After months of planning and preparation the wait is finally over! Please make your way to Perth airport for your flight to Siem Reap.

Meals:  Nil

After months of planning and preparation the wait is finally over! Please make your way to Perth airport for your flight to Phnom Penh. On arrival you will be met by your experienced World Expeditions guide and driver and transferred to your hotel. After check in we will have a full group pre-trip and safety briefing and language lesson where your guide will run through a number a basic Cambodian phrases and words for you to use during your journey. A little effort goes a long way with the local people we meet on our travels. Tonight we head out for our first taste of Cambodian cuisine at a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight hotel Phnom Penh

Meals:  D

The first stop on our program 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 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 to start our service learning program. 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 go behind the scenes at the sanctuary and 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 performance we will get the opportunity to meet the performers. Overnight Siem Reap Hotel

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 **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,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 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

This morning we continue our service work. 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

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

Today we will get up early for breakfast before heading to our project site at the Treak Community Centre. Treak village is about 4 kilometres to the south of Siem Reap town. Though Siem Reap is pretty developed by Cambodian standards, if you make that 4 kilometre journey it is like travelling back in time 100 years. Indeed, in many parts of the village, life goes on much as it has done for the past 1,000 years! You can see wooden carts being pulled by cows, haystacks by people’s houses where the straw from their rice fields is piled up, and pigs and hens and ducks and cows all living around and under the houses. The poorest people have no land and build little shelters out of whatever they can find: bamboo poles; bits of old tin; plastic bags; old tarpaulins; cardboard; grass; old bits of wood that other people have finished with etc. The Treak Community School has been set up to provide schooling for the young people from the local surrounds that can not afford to go to government school. We will join the school and complete a service program helping the local staff in and out of the classroom. Our group will be provided with materials and guidelines prior to arrival to help in your preparation. The group will be responsible for dividing into sub groups to work on different components of the project. On arrival we will take the time to take a walk through the surrounding community meeting the local people whilst gaining a better understanding of the people and their way of life. 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. In addition to the friendships formed, it will foster closer relationships between the two countries and schools. At the end of our third day, we say farewell to the centre and our new found friends. 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 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.

Meals:  B,L,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. We return to Siem Reap and spend the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. Later we head out to dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals:  B,D

Today you will participate in a service program aiding the local community. We are currently engaging the community and discussing possible programs for All Saint's students to be involved in. This afternoon we will have some free time for reflection on your journey before heading out tonight for our farewell dinner. Overnight Siem Reap

Meals:  B,L,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 Perth

Meals:  B,L