cycling vietnam and cambodia by bike · 2019-07-29 · vietnam and cambodia by bike friday 13 -...
TRANSCRIPT
Vietnam and Cambodia by Bike Friday 13 - Saturday 28 March 2020
15 nights
CYCLING
TOUR OVERVIEW Get up close to two Southeast Asian neighbours that have a rich and ancient heritage, as well as a more recent
turbulent history that New Zealand was involved in. Biking is the key to exploring villages and the countryside at a
pace that allows you to absorb the spectacular views, the sounds and smells, as well as interact with warm and
friendly people. Your journey across Indochina will be made easy with elegant accommodation on land and
aboard a luxurious river ship.
Your journey starts in bustling Ho Chi Minh City, once the French colonial capital Saigon. Learn about
independence struggles against the French as well as the history of the American War (you couldn't expect that
conflict to be known here as the 'Vietnam War'). And then it's out into the massive delta, made, and constantly
reshaped, by the mighty Mekong River as it concludes its 4,000 km journey through six countries from the Tibetan
plateau to the sea. Cycling is easy on the flat lands of the delta, and a great way to explore rural life in this fertile
area.
After some days in the delta it's time to change countries, flying to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Four nights based in
this pleasant town allows relaxed exploration of one of the world's great wonders; the temple complex of Angkor,
capital of the Khmer empire from about the 9th to 15th centuries. It's said to have been the largest pre-industrial
city in the world, covering at least 1,000 square kilometres, and is famous for some of the most impressive and well
-preserved ancient temples in the world. By bike and by bus, you will see some of the striking variety in
construction, from massive stone structures to small and ornately-carved places of worship.
After delving into the Khmer capital, and remnants of even earlier civilisations, it's time to board your lavish river
ship. Life on board is elegant and relaxed, but punctuated by shore visits to cycle through rural villages and
observe traditional Cambodian lifestyles. Your cruise takes you to the capital Phnom Penh, and after exploring
this vibrant city it's time to head for a former colonial seaside resort for more biking, and a day relaxing on the
beach.
The varied itinerary of this tour will leave indelible memories of optimistic and friendly people, two beautiful
countries with rich histories and cultures, and an exhilarating outdoor adventure.
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
• Explore two vibrant Southeast Asian
countries by bike and boat
• Mix with villagers and see rural life up
close
• Explore the massive Angkor temple
complex, one of the marvels of the
ancient world
• Easy biking through villages, across
paddy fields and alongside waterways
• Enjoy four nights aboard an elegant
river ship
• Stay in modern upmarket hotels and
restored colonial villas
• Experience the rich culture and learn
about the ancient and modern history
of Vietnam and Cambodia
You will spend four nights aboard the Heritage Line's flagship
vessel Jayavarman, which combines French art deco charm with
the romance of Indochina. With only 27 cabins and a friendly
crew, this will be a time to remember. Your main deck superior
stateroom naturally has an en suite bathroom, air conditioning,
in-room safe, desk and chairs. You can enjoy fabulous river views
through full-length windows, or sit out on your private balcony.
Ship facilities include a bar and lounge, luxury dining room, spa
and outdoor pool. On-board activities include tai chi lessons,
evening movies and expert lectures, but there will still be plenty of
time to kick back and enjoy the slow pace of river life.
TOUR PRICE Ex Auckland
Share twin per person NZD $11,840
Please contact Calder & Lawson Tours if you are interested in a single occupancy place; they are very limited.
GROUP SIZE Minimum 10, maximum 14
VARIATIONS IN TRAVEL We can make arrangements for any travel you would like to do before or after this tour, or
book business class seats for the flights. Please contact us.
