Indo China holiday

country:	Cambodia, Laos
location:	Indochina holidays
departures:	2008: 13 Nov, 27 Dec 2009: 12 Nov
price:	From £2195 (18 days) including flights from UK, from £1545 excluding flights. Optional single supplement £350. Max group size 12 people

Asia holidays

Temples / history holidays

the amazing things you'll be doing

This is a beautiful route that sees you chart a course due south hugging the Mekong from Laos to Cambodia, taking in all the highlights of the region and a few hidden gems as well. Starting in Bangkok you will first travel to Vientiane, then through the dramatic scenery near Vang Vieng, before visiting the wonderful World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang.

From here you will visit the Boloven Plateau where you will be able to ride elephants and drift around the Four Thousand Islands. And from here it's over the border on a thrilling speedboat to ride down the Mekong to Kratie and then on to Phnom Penh - Cambodia's capital.

Finally you will reach Siem Reap and the greatest ancient temple complex in the world. All in all, a classic tour with wonderful, varied food as well as carefully chosen atmospheric accommodation.

Price details: Included are full board, local flights, transport as outlined in itinerary, twin-share accommodation, mineral water, and entrance fees. Excluded are local airport taxes, insurance, visas, beverages, tips to the local guides and all costs of a personal nature.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1:	UK – Bangkok: Depart UK, to fly via Bangkok.
Day 2:	Bangkok: Arrive BKK in the afternoon and transfer to the Swan Hotel, wonderfully situated next to the Oriental Hotel. After checking into the hotel we will take a wander round this buzzing city, before having drinks either at the amazing Vertigo Bar or Oriental Terrace.
Day 3:	Bangkok – Nong Khai: After a late breakfast we will have a chance to see some of the sites of Bangkok: the Royal Palace, the floating market, or take a boat ride up the river. However as many of you will have been to Bangkok before we will give you a free hand to do as you please. Around 1900 we will have dinner before joining the night train towards Laos.
Day 4:	Nong Khai – Vientiane – Vang Vieng: On arrival in Nong Khai we will cross the border, gaining our first glimpse of the Mekong, and enter Laos. Here we will take breakfast and see the sites of Vientiane – including the fabulous That Luang temples. We will have lunch here before driving on to Vang Vieng. The drive take about 3 hours so we will arrive late afternoon and check into our lovely hotel in the river. Dinner at local restaurant on the river.
Day 5:	Vang Vieng: Due to popular request we have added an extra day here so we can explore this amazing region. Rather like the World Heritage region of Halong Bay in Vietnam the area is famous for its dramatic limestone Kharst topography, which in turn give rise to many caves and grottos. After breakfast we will strike out up river in long-tail boats, take lunch at the organic mulberry farm and explore many of the local caves on foot. In the late afternoon we will return to VV for dinner… and as it will be new years eve, a bit of a party.
Day 6:	Vang Vieng – Luang Prabang: Leave Vang Vieng after breakfast for the spectacular journey over the mountains to Luang Prabang, the beautiful World Heritage town. Here we will check into a lovely traditional guesthouse, and spend the afternoon wandering, exploring and unpacking - just soaking it all up. Dinner at a Grade II listed rosewood restaurant with great food. Hopefully the local musicians will be playing. Wander home past the night market ... wonderful.
Day 7:	Luang Prabang: In the morning take an easy walk to visit the deserted temples on the other side of river in the forest. Jaunt to the waterfalls and picnic under the trees. Dinner will be at Tum Tum Bamboo restaurant with really excellent Lao food and a cosy roadside location on the main drag. This will be the best night to visit the night market with its silks and weavings. Beautiful quality and excellent value!
Day 8:	Luang Prabang – Elephant Park – Luang Prabang: Today we will have the chance to visit and work with the elephants of a local rescue centre. After years of logging, elephants are often discarded leaving them vulnerable to poachers and starvation. A few miles from town a local NGO has set up a scheme to help these animals and offers the chance to be a mahout for the day… including washing the elephants in the river. This is a really special experience, however if you’d rather have another day chilling in LP that’s fine. Dinner in town at good local restaurant.
Day 9:	Luang Prabang – Pakse – Tad Fane: Fly to Pakse in the south and arrive midday. After taking a look around the local market, drive to Tad Fane on the Bolovens Plateau. Tad Fane is located next to some wonderful waterfalls that drop over 250m to a distant gorge below. In the afternoon we will have the chance to walk to these waterfalls or others nearby where we can also take a dip. Dinner at eco lodge.
Day 10:	Tad Fane – Four Thousand Islands: After breakfast we will head south for the mighty Mekong River, stopping en route to explore the mysterious sixth century Pre Angkorian ruins of Wat Phu. The ruins are regarded by many as one of the most outstanding examples of Khmer architecture left standing. We pass the remainder of the morning exploring the magnificent temple grounds before returning to a small restaurant for a traditional Lao lunch. We continue south to the Mekong in the famous area of the ‘Four Thousand Islands’. The night is spent on Don Khone Island, along the banks of the Mekong where we get the chance to sample some of the local food and fresh fish caught by the local fishermen. Sala Don Khone is a converted French colonial hospital holding 4 double rooms and 5-6 huts.
Day 11:	Four Thousand Islands: Don Khone is a beautiful island joined to Don Det by an old French built bridge. There are walks around the island either on the paths or on old narrow gauge railway tracks. Visit the rapids and take a boat excursion to see Irrawaddy Dolphins. Watch the sunset from a small restaurant by the bridge on a platform by the river.
Day 12:	Four Thousand Islands – Kratie: Get up early, head to the border with Cambodia and take a speedboat to Stung Treng through the flooded forest and then a speedboat to Kratie. Overnight Kratie – the hotel is not up to much here but it’s the best in town! Have a browse of the local market [very typically Cambodian], which is nestled in the old colonial square. Spend the evening at the Sunrise bar. Good food and relaxed atmosphere.
Day 13:	Kratie – Phnom Penh: Leave Kratie and take a modern local ferry to Kompong Cham. Transfer to arrive at Phnom Penh late afternoon. Phnom Penh, with its turbulent history, is full of crumbling colonial architecture and smiling faces. A truly fascinating city awaits us. We stay on the banks of the Tonle Sap in a plain but perfectly placed hotel. After Sundowners on a boat cruising the riverfront we then eat at the FCC - a Phnom Penh institution housed upstairs in a wonderful colonial building.
Day 14:	Phnom Penh: Visit the National Museum/ Royal Palace and Genocide museum. We’ll have lunch at the Banyon Tree and then visit the Russian and Central Markets. Dinner will be at a small roadside traditional Cambodian restaurant serving some rather fine fish dishes.
Day 15:	Phnom Penh – Siem Reap – Temple Camp: Leave town on the early morning fast ferry up the Tonle Sap River to Siem Reap and from here transfer Koh Ker, an amazing temple complex 120ks away where we will camp among the temples. Staying in luxury walk-in tents, with our own cooks, this is sure to represent one of the highlights of the trip as we do what no other group itinerary does and enjoy the surreal ruins en sol.
Day 16:	Siem Reap: Return from Koh Ker via another set of outlying ruins, this time at Beng Mealea, and reach Seam Reap in time for lunch. Here we will check into lovely guesthouse – with swimming pool – and get started on the temples with a first trip to the magnificent Angkor Wat. This temple is one of the largest religious buildings ever constructed and is truly one of the wonders of the world. Believed to have been undertaken as a temple and mausoleum for King Suryavarman II at the peak of the Khmer empire in the first half of the 12th century, Angkor Wat is the best preserved of the Angkorian temples. Next we visit the sites of Angkor Thom. This Royal city was first built under the reign of Udayadityavarman II in the 11th Century. It was destroyed when the Chams from Vietnam rose up against the Khmers and invaded, sacking the city, and was subsequently renovated by King Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th Century. Continue to visit Victory Gate and the Bayon temples situated in the centre of the city of Angkor Thom. It is a three-tiered pyramid with its entrance facing east. The central shrine is surrounded by 54 towers all crowned by gigantic faces. After this we will take a tuk-tuk tour of Siem Reap and generally potter before dinner at the sumptuously restored 1930's era FCC.
Day 17:	Siem Reap: In the morning, we visit jungle-clad Ta Prohm. This temple was a monastery built by Jayavarman VII as a residence for his mother. Ta Prohm has been controversially left to the destructive power of the jungle by French archaeologists to demonstrate the awesome power of nature. The jungle has largely consumed it and as you climb through the dilapidated stone structures you see many giant trees growing out of the top of the temple itself. Continue to Preah Khan... more jungle-clad splendour. You choose what to do in the afternoon... more temples or pool lounging or maybe a visit to Siem Reap market. Dinner at a local Cambodian restaurant before hitting the Siem Reap nightlife 'strip' for final drinks.
Day 18:	Siem Reap – Bangkok – UK: After breakfast fly from Siem Reap to Bangkok, with connection to London Heathrow.

