2-Day Angkor and Kbal Spean Tour with Beng Mealea Jungle Temple

At 8:00 AM, you will be met and greeted by your tour guide and driver at the lobby of your hotel.

Put on your walking shoes and discover the Cambodian jungle. Hidden off the beaten track lies Kbal Spean, with the "River of a Thousand Lingas" and an impressive waterfall.

To reach the top of Kbal Spean and appreciate the intricately carved stone riverbed, you will need to conquer a fairly steep incline. Fear not - the path is well worn, and the biggest obstacles and boulders are accessible by a series of well-maintained wooden staircases. However, at least a medium level of fitness is required for this 3 km jungle walk.

Your next stop, Beng Mealea, has now been made more accessible. A recently built wooden platform snakes around the inner part of the temple, allowing you an elevated view of this moss-clad jigsaw puzzle. This mid-12th-century temple features a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu attributes and is particularly mesmerizing in the wet season.

You will be picked up from the lobby of your hotel at 8:00 AM and depart for the largest religious monument ever built - Angkor Wat. One can simply spend hours wandering in awe at the grandeur of this temple, its many levels, and the intricate carvings adorning its galleries. The stories told by your tour guide will bring ancient Angkor times back to life.

You will enter the ancient city through its South Gate. In the very center lies the temple of Bayon - a silent witness of time, where 216 enigmatic faces gaze over the horizon, leaving one to wonder what they have seen throughout the ages. Your guide will point out the best angles for photography here and explain the many intricate carvings on the gallery walls.

You will then continue to Baphuon, with its long causeway and impressive giant Reclining Buddha, a jigsaw puzzle only put back together in 2011 following a 37-year-long disruption caused by the war. Phimeanakas is hidden in the shaded jungle and offers a decent over-the-treetops view to those who conquer the steep steps to the top.

Continuing further, you can admire the Esplanade of the Royal Palace, more commonly known as the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King.

Your afternoon adventure takes you to the charming and iconic Ta Prohm, which gained its 21st-century fame from the Tomb Raider movie and rightfully features on most visitors' itineraries. Here, nature takes over ancient man-made structures, and golden Spung tree (Tetrameles nudiflora) roots wrap themselves around mossy stones in a tight embrace.

Back to hotel.