TOUR EXCLUSIONS
• Airline taxes
• Personal expenses
• Travel insurance
• Visa costs
• Beverages during included meals, unless
specified
• Other meals not specified in the itinerary
• Hotel porterage
• E-bike hire - NZD$94 for Vietnam and
NZD$685 for Cambodia
TOUR INCLUSIONS
• The services of an experienced New Zealand based
Calder & Lawson Tours tour manager
• Economy class airfares
• 14 nights accommodation in Vietnam and Cambodia,
including four aboard a river ship
• Breakfast daily, other meals as specified in the itinerary
• Bottled water during sightseeing and cycling
• Snacks and fruit on cycling days
• All group transfers as specified in the itinerary
• Admissions as detailed in the itinerary
• Sightseeing tours with experienced, English-speaking
local guides as detailed in the itinerary
• All tips for local guides and other service providers
• Comfortable mountain bikes, including helmet (you
might prefer to bring your own helmet)
• Support vehicle and mechanic on biking days
• Shore excursions and the full services of the
Jayavarman crew
• Pre-tour material
IS THIS TOUR FOR ME? This is an active adventure, centred on
biking. You must have recent experience
of riding the distances covered by this tour,
as detailed in the itinerary. Some of the
biking is on public roads, so you should
have recent experience of biking in traffic.
March is considered one of the best
months to bike here, with the temperatures
around 30 degrees. The rides are classed
as easy to moderate. A limited number of
e-bikes are available at an extra cost, and
these really do take the strain. Before
using an e-bike on the tour be sure to
borrow or hire one in New Zealand to try it
out. E-bikes require some different skills
from conventional bikes, and it's best not
to try and learn these while in a tour party.
Apart from the cycling, this tour involves
walking on uneven surfaces, climbing steps
and clambering around archaeological
sites, so you will need to be reasonably fit
and confident with walking.
DAILY ITINERARY
A late morning departure from Auckland for Singapore. After a short
stopover you will connect with your fight to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly
Saigon). After transferring to your hotel, the remainder of the day is at leisure.
Explore the famous Cu Chi tunnels, an immense underground network
started in 1948 to protect Viet Cong from French forces, and expanded
during the American War. Touring the underground compounds will illustrate
the hardship of life in the tunnels and Vietnamese resilience during combat.
After returning to Ho Chi Minh City, a half-day tour will highlight key landmarks
in this bustling city of more than 8 million people (and nearly as many
motorbikes). The former presidential palace and the War Remnants Museum
provide a vivid perspective on the American War from a Vietnamese
perspective.
A shuttle transfer out of the city enables you to avoid the crazy Ho Chi Minh
City traffic. At My Tho, gateway to the mighty Mekong delta, collect your
bikes and enjoy the first day in saddle. The ride offers peaceful country lanes
and quiet roads that pass through local villages and alongside canals. Stop at
Cai Be for lunch in a French colonial styled villa. Then continue for a relaxing
ride over easy, level terrain along narrow village lanes, past fruit orchards and
local cottage industries - a very rustic Mekong experience.
Cycle to Can Tho along country lanes, through paddy fields and bamboo
villages, with a picnic lunch along the way. At Can Tho check in to your
hotel, and in the late afternoon transfer to Ba Lang hamlet to begin another
bike ride. On this leisurely ride you'll explore peaceful rice fields and fruit
gardens up close. Highlights include crossing over wooden bridges and
taking a local ferry ride with other commuters. While only a few kilometres
from the bustling city of Can Tho, the area around Ba Lang has retained its
bucolic beauty, typical of the countryside villages of the Mekong Delta where
life is simple and slow with people living close to nature.
Take a morning boat ride to explore the bustling Cai Rang floating market,
where hundreds of local people trade on the river. After also exploring the
small canals around Can Tho, stop at a local orchard to taste juicy tropical
fruit then pedal along the river bank. The scenery is peaceful and dotted with
banana trees and fruit orchards, and you can also visit other local markets
along the way to watch how the local vendors do business. Return to your
hotel and then transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City airport for a flight to Siem
Reap in Cambodia. Transfer to your hotel where you’ll stay for four nights.
