Compare Family Fun: A Giving Back Vacation by Journeys Within vs Angkor Wat & Thailand Essential by Odynovo

Day 1: Siem Reap – Arrival

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

Arrive in Siem Reap where you will be met by a Journeys Within representative and taken to Journeys Within Boutique Hotel.

Spend the afternoon relaxing in the garden, cool off in the swimming pool or if you have the energy, take a trip down town and walk around the local market.

Day 2: Siem Reap - Angkor Wat

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

This morning head to Angkor Wat in an air-conditioned car, or if you choose by bike, with your guide. Explore this majestic temple throughout the morning while it is still cool and has fewer tourists. Return to Journeys Within for lunch and a nap or refresh with a swim. In the afternoon head to Angkor Thom, the famous walled city and see the many temples within its borders, including the fascinating Bayon temple with its many magnificent faces smiling out. There are several beautiful spots from which to watch the sunset. Discuss with your guide where you would like to be and then relax and enjoy a memorable end to your day at the temples.

Day 3: Siem Reap - Banteay Srei and Other Temples

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

This morning set off with your guide to Banteay Srei, the intricately carved temple just 30 km beyond Angkor Wat. As you head towards your hotel you can stop at Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, two of the prettiest temples in the complex.  Enjoy climbing through these smaller unique temples before returning to your hotel for lunch.

In the afternonn visit one of Journeys Within Our Community’s (JWOC’s) free schools to help in an English class. JWOC offers a wide variety of free classes to students who have the desire to learn, but lack the financial means to do so. Our English program for children and adults welcomes the participation of native English speaking volunteers who play an extremely useful role assisting the teachers with speaking activities, providing a model for students who often have limited opportunity to hear and speak English in their everyday lives. No experience is necessary – your ability to speak English is the only qualification you need to help. You will arrive at least 10 minutes before the class starts to meet the teacher and find out what you will be doing.

Day 4: Siem Reap - Visit Well

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

Today visit the well you have generously donated through Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC). A JWOC representative will take you into the community to meet the villagers benefiting from the well and you will be able to see the clean water they are now using.

Day 5: Siem Reap - Quad Adventure Cambodia Full day tour

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

Today you will join a group in Siem Reap and head off on your own quad bike with a local guide.Drive through villages and rice paddies, see splendid landscapes and share moments with the monks at the monastery of Pourk. Stop to visit Wat Athwea temple and its pagoda, picnic near the lake or in a village, discover the mountain of Phnom Boc, and visit an orphanage run by a wonderful Khmer family and proudly supported by “Quad Adventure Cambodia”. Every day 165 children, 42 of whom are orphans, receive breakfast, lunch, dinner and language classes. Return at the end of the day dirty and tired but having had a fun, truly Cambodian experience!

Day 6:Siem Reap - Market tour and Visit JWOC Art Class

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Accommodation: Journeys Within Boutique Hotel - Family Bungalow

Take a walk around the old market where the locals and tourists shop side by side.

Sunday afternoons are special at Journeys Within Our Community a non profit started by Journeys Within owners Andrea and Brandon Ross, not only are our scholarship students there, returning from well scouting and loan collecting, but we also hold our art class for local students at 2pm. This class is a no-pressure class where anyone is invited to come, play games, sing songs and do a simple and rewarding art project. Volunteers are great for this class, we break the students into groups of 8 and as a volunteer you can join a group and help the little ones with scissors and other tricky tasks and give the older students encouragement and attention. The class runs to a little after 4pm. Please arrive 10 minutes before it starts so the teacher can explain the project and you can get oriented.

In the evening, head into town to enjoy a dinner at Selantra Restaurant. After dinner you will be picked up at 6:40pm and taken to the Cambodian Children's House of Peace to see their traditional dance show. CCHP is a residential home for 30 children between the ages of 10-18, and provides shelter, food, clothing, school and English language education, health care, recreation, arts and anything else the children need to grow and develop into productive citizens of their country. The show will start at 7pm and finish at 830pm. The donation after the dance show would be appreciated.

Day 7: Siem Reap – Departure

Meals:Breakfast

Transfer to the airport in time to catch your departing flight.

