As empire builders go, the Khmers don’t get nearly the publicity lavished on the Romans or the Mongols, but for about 600 years—from the earliest 800s to the 1430s—they ruled over much of Southeast Asia and in the process created Angkor, which Arnold Toynbee called “perhaps the greatest of Man’s essays in rectilinear architecture.” (Many informed folks will tell you that Angkor was the cynosure of the world’s largest urban center before the Industrial Revolution.

Our Southeast Asia team pays tribute to Khmer architectural triumphs—Angkor is just the brightest jewel in a very sparkling crown—in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and in the process they introduce us to a heady cultural mélange. This imaginative trip, created in collaboration with our friend Susy Barry (who has lived in, studied, and loved Southeast Asia since 1974), ends with a glorious bang in Toynbee’s “epic poem” of Angkor, where we’ll have three days in expertly guided exploration. But before that we’ll make market visits, learn about traditional arts, visit private galleries, meet local experts, and take a superb cruise on the eternally vivid Mekong as it meanders through the 4,000 islands of Siphandon in southern Laos. We’ll spend time in Franco-Kampuchean-flavored Phnom Penh,and—here’s the heart of our look at the kingdoms the Khmers avidly collected into their empire—we’ll visit eastern Thailand’s magnificent ruins of Phimai (a Buddhist temple, though by the time it was created the Khmers were Hindus) and Phanom Rung, perched on the rim of an extinct volcano. And in southern Laos we’ll wander wide-eyed in Vat Phu, a particularly winsome World Heritage Site, set in jungle greenery below Mount Phu Kao, whose summit is a natural lingam, adding to the site’s spiritual charisma.

Day 1: arrive in Bangkok • Days 2 & 3: Bangkok • Day 4: drive to Phimai • Day 5: drive to Phanom Rung • Day 6: drive to Pakse • Days 7 & 8: cruising Mekong’s Siphandon Islands, explore Vat Phu and Champassak • Day 9: back in Pakse • Day 10: fly to Phnom Penh • Day 11: Phnom Penh • Day 12: drive to Siem Reap via Sambor Prei Kuk • Days 13–15: exploring Angkor temples • Day 16: depart Siem Reap.

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