Meal: lunch | Accommodation: not included

8:00 AM – Pick up from your hotel by a local driver with his Vespa scooter, we meet up at downtown Siem Reap’s largest pagoda, Wat Damnak, where we receive a blessing from the resident monks for safe travels & a happy life. Now, we can start our adventure! Riding through tree lined side roads, skirting the ancient temples of Angkor, we head to where the rural community meet daily to buy and sell their produce. Here, your guide will walk you through the market, showcasing and explaining the varied and sometimes unique meats, fish, herbs, vegetables, fruits, spices and Cambodian sweets and desserts. Try some and see what you think!

We then take to smaller country roads to reach the impressive Wat Svay Romeat Pagoda. Here we learn about the role and importance of the pagoda & Buddhism to the everyday lives of Khmer people, about folklore and the daily lives and rituals of the monks. If you wish, you can have a traditional Khmer fortune telling. It’s back on the Vespas and a ride along the dirt roads beside the lake as we head by boat (subject to season) to see the temple restoration on West Mebon Island. On our return to dry land, we ride beside the narrow irrigation canal through the natural unchanged scenery of rice paddies and farmland towards our local family style lunch destination in a picturesque setting. After lunch, we meet a local family that epitomises the hard working ethics of the rural people who are adept at using everything available in daily surroundings to make a living. Before we end the adventure, our last visit is to a traditional Cambodian medicine man, who uses the natural bounty of the forest to alleviate the ailments and illnesses of local. Trip ends at around 3:00 PM