Cambodia Temples, Tees & Tranquility

Arrive into Phnom Penh, where a Trails of Indochina representative welcomes you at the airport and transfers you to your hotel through the capital’s lively streets. Settle in and spend the rest of the day at leisure, easing into the pace of Cambodia’s riverside capital.

Perched along the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers, Phnom Penh was once celebrated as the “Pearl of Asia,” a testament to its French-built elegance. Spend the morning tracing a more sombre chapter of the city’s past, visiting Tuol Sleng, a former high school turned interrogation prison during the Khmer Rouge era and now a genocide museum, before continuing to Choeung Ek, the memorial site known to many through The Killing Fields. It is a moving journey through hardship and remarkable resilience, offering a deeper understanding of the spirit that has rebuilt this city. In the evening, hop aboard a tuk-tuk for a nocturnal feast through Phnom Penh’s back streets, stopping at four cozy eateries and a craft cocktail bar along the way, a delicious dive into Khmer culinary history and its place within the wider tapestry of Southeast Asian cuisine.

Begin the day with a round at Vattanac Golf Resort, where Sir Nick Faldo’s East Course blends championship design with Khmer heritage, its fairways threading past Angkor-inspired stone ruins and dramatic landscapes. After your round, transfer to the airport for a short flight to Siem Reap, gateway to the Angkor temples, where you’re met on arrival and transferred to your hotel.

Spend a full day exploring the wonders of Angkor. Begin at Ta Prohm, built in 1186 and famously overgrown with the roots of ancient fig trees, lending it a haunting, storybook atmosphere. Continue to Ta Keo, a striking unfinished temple, before entering Angkor Thom, the walled royal capital that once housed a million people. At its heart stands Bayon, its towers carved with 216 serene, smiling faces of King Jayavarman VII, alongside the Terrace of the Elephants and the intricately carved Terrace of the Leper King. After a break for lunch at leisure, enter Angkor Wat through its quieter rear gate, taking in the scale of the largest religious monument in the world, its central tower rising as an earthly representation of Mount Meru, centre of the Hindu universe. Return to your hotel in the late afternoon, having walked through nearly a thousand years of Khmer history.

Set amid tranquil countryside near the Angkor temples, Phokeethra Country Club offers a refined round of golf, its championship course threading lush fairways and palm-lined landscapes past a historic Khmer bridge integrated into the layout. Spend the day on the course, enjoying immaculate conditions and serene surroundings before returning to Siem Reap in the evening.

Play a morning round at Angkor Golf Resort, a Sir Nick Faldo-designed championship course just minutes from the temples, known for its pristine fairways and fast, true greens. As the afternoon light softens, swap clubs for handlebars on a sunset quad bike tour through the Siem Reap countryside, following dirt roads past local communities before settling among the paddy fields to watch the sun go down, then returning to town along quiet country roads.

Transfer to Siem Reap airport for your flight to Sihanoukville, then continue by road and boat to the island of Koh Rong, arriving in time to settle into your beachfront retreat and unwind by the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

A day entirely at your own pace. Relax by the shore, wander the island’s quiet trails, or try your hand at stand-up paddle boarding across Koh Rong’s calm, clear waters.

Spend another day at leisure on Koh Rong, or join a local fisherman for a traditional fishing experience, learning time-honoured techniques passed down through generations of island life.

Transfer from Koh Rong back to Sihanoukville, connecting onward to Siem Reap or your international departure point, bringing your Cambodian golf journey to a close.