Start with a pick-up from your hotel at around 8:00 AM and travel with your small group to the most interesting temples outside Angkor Thom city. Begin with a first stop at Pre Rup Hindu Temple, built as the state temple of Khmer King Rajendravarman and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction.

Then, drive to the intricately carved and well-preserved Banteay Srei. The detailed reliefs on this smaller sandstone structure are regarded as the finest, most skillfully crafted in Cambodia. Banteay Srei has only been accessible since the late 1990s, when the Khmer Rouge left the area. End your tour at Angkor with lunch at the temple and a short rest.

On the return journey, visit Neak Pean, a Buddhist temple on a circular artificial island in Jayatataka Baray, then continue to Preah Khan temple, a ruined but highly atmospheric mélange of tree roots and crumbling stone structures commissioned by the prolific temple builder Jayavarman VII in honor of his father. Preah Khan is currently being restored by the World Monument Fund and in places is in remarkably good condition and a visit to this smaller site makes for an interesting contrast with the more imposing Angkor Wat.

In the late afternoon you’ll return to Siem Reap after a memorable day of exploration.