A free morning to relax or explore the small town of Siem Reap. In the
afternoon you will see the most striking temple in the Angkor complex,
Angkor Wat. This is one of the wonders of the world. You will be amazed by
the sheer size of the temple, and yet the details of intricately carved hallways
and small shrines still used by local people. If time permits, continue to visit
other temples in the area. We will have dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant
with contemporary Cambodian cuisine.
Biking is a great way to explore the many temples that make up the Angkor
Wat complex. The day starts with a ride to Ta Prohm, the jewel in this vast area
of temples. Known from an early Indiana Jones movie, this beautiful temple is
overgrown with fig trees, giving a haunting yet exotic atmosphere. The
magnificent roots of the trees have merged themselves over the centuries with
the temple’s huge stone blocks, creating a ‘forgotten city’ feeling. Continue
to Banteay Kdei, one of Angkor’s largest structures. After lunch in a local
Restaurant, visit the ancient royal city of Angkor Thom with its magnificent
Centerpiece, the Bayon. At first glance, it may seem like a shapeless mass of
stone, but further scrutiny reveals towers with enigmatic faces of former King
Jayavarman VII looking into every direction.
Friday 13 March 2020
Auckland – Singapore - Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam
Meals: In flight
Flight: 11 hours and 2 hours
Overnight: Ho Chi Minh City
Saturday 14 March
Cu Chi Tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: B
Coach: 2 hours each way
Overnight: Ho Chi Minh City
Sunday 15 March
Ho Chi Minh City - Cai Be, Mekong
Delta
Meals: B/L
Biking: 10-15 km
Coach: 1 hour 30 minutes
Overnight: Cai Be
Monday 16 March
Cai Be - Can Tho, Mekong Delta
Meals: B/L
Biking: 15-20 km
Overnight: Can Tho
Tuesday 17 March
Can Tho - Ho Chi Minh City - Siem
Reap, Cambodia
Meals: B
Biking: 7-10 km, easy
Coach: 4 hours 30 minutes
Flight: 1 hour 30 minutes
Overnight: Siem Reap
Wednesday 18 March
Siem Reap – Angkor Wat
Meals: B/D
Overnight: Siem Reap
Thursday 19 March
Siem Reap
Meals: B/L
Biking: 14 km, easy
Overnight Siem Reap
The day starts with an easy ride through the countryside west of Siem Reap to
the peaceful red sandstone temple Banteay Samre. Then visit Banteay Srei
Temple, whose fine carving makes it one of the most beautiful temples of the
Angkorian period. That's the end of biking for the day. After lunch transfer to
visit the tall Mebon Temple and enjoy sunset at Pro Rup Temple before
returning to your hotel.
Travel south from Siem Reap. Your first stop is to bike around Sambor Prei Kuk,
the ancient capital of the Chenla kingdom, which in the early 7th century
preceded the Khmer empire. Here are the most impressive pre-Angkorian
monuments, with more than 100 temples scattered throughout the lush forest.
After lunch at a local restaurant you will travel to Kampong Cham, a city on
the Mekong river known for its French colonial buildings. Here a visit to Wat
Hanchey will give you a 360° view of the surrounding valleys, islands and the
Mekong River. In the evening you will board your home for the next four
nights, the luxurious Jayavarman river ship.
The ship sails up towards the small Angkor Ban village on the Mekong River.
The village is famous for its unspoiled community and beautiful, traditional
houses. It feels like being transported back a hundred years into an era
unaffected by modernity. You can bike around different villages to see local
life, before hopping back on the cruise at the river bank. In the afternoon the
ship arrives at the island of Koh Oknha Tey, which is famous for the
manufacture of high-class silk products. Explore the island by tuk tuk to visit
workshops and learn how silk is produced and processed. Later the ship
passes the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle rivers, and anchors near the
marshland area of Kampong Chhnang.
