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Cambodia cycling holiday

COUNTRY:
Cambodia
LOCATION:
Angkor Wat
HOLIDAY TYPE:
Adventurous cycling holidays
DEPARTURES:
2012: 10 Jun, 4 Nov, 9 Dec
PRICE:
From US $2,150 (14 days) excluding flights
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MORE INFO:
Single supplement US $475, bike hire US $170
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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Cambodia cycling holiday

Cambodia cycling holiday

How this holiday makes a difference

We passionately believe that Responsible Tourism can be of immense help to local communities; providing income, positive cultural exchanges and an incentive to protect the natural environment. Recognising that there is always room for improvement, we continually strive to narrow the gap between principle and practice.

Prior to our tours, we liaise with local community leaders to ensure we are welcome and in a manner that minimizes negative social and cultural impact. We visit local development and community projects specific to the region, encouraging our clients to donate and/or assist such projects in appropriate and sustainable manners.

In Cambodia we offer our financial and moral support to a small non-government charity called PSE - Pour Un Sourir D’Enfant, which in English means “For the smile of a child”. Run by a kind, philanthropic retired French couple, the organisation helps impoverished children receive a basic education. We visit one such remarkable school in Phnom Penh and see firsthand how a small donation provides substantial and long lasting assistance.

PSE also runs vocational training courses for those hoping to enter the hospitality industry, which we aim to expand to include a course training bike mechanics. Once qualified, these skilled local workers will assist on our tours, receiving a much-needed salary that will help them escape the endless cycle of poverty.

Through sensitive hands on experience, we encourage cross cultural interaction and education between clients and the local communities. This is achieved by limiting tour group sizes, which also minimises any social and environmental impact. We also assist in the development of local infrastructure such as rural pathways.

We make sure that where and whenever possible our tours positively benefit the local community. We stay at locally owned accommodation and visit cottage industries for local handicraft souvenirs, generating income for local businesses. We employ and train local guides, drivers and assistants on all trips to ensure that the local community benefits not only short term but with increased employment opportunities for the future.

Adopting a “carry in – carry out” policy, we actively engage in environmentally responsible practices to minimise tourist impact upon the local habitat. From biodegradable soaps to re-usable water containers, we provide clients with the best information and means to help them identify and implement effective ways to positively protect local nature and communities. It is a vital ethos that can be passed on and abided by all, long after the trip has ended.

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Cambodia cycling holiday

Reviewed 05 Jan 2009 by Elisabeth Herzig5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


All the contacts with the friendly and smiling local people while riding on our bikes or sitting with them in a boat and crossing the lake. This "slow" travel is the best way to see, live and experience.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Go on! This is a great experience and so well organized, that you really can enjoy the best of vacation without worrying where to sleep or how to do if there is something difficult to manage.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Cambodia is a very poor country. They need tourists coming in. To know that a local organization is doing this work and give jobs to several people is a good way to make benefit the country and the people living there.

Reviewed 08 Jan 2008 by Kira Brownlee5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


The whole trip was fantastic, picking a most memorable part would be an impossible feat

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Some travel ipod speakers would be a fantastic investment! The trip is great, there are laundrys the whole way. ATM machines are everywhere in Cambodia now so ignore everyone who tells you to take travellers cheques. My main advice would be book the trip and request Smey as your guide, he's fantastic!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Yes

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


It was a great trip. We all loved it, can't wait to do another one somewhere else next year!

Reviewed 23 Nov 2008 by Jane Telfer4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


The whole trip was exciting! Cycling in the Mekong delta through small villages and through the backwaters of Cambodia. Arriving at Angkor Wat by bike was amazing.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Get out there and do it! Train well, the riding is challenging, the road surfaces interesting. Don't be afraid to give it a go. The support bus was always there to help. Age range on our trip was from mid twenties to mid sixties.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


We used local amenities where ever possible. We received pre-trip information about minimising our impact. Local restaurants were used and all guides and drivers were local.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


An excellent trip. Well organised with attention to detail. We were lucky to have an excellent tour leader and a great bunch of fellow travellers. We had a lot of laughs along the way. We have wonderful memories.

Reviewed 25 Feb 2007 by Catherine Temple4 star rating

The staff support to the cycling trip provided by this operator was great. It enabled a fatty like me to build up my fitness without the stress of being left behind. People who wanted to go fast could, and the stragglers like me were encouraged along with water and fresh fruits and cold towels. And when enough was enough- the van was there to pick me up. The food was wonderful

The Cambodians were welcoming- the rural economy- agriculture, horticulture, craftwork was very interesting to observe. I felt safe and encouraged at all times whilst having a great adventure.

Tips- for fatties- absorbent foot powder and clotrimazole powder for those damp body wrinkles Factor 50 or 60 sun-block an extra gel seat cover- one to use and one in the wash, gel cycling gloves.

On arrival buy a knife for all that fantastic fruit. Search out a copy of Stay another day in Cambodia published by the German aid agency GTZ which lists guesthouses/shops supporting development NGO's.

The guide and local support team are actually aspiring Olympic athletes in training for Beijing in track and cycling events and need these jobs to give them time for training ( they do three hours in the evening having escorted guests to their hotel)

I was quite intimidated by their CVs, thinking that I couldn't keep up with them but they really look after tourists even if they do dawdle along at snail's pace, they are encouraging and supportive. Our group had those who cycle 250 miles a week to keep fit, and plump 74 year olds and unfit office workers and everyone was supported and allowed to move at their own pace.
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Holiday Reviews

We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!

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