Cycle Vietnam And Cambodia

Arrive Ho Chi Minh City and check-in to our hotel. In the afternoon we’ll take a short orientation walk in the city. Still unofficially referred to as ‘Saigon’, the city is the largest in Vietnam, an eclectic mix of the traditional and the new, where pagodas and markets compete alongside the trappings of Vietnam’s newly discovered entrepreneurial spirit. Our walking tour takes in some of the central sights of the city, including the National Assembly, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame Cathedral and the impressive French style edifice that is the GPO building. Later there will be time for you to explore at your leisure, perhaps to visit the Presidential Palace, or the War Crimes Museum, or even just take a gentle walk around this charming city.

Overnight Standard Hotel

After a chance to get properly aquainted with our two wheeled transport for the coming journey, we drive out of the city this morning to Trang Bang where we start our days cycling to the the infamous Cu Chi Tunnels at Ben Duoc. Originally started during the French occupation of the country, the tunnels went on to achieve notoriety during the Vietnam War, when they formed an amazing underground command base for 10,000 Viet Cong troops and were a major part of the Tet Offensive. After visiting the tunnels we take our first ride, through the villages and countryside that surrounds this unique place. This area was the centre of intense fighting during the war, much of it falling prey to the incessant carpet bombing, napalm and defoliants utilised by the Americans in an attempt to dislodge the Viet Cong from their underground shelters. There is little evidence of any of that now and the landscape has returned to something of its pre war beauty. Be warned, the tunnels are low and narrow and can be claustrophobic, so anyone wishing to opt out may do so. (Approx. 25km cycling).

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

In order to avoid the city traffic we drive to Tan An this morning, from where we cycle on towards My Tho, following a network of quiet roads and dirt tracks. Originally founded in the 17th Century by Chinese immigrants, My Tho is the launching site for our boat trip out onto the mighty Mekong. Cruising to Qui Island we stop for lunch, we then get back on our boat and cruise to the mainland where we have the opportunity for a post lunch walk. We continue by bike, through the flat, lush landscape of the Delta to the Phu Tuc Commune at Ben Tre, where we get the opportunity of meeting local families and enjoying a delicious dinner. The rich soil of the Mekong provides an abundant harvest, including coconut, fruits, rice and, of course fish. Doubtless we will enjoy some of this bounty tonight, before taking in a performance of traditional rural music at our homestay. (Approx. 44km cycling)

Overnight Basic Homestay Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Leaving Phu Tuc after breakfast we cycle, crossing the river and travelling along quiet backroads via the old church at Cai Mon.  After lunch we continue by bike through this stunningly beautiful and incredibly fertile region to its largest city, Can Tho. Can Tho province is famous for its abundant rice fields and floating markets, which seem to take place at the intersections of most rivers and canals. Rice is an important cash crop for Vietnam and something like 70% of the population is involved in its production. Please note, should anyone wish to complete this 22km section of the journey by means of the support vehicle, then that is an option. (Approx. 60km cycling of which the last 20kms are optional)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch

One of the most colourful attractions of the Mekong are the floating markets and today we will visit Cai Rang, the biggest in the Mekong Delta. Leaving early we travel by sampan and spend some time paddling through the market, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the friendly attentions of the locals, before continuing along the river. Cruising through narrow creeks is by far the best way to see the delta, passing villages of stilted houses, abundant rice fields and a variety of cottage industries as we go gives us the opportunity to examine this timeless landscape at a relaxed pace, viewing river life in all its traditional and colourful glory. After lunch in town we take to our bikes again, to meander our way down narrow lanes, following the river, to experience a little more of the rural Vietnam. (Approx. 16km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning we drive northeast, towards Chau Doc on the Cambodian border. Once past Long Xuyen we turn onto quieter back roads and begin cycling along a trail that loops around to Chau Doc. With a rich ethnic mix of Chinese, Cham and Khmer communities, Chau Doc is an interesting city, dotted with temples, churches and mosques. On arrival anyone may like to pay an optional visit to Sam Mountain, just a few kilometres south-west of the city. Riddled with temples and pagodas Sam Mountain has a strong Chinese influence and the views from the top, across into neighbouring Cambodia, are spectacular on a clear day. (Approx. 30km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning we head to Phnom Penh by speedboat, crossing the border at Vinh Xuong (Vietnam) and Kaam Samnor (Cambodia) before continuing our journey along the Mekong, as we head for the Cambodian capital. On arrival we transfer to our hotel and have some time to relax before an afternoon’s city tour. Phnom Penh is a pleasant and surprisingly quiet city with many French colonial buildings and plenty to see. Our tour includes the National Museum of Arts with its impressive collection of Angkor sculptures, the Royal Palace where we visit the Silver Pagoda, named because of the 5000 silver tiles that cover its floor and Wat Phnom where we can pray for good luck. According to legend the original pagoda was built on this site in the 14th Century, to house 4 statues of Buddha that had been washed up on the shores of the Mekong. The legend goes on to say that the statues were then found by a woman named Penh, from which the city is meant to have gotten its name.

