Cambodian Community and Culture

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Overnight Flight

Depart from the USA.

Day 2: Siem Reap Homestay

Welcome to Cambodia! Arrive in Siem Reap in the country’s northwest where you will meet your ACIS Tour Manager and transfer to a nearby village to begin your homestay experience. Visit a traditional pagoda to receive a welcome blessing from local monks, a meaningful introduction to Cambodian culture. Then take a short walk through the village to become acquainted your host families and settle in. Tonight you’ll share a home-cooked dinner with the community, where village elders are likely to impart some traditional Cambodian stories.

Day 3: Siem Reap Homestay

Today enjoy a full day of activities with your homestay community. Take a walk through the mangrove forest where local villagers will teach you the traditional craft of leaf weaving. After enjoying shared lunch, participate in their reforestation efforts with a tree planting activity. Return to your homestay this afternoon where you'll have the opportunity for global exchange while playing some sports or games with local students. Tonight, you will have an amazing community dinner featuring traditional Khmer music.

Day 4: Siem Reap

This morning you’ll experience the enchanting Cambodian landscape via a bicycle tour, as you ride from your homestay village to the striking Banteay Ampil Temple. This hidden gem, tucked away in dense vegetation and often overlooked, features an impressive central tower adorned with intricate carvings and lintels, all enclosed within a grand laterite wall. Return to the homestay village to enjoy a freshly prepared local lunch with your hosts. Afterward, pack your bags and bid farewell to your new friends as you continue your journey to the city of Siem Reap.

Day 5: Siem Reap

In the morning, visit the unique village of Kampong Phluk, whose stilted homes are perched above the floodplain of Tonlé Sap Lake and appear to float during the rainy season. Take a boat cruise through narrow village canals, then switch to kayaks and enjoy a relaxing paddle through the serene, flooded forest alongside local guides, stopping at a pagoda that’s still used for traditional ceremonies, and a lively local market where villagers trade fresh produce much as they have for generations. After lunch at a local restaurant back in Siem Reap, take part in an collaborative team Culture Quest challenge across the city. Equipped with a tablet and task kit, navigate to temples, markets, and cultural landmarks to solve puzzles, complete missions, and compete against other teams in real time, all while learning about the city’s history and people in a unique and modern way.

Day 6: Siem Reap

Today begins with a visit to the late-12th century Angkor Thom. The last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire, it includes the Bayon Temple’s serene stone faces, the Terrace of the Elephants, and the Terrace of the Leper King. Continue to the atmospheric Ta Prohm temple, reclaimed by the jungle as towering fig trees have entwined the ancient ruins. Then following lunch at a local restaurant, enjoy a guided tour of the non-profit APOPO Visitor Center and meet their remarkable HeroRATs—specially-trained African Pouched Rats with a keen sense of smell that help detect landmines and save lives. Conclude your day by exploring the stunning 12th century Angkor Wat. As Cambodia’s most celebrated and expansive temple complex, it is considered the largest religious structure in the world and a masterpiece of Khmer architecture.

Day 7: Phnom Penh

Depart Siem Reap and travel through the scenic countryside, crossing the ancient Spean Praptos, a laterite bridge at Kampong Kdei that was built in the 12th century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. Continue to the Kampong Thom province and visit pre-Angkorian Sambor Prei Kuk, one of Cambodia’s oldest and most peaceful temple complexes that dates back to the 7th century. Stop for lunch in the nearby village before continuing the drive south to Phnom Penh. Arrive late afternoon in the bustling Cambodian capital city, which sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers and boasts a rich history, both ancient and modern, grand and tragic.

Day 8: Phnom Penh

This morning’s sightseeing tour of Phnom Penh includes a visit to the Royal Palace, built in 1866 by King Norodom, and the Silver Pagoda, located within the Royal Palace compound and so named because its gleaming floor is made up of over 5,000 silver tiles. In the afternoon, gain a greater understanding of Cambodia’s more recent past and the horrific human rights abuses committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. First visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, established on the premises of the regime’s S-21 prison building that was formerly a high school, then visit the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Center), a profoundly moving experience. These sobering sites bear witness to the atrocities of the regime and serve as powerful reminders of the country's resilience and healing.

Day 9: Departure

After checking out of your hotel this morning, dive into Cambodia’s culinary heritage with a market visit and hands-on cooking lesson. Guided by a local chef, you’ll learn about the ingredients, techniques and flavors behind traditional Khmer cuisine, prepare some authentic dishes together and enjoy the delicious results for lunch. Then transfer to the airport and depart for your overnight flight back to the USA.

Day 10: United States

Arrive in the USA.