered across the field. In memory of the events, a temple has been built on the site in which the excavated skulls are housed.

You can also visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide (S-21) Museum. Between 1975 and 1979 thousands of citizens accused of counterrevolutionary thoughts were interrogated, tortured and all but seven killed here. This former school still leaves a gloomy impression on oneself afterwards.

Next to an insight of this dark page in Khmer history, Phnom Penh also has a lot of positive things to show like the boulevard, local markets and charming temples. You can enjoy one of the many cafes along the Mekong River.