Cambodia: A Cultural Rail Adventure​

Day 1: Welcome to Cambodia!

Choum reap sor, and welcome to Cambodia! What better way to arrive in a new country than by being greeted by a friendly face at arrivals? Your driver will whisk you straight to your hotel, just around the corner from the Royal Palace. First impressions are everything! You may even feel a bit regal yourself in your crisp-linened room, or admiring the view from the cooling waters of the pool. Welcome to your home for the next two nights.

Sharing this adventure with you are a bunch of like-minded adventurers, and tonight you’ll bond for the first time as you get to know them (and some Cambodian dishes too) over a local dinner with your guide.

Accommodation: Frangipani Royal Palace (or similar), Phnom Penh
Included: Dinner

Day 2: Phnom Penh Reveals Its History

It’s hard to truly appreciate the beauty of Cambodia and the resilient warmth of its people without understanding their history. While this morning will show you deep wounds, the afternoon will show you the cultural treasures of the region.

Your guide will lead you through the Tuol Sleng Prison and the “Killing Fields” outside the city, heavy reminders of the oppressive Khmer Rouge’s regime. After catching your breath at lunch, your spirits will lift when you visit the centuries-old temple, Wat Phnom. There’s a walk through the Royal Palace with all its ancient artefacts as well. Bring sunglasses: that silver pagoda gleams!

Accommodation: Frangipani Royal Palace (or similar), Phnom Penh
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3: Kep Crabs and Temple Blessings

Now you’re ready to get into full MagRailer mode, with the trip’s first train ride. Rise early but start slow, rocking through the countryside on this gentle ride to the coast. No cushy seats and air-con on this baby – you’re going local – but the adventure of it all will have you really not minding!

Feeling crabby? You’ll soon forget any grumbles as your guide whisks you straight to the couldn’t-be-fresher crab market. Your senses jingle with all the bright colours, people around you on a mission and seafood still wriggling straight from the sea. With your mouth drooling, lunch at a local restaurant has you covered! Let your meal sink in on your way to a local temple, where you may get a monk’s blessing for your journey ahead.

It’s been a busy three days, so after arriving in nearby Kampot later this afternoon, you are free to wander, laze by the pool, reflect on all the things you’ve seen so far (or just think of those blue swimmer crabs).

Accommodation: Kampot Sweet Boutique (or similar), Kampot
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Caves and Cooking in Kampot

If the sea-to-stall produce of Kep market had you swooning yesterday, today you’ll get the inside scoop on other tasty ingredients on your plate. After the morning reset of your spiritual well-being in the labyrinth caves of Phnom Kampong Trach and their prehistoric sanctuaries, it’s time to dig into the region’s food offer.

Cambodia’s world-famous Kampot pepper grows here, so visiting a pepper plantation is a must. Feeling tired? Stop in for a pick-me-up of Khmer coffee along the riverfront before visiting a local fish market, rambutan orchard and – hold your nose for this one – durian plantation. Then it’s off to a (mostly locals) hangout at the Teuk Chhou River for a picnic lunch – the right way to wrap up your culinary adventure. If you’re feeling warm (or simply tempted by the refreshing current), your guide will happily wait for you to take a dip, too, before heading back to the hotel.

Accommodation: Kampot Sweet Boutique (or similar), Kampot
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: Street Food Safari

After breakfast, it’s time to return to the big smoke, Phnom Penh. Isn’t it a little mind-swirling how much you’ve already experienced since you were here last? Drop your bags at the hotel and bring your hungriest belly for the afternoon’s tastebud-teasing excursion: it’s time to get to know Cambodia on a street food level.

This is where the action happens! Meander through the city’s Penh-Phnomenal street food scene with your guide, ducking into hidden eateries only locals can find – and a cocktail bar that barely even the most in-the-know know how to access. This flavour-packed adventure has you diving into no less than seven stops, filling your stomach and your senses with over 20 different taster dishes and drinks – it’s like riding a bullet train straight into the heart of Cambodian culinary culture. Thankfully, after such a whirlwind day, tomorrow will give you a chance to lean back and enjoy a peaceful ride up to the north.

Accommodation: Frangipani Royal Palace (or similar), Phnom Penh
Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Cambodia’s Bamboo Trains

While we love to keep our MagRailers off the beaten rail, no visit to Cambodia is complete without a ride on the bamboo trains outside Battambang. In the 1930s, the French built railway lines through the country which were then decimated in the Civil War of the 1970s, rendering the tracks all but useless. With the help of local ingenuity and relentless spirit, residents started repairing sections of the railway building simple, hand-powered carts made of bamboo slats and salvaged lorry wheels that could sit on top of the rails and be used to transport goods and people to otherwise inaccessible areas. With national infrastructure on the mend, proper trains and more reliable lines are currently being built, but the bamboo trains remain a symbol of Cambodian resourcefulness – plus they’re just a fun wind-in-your-hair, one-of-a-kind experience!

