Trails of Indochina

Overview

Founded in 1998, Trails of Indochina provides customized travel services for high-end travelers in Southeast Asia. Based in Vietnam, they offer two key advantages:

1. familiarity with the region combined with
2. an understanding of the specialized requirements of up-market travelers.

Our relationship with Trails of Indochina, combined with extensive experience in the travel industry and an unrivalled network of contacts in the region, we can tailor itineraries to meet your diverse needs – and far exceed your expectations.

Here is a sample itinerary of just one of the dozens of excursions we can provide:

Cambodia In Depth

Unforgettable: As you pause to admire the intricate carvings on a temple’s cracked wall, a stone carver engaged in restoration work beckons you over to compare his efforts to that of his 12th century predecessor

Day 1 Phnom Penh: get a feel for Cambodia’s unique art and architecture through visits to the National Museum, Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda—so named for its floor paved in real silver tiles; come face-to-face with some of the millions of Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in a former torture center, thereby gaining some understanding of these people’s courage and resilience;

Day 2 Udong: drive past fields and stilt-houses to Udong, a forgotten outpost that served as Cambodia’s capital from the 17th through mid-19th centuries; explore this sleepy town’s Buddhist stupas and shrines; pay a sobering visit to the “killing fields”—an area where thousands of the Khmer Rouge’s victims were murdered and buried;

Day 3 In and around Phnom Penh: undo your belt a few notches at the Sunday Food Fair, a vibrant rural market where vendors sell scrumptious local snacks and fruit; sit with women in a traditional weaving village as they explain their age-old techniques; dine on the banks of the Mekong, where old French villas evoke images of long-gone colonial traders sipping sundowners beneath slow-moving ceiling fans;

Day 4 Temple tour: travel by car and boat to view the sixth century temple of Phnom Da, believed to have been erected on the site of Cambodia’s first capital; climb two-hundred steps to reach the bombed temple of Phnom Chisor, its intricate bas-relief sculptures now scattered across two square km;

Day 5 Angkor Wat: (flight Phnom Penh-Siem Riep) begin your exploration of the temples of Angkor, about one hundred of which remain scattered throughout the jungle; find yourself staring into the forbidding stone faces that adorn the fifty towers of Angkor Thom, built by Angkor’s greatest king, the 12th century Jayavarman VII; climb Mount Bakheng to see Angkor Wat’s tiered towers silhouetted against the setting sun;

Day 6 Outlying temples: make your way through crumbling passageways and over the twisted roots of the banyan trees that are slowly strangling the hauntingly beautiful temple of Ta Prohm; stroll across the courtyard of the late 12th century Preah Neak Pean temple, imagining its elaborately carved pools filled with water for the purification rituals that once occurred here;

Day 7 Trekking: rest near a reclining Buddha that lies at the summit of a sacred mountain; trek through old-growth forest to a revered stream, its limestone banks carved with linga fertility symbols, then picnic beside a jungle waterfall;

Day 8 Temples & boating: step from the jungle to discover a temple guarded by strange statues of mythical creatures; take a boat trip to the region’s floating villages, where everything from clinics to schools are on water;

Day 9 Departure: relax in Siem Riep’s quaint cafes, bistros and art galleries until it’s time to fly out

Expect to understand more about the ancient glory and recent devastation of this enigmatic land—a place where the people you meet will leave as much of an impression as the monuments

 

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