Day 1: Arrival - Siem Reap

Overnight: Siem Reap

Welcome to Siem Reap, also known as "Temple Town"! On arrival, you will be greeted by a local tour guide and escorted to your hotel. Have the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 2: Siem Reap

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Overnight: Siem Reap

Begin your exploration with a visit to Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire. Enter through the South Gate, where there is a bridge with dozens of stone figures depicting the mythic story of the Churning of the Ocean. The Bayon Temple in the city center is notable for its numerous smiling stone faces on the towers. Nearby is Elephants Terrace, where the ancient King of Angkor stood for inspection and held various public ceremonies.

Lunch at a local restaurant, followed by a tour of UNESCO-listed Angkor Wat, the main attraction in Siem Reap. It is indescribably beautiful until you stand in front of the temple complex, built in the 12th century with five lotus-like towers rising 65 meters into the sky. Finish the day with a stunning sunset from Bakheng Hill or the less-crowded Pre Rup Temple.

Day 3: Siem Reap

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Overnight: Siem Reap

Early risers have the bonus of watching the stunning sunrise over Angkor Wat if the weather is nice.

After breakfast, depart for Banteay Srei, about 30 kilometers from Siem Reap's center. This tiny temple, built in vermilion sandstone and filled with exquisite reliefs, is widely regarded by tourists as the "jewel of Khmer art." After lunch, proceed to Ta Prohm Temple - the shooting location of the movie Tomb Raider- and then end with Ta Keo Temple.

Day 4: Siem Reap – Bangkok

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Overnight: Bangkok

Passing through the countryside, you will arrive at Tonle Sap Lake. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, where people without a homeland built their houses on the water, forming some small floating villages. You will witness this unique lifestyle through a local boat ride around the lake. After lunch, proceed to the airport for your flight to Bangkok. Upon touchdown, meet your guide and transfer to your hotel for some rest.

Day 5: Bangkok

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Overnight: Bangkok

Begin with a colorful flower and vegetable market, where tons of colorful fresh flowers for sale fill the air with an intoxicating scent. Following that, visit the glittering Grand Palace, which has many fascinating buildings to explore, including the sacred Wat Phra Kaew.

After lunch, take a long-tail boat ride through the canals, known locally as khlongs, to observe the rural life along the waterways. On the boat, you can see the photogenic Wat Arun on the bank of the Chao Phraya River. Disembark and spend the rest of the day at Wat Po, the home of the massive Reclining Buddha.

Day 6: Bangkok - Chiang Mai

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Chiang Mai

Get to the airport in the morning for a flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand's "Rose of the North." On arrival, you will be greeted by a local guide and transferred to your hotel for check-in.

After a short break, pay a visit to Doi Pui Hmong Tribal Village. Where villagers still wear traditional Hmong clothes, sell traditional Hmong handcrafts, and live in typical Hmong-style homes, you will gain an insight into Hmong culture and customs. End the tour with a panoramic view of Chiang Mai and the surrounding area at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, about 4 kilometers from the village.

Day 7: Chiang Mai

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Overnight: Chiang Mai

Join Elephant's Day Care at Baan Chang Elephant Park and get close to these gentle giants. The park, located about 50 min from Chiang Mai, seems like a typical small, rural Thai village, where people live and work with elephants. Once there, you can cook herbal food to feed them, roam with them in the natural fields, and enjoy bathing with them. In the Nursery Zone, you can even play with their baby elephants.

Day 8: Chiang Mai – Phuket

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Phuket

Enjoy a leisurely morning until flying to Phuket, the gateway to the southern beaches. On arrival, take a private transfer to your hotel for check-in and relaxation.

Day 9: Phuket

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Phuket

Day at leisure. Blessed with many activities and attractions, Phuket is more than beaches. You can take a walking tour around Old Phuket Town to see Sino-Portuguese-style shophouses and try Thai food while exploring its open markets and bustling streets. Or enjoy island hopping to take in the stunning natural beauty around Phuket.

Day 10: Phuket

Meals: Breakfast

Overnight: Phuket

Another day of relaxation. After a big day exploring this fascinating island, you might want to lounge on a beach chair with cold coconut juice, enjoying the open seascape.

Day 11: Phuket - Bangkok – Departure

Meals: Breakfast

Your vacation to Cambodia and Thailand comes to an end. Fly to Bangkok to connect to your international flight home.