Day 6: Train Ride to Battambang

With a 6:40am train departure, this morning’s wake-up call is early, but once you’re in place, you’ll have a front-row seat to the romance of bygone train travel. Cambodia’s rail system, decimated by the Cambodian Civil War, is only just being revived, meaning you get a slow-paced, open-windowed, whistle-blowing journey that few tourists are savvy to. Take this chance to lean back, watch the countryside go by and patiently wait for cows to cross the tracks.

Once you arrive in Battambang – likely greeted by a monkey or two – you’ll have the afternoon to sink into the laidback vibe of this town teeming with creatives, before joining the rest of the MagRail crew at dinner and sharing stories. It may not feel like it, but you’re halfway through your adventure, and this day is the perfect way to recharge and get a second wind for all that’s yet to come.

Accommodation: Battambang Resort (or similar), Battambang
Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 7: Bamboo Trains and Bat Caves

Remnants of the Khmer Rouge regime’s heavy toll on Cambodia’s infrastructure are everywhere, but so are signs of the people’s ingenuity – and today is a prime example. A private tuk-tuk and your own local guide will take you out to dilapidated railroad tracks, where Battambang’s DIY bamboo trains wait for you: open-air, clickety-clackity woven platforms, and a ride that’ll have your hair standing on end, in the best way imaginable. It’s the last train ride of the trip, and what a finale!

A gentler ride through the countryside follows – visiting local temples and villages before taking in lunch along the river – by now you’re probably feeling so local you’re diving into that sticky rice like you’ve grown up on it! The afternoon brings another sombering Civil War reminder, at the Phnom Sampeou Killing Cave. However, the serene temple and heart-soaring views from its top will remind you that this was a land worth fighting for. Stay long enough to witness hundreds of thousands of bats coming out of the cave at dusk, a swirling spectacle that may just have you imagining you’re seeing dragons.

Accommodation: Battambang Resort (or similar), Battambang
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8: Floating Villages on the Way to Siem Reap

Curious about Cambodia’s deep history beyond the Civil War era? Today is your day! The journey to Siem Reap is more than just a road transfer. Instead, it’s dotted with mini-stops and encounters. In the village of Ampil Peam, you’ll see local life largely untouched by time. Wait, is that a traditional ox cart over there in the rice fields?

Then, it’s onto Tonle Sap Lake, where the sight may have you rubbing your eyes – is that a floating village in the water? It sure is, and in the middle of a UNESCO biosphere no less! You’ll want to hop on a boat to explore the flooded forest and find out how the water flow changes directions from season to season. Stop for lunch before reaching Siem Reap and enjoy an unscheduled afternoon. Our advice is to go to bed early – tomorrow’s alarm rings before dawn and you won’t want to miss the reason why.

Accommodation: La Niche d’Angkor (or similar), Siem Reap
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9: Angkor Wat

Your ride leaves at 5am for a peace-filled, soul-stirring morning at the largest religious building in the world: Angkor Wat. You cannot know Cambodia without taking in this iconic temple, but as a savvy MagRailer, you’ll sneak in from a lesser-known entrance for an experience that’s big on Zen and low on tourists. See the reliefs wake up in the dawning light and wander among greenery with only monkeys and birds as your soundtrack, before watching the warm colours of sunrise illuminate the thousand-year-old temple. We can try to describe the moment, but in truth, no words can prepare you for this.

Return to the hotel for a late breakfast before heading out once more to other nearby temples, some overgrown and hidden in the jungle. When you think you’ve seen more than your memory card can handle, take in one more sight, watching it come alive under the golden hue of sunset.

Accommodation: La Niche d’Angkor (or similar), Siem Reap
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10: Cambodian Village Life

You’ve marvelled at temples, witnessed the history and devoured the tastebud-awakening food. So what better way to wind down your adventure than spending your last day with its people? Meet rural Khmer locals in a way most visitors never do, in Kna Por, a village surrounded by endless rice fields. The villagers are keen to show you how they make staples like rice wine and woven mats. Kna Por residents are known for their warm, welcoming ways, giving you a genuine glimpse into both the hardships and joys of rural life. After a field snack, explore a tree-covered jungle temple (feeling a bit like Indiana Jones?), then enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before weaving through fields and forests on your way back to town. One final dinner is the perfect chance to revisit your favourite Cambodian flavours and relive the journey with your fellow MagRailers – now fast friends – with so many magical moments together.

Accommodation: La Niche d’Angkor (or similar), Siem Reap
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 11: Farewell, Friends!

Eleven days gone just like that – but somehow it feels like a hundred since you first touched down in Phnom Penh – with all that you’ve seen, felt, tasted and learnt! Today, all that’s left to do is linger over breakfast for as long as your departure time allows, before hopping in your private ride to the airport. Check to make sure you have all your belongings, souvenirs, contact deets of your new MagRail buddies – and a last hug or two from them too… until next time!

Included: Breakfast