After months of planning and preparation the wait is finally over! Please make your way to Adelaide airport for your flight to Phnom Penh. SQ 278 15 SEP 20 ADELAIDE TO SINGAPORE DEP 09:10 ARR 15:10 MI 608 15 SEP 20 SINGAPORE PHNOM PENH DEP 16:35 ARR 17:30 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 briefing and safety lesson before heading out for our first taste of Cambodian cuisine at a local restaurant. Overnight 3* hotel Phnom Penh **Please note flight timings correct at time of writing***

Meals:  D

Our next stop is a very sobering one as we visit Cambodia's 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 **Today lunch is at your own expense

Meals:  B,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. 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.

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 performcance we will get the opportunity to meet the performers. Overnight 3* Siem Reap Hotel *If you are not comfortable with spiders and other creepy crawlies it would be best advised to stay on the bus during our visit. **Today lunch is at your own expense.

Meals:  B,D

After breakfast, we and head out to the “gem” of the Angkor area: the pretty temple of Banteay Srei. The “Citadel of Women” remains the best-preserved temple in Cambodia. It displays some of the finest examples of classical Khmer art and is noted for its truly remarkably fine bas-reliefs. Banteay Srei is unique in that it is constructed of pink sandstone, which is seen nowhere else in Angkor. We then transfer back along country roads through rice paddies and palm trees towards Siem Reap. En-route we stop at Pradak Village, renowned for all types of traditional Khmer noodles. We will learn about their production and have lunch at a local restaurant where we can see the noodles cooked freshly for us. This afternoon, we return back to Siem Reap town.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. **Today lunch is at your own expense. ***Cooking class will be joined by Cameron clan

Meals:  B,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 up to 30km **Today lunch is at your own expense. **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 by kayak. Our two seat inflatable kayaks are a great way to explore the lake as they can go where the noisy long tail motorboats can not. We paddle through sunken fields and floating forests to the stilt village of Kompong Klaeng. We enjoy lunch at this village town before leaving our kayaks and heading back to Siem Reap for some rest at the hotel. Later we head out to dinner at a local restaurant. Kayaking approx 2 hours.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today we have a big day planned. First we will visit one of the first community forests established in Cambodia. Here we will each plant a tree to help offset the carbon on our journey along with helping the local community create an income. This is a fantastic social enterprise set up by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. All equipment is provided and we will learn about sustainable Forrest management and rehabilitation. We then travel to the road head to begin our trek. We hike through rice fields and spectacular rural scenery. This is a great opportunity to see how people in the rural areas of Cambodia go about their lives on a daily basis. Rising up from the flat countryside is the enormous Kulen Mountain, and it slowly begins to dominate the view as the trail approaches. Kulen Mountain (Phnom Kulen) is an impressive sandstone plateau in this otherwise flat area. The mountain is considered the birthplace of the Khmer empire and a sacred place for the Khmer. After arriving and walking through the village, the trail heads into the forest with the canopy high above providing shade even in Cambodia’s hottest months. We meet our vehicle near the stunning Kulen falls and transfer to the nearby Bong Thom village stay. Our accommodation is in a traditional Khmer village where our group will sleep in a large open air dormitory. The home stay is surrounded by orchards of exotic fruit trees that we can try. The home stay also offers free English lessons to children from the surrounding villages, each day and we will be able to join in and help with the lessons. Tonight, enjoy dinner with traditional music and the opportunity to learn traditional dance. Today is a real highlight of our experience in Cambodia. Overnight in Bong Thom traditional hall

Meals:  B,L,D

The next 3 days are special time for us as we join the local "Volunteer Building Cambodia" team. This is a real opportunity for us to hands on give something back to a remote community in need and to bring long term benefits to the community. Our work here will be a mixture of labour and construction duties as we build a house for members of the surrounding village. "Volunteer Building" is a small, Cambodian-run non-government organisation that facilitates building sturdy, wooden houses for Khmer people living without safe and secure shelter. The organisation is fully funded by volunteer fees. At the project site the students 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 here gaining a better understanding of the people and their way of life. You should wear clothing you don't mind getting dirty. In addition to the friendships which will form, we will foster closer relationships between your two countries and schools. We work each day until 3pm and have time to enjoy a range of activities each afternoon. This afternoon we will enjoy a walking tour around Siem Reap. The project is set up alongside our 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 style of travel helps develop confidence, resilience, tolerance, problem solving abilities, team work, fitness and key life skills. The work also targets several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We strongly suggest students visit the website for more information https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ This afternoon after our service work we will embark on a walking program of Siem Reap to the old traditional art markets. Tonight dinner will be at a local restaurant.

Meals:  B,D

This morning we continue our service work. This afternoon we head back to Siem Reap and meet one of the head monks at the local pagoda. The head monk also helps operate the Life and Hope Association Centre which supports disadvantaged women and children in Siem Reap. You can ask the monk about the work they do and he will bless the group for a safe return to Australia.

Meals:  B,D

Today we put the finishing touches on the house build and hand over the house to the local family. This is a joyous celebration that touches all who are a part of this special program. We return to the hotel to relax and refresh and debrief on our experience before we head out to a farewell dinner and special Aspara Dance performance.

Meals:  B,D

This morning we will have our last breakfast in Cambodia before we can pack our bags and debrief. Depending on time we may stop at the Old Market for some last minute shopping before lunch. We will be met at the hotel after lunch for our transfer to the airport for check in for our flight back to Adelaide. MI 615 26 SEP 20 SIEM REAP SINGAPORE DEP 16:10 ARR 19:15 SQ 279 26 SEP 20 SINGAPORE ADELAIDE DEP 23:10 ARR 07:30+1

Meals:  B,L

Arrive Adelaide 07:30

Meals:  Nil