Deeply spiritual, tragically scarred, sublimely beautiful – arguably the most enigmatic of the big Southeast Asian nations, a visit to Cambodia will stay with you long after you’ve departed.
Yes, it’s home to Angkor Wat – an extraordinary, box-office-smashing sight that goes toe-to-toe with the likes of the Giza pyramids and Machu Picchu in scale and splendour – but Cambodia is about far more than this billboard-spanning icon.
For starters, there are its heart-stealing cities. Visitors to Angkor Wat will have to pass through Cambodia’s second-largest city, Siem Reap – don’t pass up the opportunity to go a bit deeper than your hotel pool. Hit the streets and you’ll find a to-notch food and drink scene, with fine-dining restaurants and cocktail bars rubbing shoulders with street food stalls and carts loaded with ice-cold beer. Meanwhile its capital, Phnom Penh, has all the urban sheen you’d expect, but also plenty of architectural and historical charm – particularly in the form of the Silver Pagoda.
While Cambodia’s cities are splendid, they are dwarfed in scale and visual impact by its electric green landscapes. From rainforest-shrouded mountains, to sparkling rice fields and wildlife-rich mangroves, there’s magic around every corner. In Botum Sakor National Park, clouded leopards stalk through the shadows, while the extremely rare pileated gibbon swings through the trees above. Due to its scale and density, in-depth analysis of the park’s biodiversity are challenging – it’s likely there are species of animals, insects and plants out there yet unknown to science.
Keep a sharp eye out, and you could end up having a newly-discovered species named after you. Join our epic, 11-day Dynamic Cambodia Epic Trip and you’ll get to spend two nights in Botum Sakor (in a luxury tented camp, as well as visit the famous Angkor Wat at sunrise, feast on street food in Siem Reap and explore Phnom Penh with a Local Insider. There’s much more to discover here, too, as we travel through this fascinating, thrillingly different country.