After months of planning and preparation the wait is finally over! Please make your way to Melbourne airport for your flight to Phnom Penh. On arrival you will be met by your guide and driver and transferred to your hotel. After check in we will have a full group pre-trip safety briefing and language lesson before heading out for our first taste of Cambodian cuisine at a local restaurant. Learning some basic Cambodian phrases is an essential part of the experience so you can practice with the locals you encounter on your journey. Making a little effort goes a long way with the Cambodian people! Overnight 3* hotel Phnom Penh

Meals:  D

Today is a sobering but important visit of Cambodia's more recent bloody past. Whilst this is a very confronting visit, it is important if we are to understand the country's recent history and how the people are looking positively towards the future. First stop is Tuol Sleng Museum. Originally, this building was a high school until it became the Khmer Rouge’s main interrogation centre. During this period it was known as ‘S-21’. We then stop for de-briefing and lunch at a local restaurant (lunch is at your own expense) before proceeding to the Killing Fields, a stretch of countryside where over 10,000 people were executed. The remains of some of the people are stored in a memorial to remind people of the atrocities the Khmer Rouge inflicted on other Khmers. We will then head back into town and visit the National Museum, housing the world's foremost collection of ancient Khmer artefacts. Late this evening we have time to reflect on the day and debrief. Tonight we have dinner at the Friends or Romdeng restaurant, training restaurants for disadvantaged youth. The restaurant provides education and job training to street children. The visit helps support the training of these kids by being their guest. Depending on availability we hope to have the manager of the restaurant and some of the workers speak with our group about their experience. Overnight 3* hotel Phnom Penh

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we rise early for breakfast at our hotel as we will head out at 7:30am for a very special day. We drive to Phnom Tamao to the Free the Bears wildlife sanctuary to join their "Keeper for a Day" program to help with the bears enrichment program. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get behind the scenes at one of the best wildlife centres in South East Asia. The facility, set up by Perth lady Mary Hutton, now houses over 100 sun bears and over a 7 hectare area. We will help with the bear enrichment program. Late this afternoon we will return to Phnom Penh and enjoy a low key dinner and can then spend time at the night markets as we practice our Cambodian language as we barter for fashion, electronics and crafts.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap. A short distance outside of Phnom Penh we will stop in the town of Skuon to see their most famous speciality: deep-fried tarantula! A stop off on the Hamish and Andy gap year Asia program, this town is home to the favourite snack of many Cambodians. Many local buses stop here at the market to buy a bag of the “ch’ngain” (tasty) eight-legged creatures. The spiders are caught in the soft ground of the surrounding countryside. We continue to Siem Reap. On arrival we will have some time to relax at the hotel before heading out to dinner at a local restaurant. After dinner we head to the famous Phare Cambodian circus. Despite being known around town as the Cambodian circus, it is anything but a traditional big top. A non-profit school for the arts, Phare is a demonstration of the graduate students’ acrobatic abilities. Exceptionally talented players act out everything from Cambodian folklore to the very real history of the Khmer Rouge; a must see for anyone visiting Siem Reap. After the performance we will get the opportunity to meet the performers. Overnight 3* Siem Reap Hotel

Meals:  B,L,D

Today we will get up early for breakfast before heading to our project site at the Treak Community Centre School. You will be divided into sub groups to work on different components of the project. We will take the time to take a walk through the surrounding community whilst gaining a better understanding of the people and their way of life. You should wear clothing you don't mind getting dirty. The people from the local village and school will be very receptive to your visit and the improvements that you are making which will bring long term benefits to the entire village. The difference this work will make for the community can not be underestimated. In addition to the friendships formed, it will foster closer relationships between the two countries and schools. At the end of our second day, we say farewell to the centre and our new found friends. The project is set up alongside our regenerative Travel, Give, Grow concept, offering unique experiences to help foster respect for the natural world as well as the diverse peoples and cultures that live in it. This regenerative style of travel helps develop confidence, resilience, tolerance, problem solving abilities, team work, fitness and key life skills. The designated work for the Geelong Lutheran Students will be as follows: The main group will split the group into 4 teams. Their first 2 days at Treak will consist of 4 sessions. Each team will experience all activities, and have time to prepare for a Literacy Day on day 3. Session 1 - morning on Day 1. Teams A and B will help in the classes Team C will make bricks/manual work Team D will prepare for the literacy day Session 2 - afternoon on Day 1. Teams A and B will help in the classes Team D will make bricks/manual work Team C will prepare for the literacy day Session 3 - morning on Day 2 Teams C and D will help in the classes Team A will make bricks/manual work Team B will prepare for the literacy day Session 4 - afternoon on Day 2 Teams C and D will help in the classes Team B will make bricks/manual work Team A will prepare for the literacy day Treak staff will choose the books/topics for the Literacy Day to fit in with the current topics they will be teaching at the time. This information will be provided to Geelong Lutheran students approximately 4 weeks prior to arrival. The 4 activities: puppet show; arts & crafts; presentation/quiz; role play will be based on the books/topics chosen by Treak staff, and they will work with Geelong Lutheran students in their preparation sessions for the literacy day on days 1 and 2. We will return to our hotel late in the afternoon to refresh before heading out to dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight: Siem Reap

Meals:  B,L,D

Today we make our way out to the magnificent temples of Angkor where we will explore the surroundings from handle bar level! We will have a full safety briefing with our guide as well as being sized up for our bike. Cycling is a wonderful way to explore the temple complex as it is relatively flat and we can travel along small shaded streets and avoid the queues as we enter the temples. Our cycling is fully supported, anyone needing a rest or not comfortable can ride in the support vehicle. The largest and most impressive of all the temples in Angkor is Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built between 1112 and 1152 by King Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. It is the best preserved of all the temples. Its layout and its scale are simply breathtaking: the wall surrounding the enclosure measures 1,000 by 800 meters in length and the moat, said to represent the oceans of the world is 200 meters wide. We explore Ta Prohm, known as the temple filmed for the movie Tomb Raider which is still overgrown by jungle, trees and vines. We will have lunch near the complex and continue our exploration until we return to our hotel later that afternoon. Tonight we will enjoy dinner at Pizza Company and explore the night markets. Fully supported cycling **Appropriate attire must be work when visiting the temples of Angkor. Long pants (covering the knee) and shirts that cover the shoulders must be worn. Skirts, shorts above the knee, tank tops or other revealing clothing are not allowed to be worn within the temple grounds. Visitors are frequently turned away from the temples when wearing revealing clothing

Meals:  B,D

After breakfast in our hotel we head to the famous Tonle Sap Lake, South East Asia's largest fresh water lake. The lake swells to around 4 times its normal size during the wet season. We get to explore the lake and stilt villages at sea level on our private long tail boat. We travel through sunken fields and floating forests to the stilt village of Kompong Klaeng. We enjoy lunch at this village town before heading back to Siem Reap. We can relax at the hotel and freshen up before we head to the Champey Cooking Class we were will visit an authentic Khmer market to purchase local ingredients before we unlock the secrets of Cambodian cuisine at a private cooking class. Afterwords you get to dine on the results! Overnight in Siem Reap.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we will have our last breakfast in Cambodia before we can pack our bags and head to the airport for check in for our flight back to Melbourne

Meals:  B

Meals:  Nil