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

This morning’s excursion is a stark reminder of the horrors endured by the Cambodian people under the tyranny of Pol Pot. The Tuol Sleng genocide museum and the ‘Killing Fields’ of Choeung Ek are a gruesome testament to life under the Khmer Rouge and you should be aware that many people find their visit quite distressing. Tuol Sleng genocide museum was once a high school which became the Khmer Rouge’s main torture and interrogation centre, detaining and processing the unfortunate souls who were to end their days in the ‘Killing Fields’ of Choeung Ek. During the years 1975 to 1978 something in the region of 17,000 men, women and children were murdered here and the memorial stupa is a huge glass tower filled with human skulls – a sombre reminder of the scale of Pol Pot’s atrocities. This afternoon’s itinerary returns us to the Cambodia of the here and now. After a short drive we start pedalling again after crossing the Mekong River by ferry. Our route takes us through weaving villages and stilted communities. (Approx 20km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Today is a long travelling day, by both bicycle and bus. We leave Phnom Penh this morning, following the highway to Prae Toteung, before taking to the saddle again to follow the river to Kompong Cham (depending upon seasonal conditions we may have to take the highway). Cambodia’s third largest city, Kompong Cham was an important French trading outpost and the colonial influence is still very much in evidence. Stopping first to visit Wat Nokor, an 11th century Mahayana Buddhist shrine, interesting for the fact that it houses a modern working wat inside the Khmer temple ruins, we then continue by bus again to Kompong Thom, close to the impressive collection of pre-Ankorian temples at Sambor Prei Kuk. (Approx. 40km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Sambor Prei Kuk was the capital during the Chenla period of the early 7th Century. Today the forests of the area are dotted with more than 100 temples, some of the oldest in the country. We have the opportunity this morning to make an early morning visit to some of them, before we continue along the road to Siem Reap. (Approx. 30km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

The Angkor period covers some 600 years, from the 9th through to the 15th Centuries, although many of its more famous temples date from the Classical Age, from the 11th to 13th Centuries. This morning we drive to Banteay Srei, with its stunningly preserved bas reliefs, before cycling south, to visit the temples at Pre Rup and Ta Phrom, a wonderfully atmospheric collection of towers and courtyards set amidst tangled tree roots and lush jungle. From here we travel along a tarmac road to the awesome spectacle that is Angkor Wat, the best known and most breathtaking of all the sights and a highlight of any visit to Angkor. Originally built as a funerary temple for Suryavarman ll, in honour of Vishnu, the temple is unique as it faces west – symbolically the direction of death. It is an immensely grand and imposing structure, its most stunning features, the extensive and intricately carved bas reliefs that stretch throughout the galleries and inner temples. (Approx. 25km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

We continue our exploration today with a visit to the temples of King Jayavarman Vll, reputedly Angkor’s greatest king. The fortified city of Angkor Thom, built at the end of the 12th Century, is enclosed by a square wall 8 metres high with five 20 metre high monumental gates decorated with stone elephant trunks. Originally the moat surrounding the city was said to be filled with crocodiles and the huge statues of 54 different gods protected each gate. The city itself contains another of Angkor’s true gems – the Bayon. Not nearly as impressive as Angkor Wat from a distance, the Bayon is nevertheless incredible for its maze of corridors, gothic style towers and magical central temples, with 1200 metres of the finest bas reliefs depicting scenes of every day life in 12th Century Cambodia. We also visit the temple of Preah Khan (sacred sword), a major centre of worship during the reign of Jayavarman VII, with 18 major festivals taking place each year. (Approx. 20km cycling)

Overnight Standard Hotel Included meals: Breakfast

Included meals: Breakfast