Full Day to Banteay Srei, Kulen National Park and Beng Mealea
Description
Kulen Moutain is a national park of Cambodia lying about an hour from Siem Reap. It was an ancient city recently discovered by an Ultra-Sound scanning technology of Laida. It is home of many ancient temples, waterfalls and sacred sites. Beng Mealea is a temple lying to the east of the National Park Kulen which is more than an hour drive from Siem Reap town. The temple is perfectly constructed and carved during the reign of King Suryavarman II, early of the 12th century which is the same period of Angkor Wat. It is the only temple still preserved in its natural state (untouched) by archeologists. The ruined state and parasite trees growing all over the temple provides an endless impression to all visitors. The program and tour are conducted by Fin who has been working in the guiding field for more than 20 years with excellent English. These years, he has been working with many well-known companies and is still their favorite guide. He will bring you into the depth of local culture.
Tour Options
Itinerary
After breakfast at your hotel, pick up and drive through the countryside of Siem Reap toward the most beautiful deep cut carving temple Banteay Srei, the lady temple, dating back to the 10th century.
Continue by the vehicle to Kulen Mountain National Park where the visit begins by the river of 1000 Lingas, a sacred site where a lot of carvings of Hindu gods and phallus symbols engraved into the riverbed to purify the water which is the source of Siem Reap River in the purpose of consecrating the river as Ganges River in India so that Angkorian people can celebrate sin-cleansed ceremony. The drive takes around 45 minutes.
Visit to the most sacred monastery on the mountain top Wat Preah Ang Thom where an enormous reclining Buddha located. Here, you can learn so much about the local culture, belief, and you can also experience a water-blessing from the monk.
Enjoy swimming and picnic lunch (optional $4 - $6) at the area of different level waterfalls. You will see many locals here enjoy their day with families and friends.
Around 2.30PM, ready to continue the journey down to mountain for Beng Mealea temple along the beautiful road and plantation of Kulen National Park.
Explore the most stunning, untouched temple Beng Mealea, dated to the same period as Angkor Wat. The temple has remained much of its ruined state and invasive parasite vegetation growing all over the building. Travel back to Siem Reap for 1 hour and half.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We will have a sign with guests' names.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(4)
This excursion is truly perfect! The Finh guide is adorable, kind, and accompanies us everywhere: to the temple, to the river, to the great Buddha, to the restaurant, to the waterfall, and finally to the last temple; it is worth the trip! Everything is perfect.
Thank you for traveling with me.
This tour is a private tour, so if you prefer to travel privately, then I will recommend. He explained well in fluent English not only Cambodian history but also society, politics, economics, culture, so it was very helpful for us like foreign travelers to understand this country. He is a walking dictionary.
Thank you!
Loved the temples, lunch and river. Guide was very knowledgeable. Great insight to the history of Cambodia.
Thank you!
Nak was a great driver and tour guide from the moment we met him. He's super friendly, full of knowledge, and we even had some laughs with him. He made sure the ride was comfortable (asking how the A/C was, providing us with water bottles), since it was of course super hot. We enjoyed the refreshing waterfall, the lunch spot in Kulen NP, and the very cool temples and pagoda with reclining Buddha. Since it was a private tour (which we actually didn't realize), we had flexibility of time, which was great. I only have two tiny suggestions for improvement. One would be for the tour operator to send a note about what to bring, such as a reminder to bring a swimsuit, towels, and sandals for the waterfall, as well as sunscreen, bug spray, etc. All obvious things, but never hurts to have a reminder when traveling. I also would've liked to have had the opportunity to change into my swimsuit at the free bathroom at the park above the waterfall, instead of paying for the changing room at the bottom next to the waterfall. It was cheap at 50 cents per use and a dollar to store your belongings in a box with a lock and key, but I like to pinch pennies anywhere I can! Oh and while we did enjoy our lunch at the park (we had a whole grilled fish with mango salsa plus fresh coconut and mango juices), it would've been nice to browse the other vendors as well. Other than that, we really enjoyed the tour. Thank you, Nak.
Thank you!
