Meal: not any | Accommodation: not included

7:00 AM – Pick up from your hotel, we journey out to the Mother of all temples, Angkor Wat. Believed to be the world's largest religious building, this temple is the perfect fusion of symbolism and symmetry and a source of pride and strength to all Khmers. We stay at Angkor Wat to enjoy a picnic breakfast and then begin by unravelling the mysteries of the bas-reliefs that tell of tales from Hindu mythology and of the glories of the Khmer empire. Stretching for almost one kilometre, these intricate carvings are a candidate for the world’s longest unbroken piece of art.

We continue to the 'Indiana Jones' temple of Ta Prohm. Has been abandoned to the elements, this temple is a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to the dramas of human history. Our next stop - Angkor Thom - is an immense walled city that was the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII. The scale is simply staggering and we are immediately overwhelmed by the audacity of Jayavarman on arrival at the city’s gates. We begin our visit at the Terrace of the Leper King, continue along the Terrace of Elephants to the southern end of the Baphuon, once of the most beautiful temples at Angkor, dating from the reign of Uditayavarman 1^st in the 11th century.

Our climax is the enigmatic and enchanting temple of the Bayon. At the exact centre of Angkor Thom, this is an eccentric expression of the creative genius and inflated ego of Cambodia’s most celebrated king. Its 54 towers are each topped off with the four faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of Compassion), which bear more than a passing resemblance to the king himself. Trip ends at your hotel at around 5.00 PM