Cambodia, Angkor and the Cardamom Rainforest

Six nights in Cambodia, divided between the temples and the forest: Siem Reap and a full day among Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm, then a camp of tents above a river in the Cardamom Mountains.

Length: Six nights
Pace: Two stays
Style: Temples, rainforest, rivers, wellbeing
Route: Siem Reap to The Cardamom Mountains

Siem ReapThree nights
The Cardamom MountainsThree nights

Angkor Wat at sunrise, reflected in the water in front of it. — Photo: Niels Baars / Unsplash

Days 1 to 4 · three nights

Siem Reap

You are met at the airport and driven to the hotel in Siem Reap's Royal District. One full day goes to the Angkor complex with a private guide and driver: Angkor Wat, the walled city of Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm, where the trees have grown over the stones. A long treatment at the hotel's Khmer Tonics Spa fills part of another day.

Where you stay

Shinta Mani Angkor

Shinta Mani Angkor is in the tree-shaded Royal District of Siem Reap, a short walk from the centre and a quick ride to the temples. Designed by Bill Bensley, it has 105 rooms and suites and ten pool villas, a central pool among gardens, the Khmer Tonics Spa, and two restaurants, Kroya and Baitong. It grew from a school offering free hospitality training, and room revenue helps fund the Shinta Mani Foundation.

A tented suite above a jungle river, its deck lit at dusk among the rocks. — Photo: Shinta Mani Wild

Days 4 to 7 · three nights

The Cardamom Mountains

From Siem Reap the journey moves on to the Cardamom rainforest. Each day is shaped with a personal guide: private excursions on the river and in the forest, sunset outings, yoga, meditation and breathwork, and spa treatments. Rangers patrol the forest against poaching and logging, and guests can ride out with them. At the end you are driven back to the airport.

Where you stay

Shinta Mani Wild

Shinta Mani Wild is a tented camp by Bill Bensley on 350 hectares of the Cardamom rainforest, with rivers and three major waterfalls. Its 15 tents stand on stilts along the river, each with a porch and an outdoor bath, and guests can arrive by zipline over the trees. There is a 33-metre pool overlooking the canopy and a waterfall.

Ways to make it yours

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.