Published on November 29, 2017
San Agustin Church museum, Manila, Philippines. Image courtesy of Mike Aquino.
What You’ll Get
This 5 day/4 night tour explores two venerable old cities that could not be more different from each other: Intramuros in Manila, Philippines, hiding secrets behind its high stone ramparts; and the Angkor temples that hold Bayon and the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat.
Highlights
Time travel in Southeast Asia by visiting two of its most notable ancient cities. Begin in Manila, capital of the Philippines, where a walking tour of its walled city Intramuros allows visitors to relive centuries of Spanish rule and the revolution that ended it in the 19th century. After seeing it on foot, board a kalesa, or horse-drawn carriage, to see San Agustin Church (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and Casa Manila, before heading off to a shopping stint at Greenhills.
A direct flight between Manila and Siem Reap places you right within range of Cambodia’s ancient Angkor temples. Start with the crowning jewel of Khmer architecture, Angkor Wat: the national symbol whose spires represent no less than the abode of the gods.
From Angkor Wat, you’ll visit other notable structures in the area: the fortified city of Angkor Thom, accessible via the monumental South Gate and containing the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper Kings. Within, you’ll also visit the ruined Baphuon, Royal Enclosure and Phimeanakas, before continuing to the mysterious Bayon Temple, where giant stone faces smile enigmatically down at you from every angle.
Finally, you’ll watch the sun set over the Cambodian countryside from the upper terraces of an ancient Angkorian temple, before ending the day with a Grand Epic show that recreates the Angkor Civilization in all its glorious aspects.
Angkor Temples Gate, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Image courtesy of Mike Aquino.