how this holiday makes a difference

Three decades of war in Cambodia have left scars in many forms throughout the country. Unfortunately, one of the most lasting legacies of the conflicts continues to claim new victims daily. Land mines, laid by the Khmer Rouge, the Heng Samrin and Hun Sen regimes, the Vietnamese, the KPNLF, and the Sihanoukists litter the countryside. In most cases, even the soldiers who planted the mines did not record where they were placed. Now, Cambodia has the one of the highest rates of physical disability of any country in the world. While census data for Cambodia is sketchy, it is generally accepted that more than 40,000 Cambodians have suffered amputations as a result of mine injuries since 1979.

That represents an average of nearly forty victims a week for a period of twenty years. We are proud to support 2 NGO’s dedicated to helping eradicate this problem. The first, Adopt-a-minefield is an NGO that saves and improves lives by raising funds to clear landmines and help landmine survivors in various places and around the world. For further details please visit www.landmines.org.uk The second organisation is the Mines advisory group (MAG), is an international implementing NGO for the MAT Project in Quang Binh Province. MAG clears and destroys the landmines and left-over weapons that make areas unsafe after war. Each Mines Advisory Group mobile Mine Action Team (MAT) removes the burden of mine disposal from the local villagers and provides immediate assistance in the removal of all reported items from within household areas, villages and communities.

When you take one of our trips, we make a contribution to “Climate Care” – an organisation devoted to ‘offsetting’ or ‘neutralising’ harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by your flight. This is done by funding projects across the world that will reduce greenhouse gases on your behalf through sustainable energy or rainforest restoration. www.climatecare.org

By incorporating home-stays, locally owned hotels, restaurants and the services of guides into our itineraries, we ensure that money goes directly into the local economy and local communities benefit from tourism. We also supports emergency relief efforts in the areas we travel to, such as the Pakistan Earthquake Fund set up in 2005 and a variety of other community benefiting NGOs around the world.

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