One-Day Private Guided Backroads Cycling Tour of Angkor Temples

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Ta Prohm

  This morning, meet your personal guide and driver, explore some of the most impressive temples at Angkor on two wheels, taking advantage of back roads and jungle paths to get off the beaten path and experience Angkor without the crowds. Leave Siem Reap early using a forest path to avoid the traffic and wind our way past the walls of Banteay Kdei to the North Gate of Ta Prohm. The ‘jungle temple’ has been abandoned to the elements, a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to the dramas of human history. Left as it was ‘discovered’ by French explorer Henri Mouhot in 1860, the tentacle-like tree roots here are slowly strangling the surviving stones, man first conquering nature to create, nature later conquering man to destroy. This was one of the settings for Lara Croft’s adventures in “Tomb Raider”.

  2 hours • Admission ticket included
• 2
  Ta Nei Temple

  Continue cycling to Ta Nei, a small temple that has been forgotten in the jungle and sees few visitors. You will need to carry your bike across an old French dam to cross the Siem Reap River.

  1 hour • Admission ticket included
• 3
  Angkor Thom South Gate

  After lunch at local restaurant, You'll then enter the immense walled city of Angkor Thom, the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII, through the Victory Gate and continue to East Gate. Ascend the walls of Angkor Thom and ride around the southeast quadrant to stop at atmospheric Prasat Chrung, a seldom visited temple overlooking the vast moat of Angkor Thom.

  45 minutes • Admission ticket included
• 4
  Bayon Temple

  Cycle from South Gate to the Bayon and explore the main temples of Angkor Thom, including Baphuon, Phimeanakas, Preah Palilay, Terrace of the Leper King and Preah Pithu. Bayon temple is famous for its enigmatic faces of Lokesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, said to bear an uncanny resemblance to the great King Jayavarman VII himself. Baphuon is nicknamed the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle as the French took it apart stone by stone in the 1960s for restoration, only for all records to be destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Cycling along the back paths to the lesser known temples of Angkor Thom such as Preah Palilay and Preah Pithu is a rewarding experience. Return to your hotel later this afternoon.

  3 hours • Admission ticket included

Additional info

• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

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