Disembark to explore Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia’s 'water world' where
everything is on sticks balanced on rich soil. Bike through the rural villages of
the area, where your guides will explain local village specialties – Khmer style
pottery making and sugar palm production - before you head back to the
boat. The cruise continues with a languid meander through jungle-like
landscape along the Tonle river towards Kampong Tralach, where you will
explore on an ox cart ride. Your visit includes the 'green school', which is partly
supported by the Heritage Line. Your ship cruises on to Cambodia's capital
Phnom Penh, where you will have time in the evening to explore the city.
In the morning transfer through bustling Phnom Penh city before crossing the
mighty Mekong River by local ferry to enjoy biking round the Mekong island
known as Koh Dach. Meet the locals, who are mainly rice and vegetable
farmers and silk weavers. This is a great chance to see rural life in full swing.
After lunch at a restaurant in the city, you will explore the fascinating cultural
heritage of Phnom Penh. The golden edifice of the Royal Palace with its silver
pagoda, and the exceptional Khmer crafts at the national museum, are high-
lights. The day trip ends with a cyclo ride back to the ship through the bustling
city streets. Experience a magic evening on board, against the backdrop of
the city skyline and the gentle Tonle river, with barbeque dinner and Apsara
dance performance.
Leave Phonm Penh and head for the seaside. At Chouk you start cycling
towards the coastal town of Kep, passing through Phnom Wur mountains and
then along the foot of the mountains until reaching your hotel in Kep. During
French rule this was Cambodia's premier seaside destination, and was known
a the 'St Tropez of Southeast Asia'. Your 'barefoot luxury' boutique resort
consists of restored colonial villas by the sea.
A short boat ride into the gulf takes you to the secluded white sand beaches
at Koh Tonsai, Rabbit Island. You have free time here to relax, swim and enjoy
the picnic lunch cooked by the crew. In the late afternoon take the boat
back to Kep. Tonight a farewell dinner at our hotel.
Friday 20 March
Siem Reap
Meals: B/L
Biking: 30 km, moderate
Overnight: Siem Reap
Saturday 21 March
Siem Reap – Sambor Prei Kuk –
cruise
Meals: B/L/D
Biking 20 km, easy to moderate
Overnight: on board
Sunday 22 March
Kampong Cham – Oknha Tey –
Kampong Chhnang
Meals: B/L/D
Biking: 20 km, easy
Overnight: on board
Monday 23 March
Kampong Chhnang – Kampong
Tralach – Phnom Penh
Meals: B/L/D
Biking: 18 km, easy
Overnight: on board
Tuesday 24 March
Phonm Penh
Meals: B/L/D
Biking: 15 km, easy
Overnight: on board
Wednesday 25 March
Phnom Penh – Kep
Meals: B/L
Transfer: 3 hours
Biking: 25 km, easy to moderate
Overnight: Kep
Thursday 26 March
Rabbit Island
Meals: B/L/D
Boat: 30 min each way
Overnight: Kep
HOW TO SECURE YOUR PLACE ON THIS TOUR
A deposit of $1,000 is required to secure your place on the tour. When minimum numbers are reached, the tour
will become a ‘confirmed departure’. At that point we will advise when the tour payment will be due.
• Click here to complete the online registration form, pay the $1,000 deposit and your place in this tour is
secured.
• Or you can complete a paper registration form. You can download one from the website
www.calderandlawsontours.co.nz, or give us a call and we will email or post one to you.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Can be found on the website www.calderandlawsontours.co.nz, on the back of the paper registration form or on
the summary page when you complete an online registration.
VARIATIONS
This itinerary is Version 1 dated 29/07/2019 and is subject to change.
Exchange rate fluctuations may result in a change to the tour price.
An early departure from Kep, for the capital, to take an afternoon flight to
Singapore that connects with an overnight flight to Auckland. You’ll arrive in
Auckland around midday on Saturday 28 March.
Friday 27 March
Kep – Phnom Penh – Singapore -
Auckland
Meals: B/L/meals in flight
Transfer: 4 hours 30 minutes
Flight: 2 hours and 9 hours 30
minutes