Thailand & Cambodia Multisport Adventure

Chiang Rai
Biking & Elephant Valley Project

Today’s pedal is stunning! We’ll make our way through lush farmland, through villages and beautiful valleys, riding along some paved and dirt roads with some small, manageable hills. After lunch, we'll make our way to The Elephant Valley Project, a sanctuary where the elephants can enjoy an idyllic and stress free habitat. We will walk alongside these majestic creatures in bamboo groves, forest and grasslands.  We’ll have the opportunity to photograph and feed them. We'll return to our hotel late in the afternoon and after some time to rest, venture out for a northern feast and to experience the night market. 

Biking Distance: 20 km / 12 mi
Accommodation: Same comfortable hotel in Chiang Rai
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Mae Kok River
Kayaking
Today, we’ll have time for a leisurely morning before getting ready for our  picturesque drive to Thaton, a riverside town near the Thai-Myanmar border. We’ll make a few stops en route, first in a town, Mae Salak, and then at Thaton Temple, located atop a hill at the south end of the Mae Kok River. After lunch, we’ll prepare for our day’s main event - kayaking. We'll board sit-on-top kayaks for a journey down the quiet Mae Kok River, passing hilltribe villages and lush fields. The paddling is relatively easy with low-grade river currents during most of the year and stronger currents only between August - October.
 We’ll kayak directly to our lodge, located on the bank of the river. Depending on the group’s energy level, we can end the day with a short hike to explore a hilltribe village and nearby plantation before our dinner feast.

Kayaking Duration: 2 hours
Accommodation: Comfortable riverside lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Doi Mae Salong
Hiking
Today, we’re off to one of Thailand's most stunning destinations - Doi Mae Salong, nestled among terraced tea plantations. This is a photographer’s dream and great shots abound. The area was once opium country but is now home to Thailand's premier Oolong tea production and a Chinese population who arrived when who fleeing the Cultural Revolution. We’ll put on our hiking shoes for a day trekking along dirt footpaths through the area’s stunning rolling hillsides, terraced plantations, and hilltribe villages. Locals are sure to be as curious about us as we are about them as we pass by. We’ll also have the chance to sample local teas, visit a mountaintop temple and a local school. The evening is free to explore the area around the hotel on our own.

Hiking Distance: 15 km / 9 mi
Accommodation: Comfortable Mae Salong hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Golden Triangle
Biking
After an early breakfast, we’ll take an early shuttle through the mountains to one of the kingdom’s most renowned community development projects – Doi Tung. Here we’ll learn about the Mae Fah Luang Foundation’s successful eradication of the area’s opium production. Afterwards, we’ll head out for a challenging riding day. We’ll pedal to the top of Doi Chang Mub, one of the province’s highest mountains and along a spectacular road that literally straddles the Thai-Myanmar border, passing through several military checkpoints along the way. This ride is a hilly one along paved and back roads. Hang onto your handlebars as dramatic descents will bring us to the country’s northernmost city, Mae Sai. Here we’ll have lunch, stroll through colourful markets and check out the bustling border trading. Then it’s back on out bikes for a final ride through flat farmland to the infamous Golden Triangle where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. We’ll take a motorboat and cruise the Mekong to a Laotian trading port before checking into to our hotel, a fun cabin overlooking the Mekong River.

Biking Distance: 65 km / 40 mi
Accommodation: Comfortable cabin hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Bangkok - Siem Reap
Transfer
Early this morning, after breakfast, we’ll transfer you to the Chiang Rai airport for your flights to Siem Reap via Bangkok. Upon arrival into Siem Reap, a BikeHike Adventures representative will transfer you to a comfortable hotel in the city. The remainder of the day is at leisure to explore Siem Reap, nestled between beautifully, terraced rice paddies and the Siem Reap River. In the evening be sure to catch the sunset from Phnom Bakheng, for a spectacular view of the impressive Angkor ruins.

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast

Siem Reap
Biking
This morning we cycle to the Mother of all temples, Angkor Wat. Believed to be the world’s largest religious building, this temple is the source of pride and strength to all Khmers. Built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II, this is the most famous temple at Angkor. Stretching for almost one kilometre, this intricate carving is a candidate for the world’s longest unbroken piece of art. We’ll continue to the upper levels of the inner sanctuary. The final steps to the upper terrace of Angkor are quite steep, where pilgrims would stoop on their pilgrimage to encounter the Gods. Finally we see the pinnacle, the sacred heart of Angkor Wat. Late morning, we continue on to visit Angkor Thom, an immense walled city that was the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII. At the southern end lies the Baphuon, once of the most beautiful temples at Angkor, dating back to the 11th century. Our climax is the enchanting temple of the Bayon. Its 54 towers are each topped off with the four faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of Compassion). We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch nearby the temple of the Bayon. Afterwards we set off on bicycles to Gate of the Dead and then onward to Victory Gate. We’ll then follow a road to the ‘Indiana Jones’ temple of Ta Prohm. The tentacle-like tree roots here are slowly strangling the surviving stones. Ta Prohm has been abandoned by the elements, a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to human history. If time allows, we’ll visit Banteay Kdei or finish with a sunset drink at Srah Srang. We return to the same hotel in Siem Reap and have the rest of the evening at leisure.

Biking Distance: 18 km / 11 mi
Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Siem Reap - Kulen National Park
Hiking
After breakfast, we’ll be picked up at the hotel and transferred to Phnom Kulen National Park for our trek. We start at the base of Mount Kulen, first ascending stairs to a breathtaking panoramic lookout point. We then continue our trek to visit the riverbed carvings in the “Valley of 1000 Lingas” (dedicated to the God Shiva) along the Stung Kbal Spean River. We’ll visit the reclining Buddha enshrined in Preah Ang Thom temple. This enormous Buddha was carved into sandstone in the 16th century. Afterwards, we’ll visit the magnificent nearby waterfalls. We’ll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before trekking further to the bat caves, Srah Damrey and Wat Preah Kral, where we can interact with local monks. We return to the same hotel in Siem Reap and have the rest of the evening at leisure.

Hiking Distance: 25 km / 15 mi 
Accommodation:  same comfortable hotel in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Kompong Phluk
Biking, Boating & Sunset Hike
This morning we are back on bikes, following small back roads through rural landscapes and picturesque villages. Our first stop is the temple of Bakong. We continue into Ruluos town to visit a very local market, virtually untouched by tourism. After a refreshment stop here, we follow the path of Ruluos River to a point where we’ll board small wooden boats to continue our trip to Kompong Phluk. Cruising down the narrow waterway, we enter a medieval floating village where the houses stand atop stilts as high as seven meters above the water. Everything lives on the water here -- pigs, dogs, crocodiles and people, all jockeying for space in this incredible floating town. We’ll explore the local wat here before boarding a larger boat and cruising through the flooded forest and across the great lake to Chong Kneas, an expansive floating village with over 1000 houseboats. This village includes everything from a floating church to a floating police station. Afterwards, we travel to the holy mountain of Phnom Krom, where we’ll have a short hike to enjoy a glorious sunset before heading back to Siem Reap. We return to the same hotel in Siem Reap and have the rest of the evening at leisure. 

Biking Distance: 20 km / 12.5 mi 
Accommodation:  same comfortable hotel in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Siem Reap
Departure
We'll transfer you to the Siem Reap airport to catch your international flight home or onward in South East Asia. 

Meals: Breakfast