2 days multisport tour- kirirom national park. - This is a two day one night tour. We were picked up at our hotel in phnom Penh by our guide Pis and we travelled by minibus across the city until we reached the quiet country roads. Then we started our 45km cycle countryside on brand new mountain bikes through beautiful villages, fields, plantations and lakes dappled with colourful water lilies. All along the way people smiled and waved and said hello, Pis our guide was very attentive, enthusiastic and full of information. We stopped to take picture and drink plenty of water provided by them. The minibus was never too far away and picked us up if we felt tired. We arrived at Chambok Eco village with sunset through rice fields. We shared a delicious meal cooked by locals at the community centre. Our accommodation was in a community homestay which was very clean and comfortable. We spend a very nice evening with the homestay family learning how to make pop rice with banana. Early next morning we started our hike through jungle and forest to Kirirom Mountain. We climbed into a bat cave, saw a very nice waterfall and ate lunch in a forest of pine tree. Along the way we got face to face with a giant snake and our guide was under control with it. It didn't attack us at all. Totally recommend to anyone who wants a taste of the real Cambodia.

Professional and friendly organization - both Silk Island & Kirirom tours were lots of fun - I strongly encourage you to book a tour with Vana Adventures! My partner and I did a half-day biking trip on the silk islands, and later we joined up with 2 other friends to do a 3-day hiking and camping trip in Kirirom National Park. Thong is: -- responsive (the only company with which I communicated which always responded within 24 hours, sometimes less!) -- flexible (I requested that we make a modification to one aspect of the trip and he made it happen even though it involved a third party) -- organized and professional (he was always early! transportation was great, he always had lots of water, meals and accommodation all worked, zero problems in 2 trips/4 days) -- made the trip personal (he brought leftover sweets from his relative’s wedding for the drive, also we ended up storing some extra bags at his house and met his wife and kids) -- shared lots of interesting information about Khmer culture, history, foods, etc. -- most importantly, he is laid back and has a great sense of humour! Thong’s company is small and Cambodian! Booking with Vana Adventures is therefore “socially responsible tourism” in the sense that it benefits locals (he increasingly has staff help lead tours, and he hires people to help with meals, accommodation, transportation, etc.), more so than big foreign companies do. About the tours themselves: -- I strongly recommend the half-day biking of the silk islands. It’s a lot of fun taking ferries and going from island to island. We saw lots of different villages and houses, and learned lots about Buddhism too! Thong actually picked us up at the hotel by bike because we were <500 m from the start of the bike paths… so there wasn’t too much driving which is what I had been worried about. Bike paths were a little muddy (they probably will be if you go after rain, so be ready to get a little dirty/sweaty). We saw some older folks on the same trail so I’m sure it can be tailored to fit different biking levels. -- I wanted to leave a note about what to do with your 3 days: Aural Mountain Hike vs. Kirirom National Park? I spoke with Thong quite a lot about this and did some research of other reviews/photos/videos available online. What I found is that Aural Mountain doesn’t have much variety (it’s jungle throughout) or view (still a forest once you get to the top); therefore, it’s a good option if your goal really is going to the highest mountain. In contrast, the Vana Kirirom tour has more variety (waterfall, jungle, pine forest) and view. It’s less intense than Aural, but can be made more intense if desired (for instance by getting up early on the second day for an optional bike ride). Although I haven’t done the Aural mountain hike, I would recommend the Vana tour in Kirirom based on what I know. Also I believe that Thong’s company is the only small (aka not international) company that goes to Chambok Eco Village, and the only company that does more than the 3 km hike to the waterfalls (worth it if you’re into hiking!).

Amazing Tours! - We were fortunate enough to find Vana Adventure Travel in our search for activities while in Cambodia. We booked two tours with Mr. Thong Chea and we had an amazing time on both. Thong was very easy to communicate with to book the tours and answered all of our questions, which made us feel really comfortable. We booked a bicycle tour to the Silk Islands first and had a lovely day trip. Our second tour was a multi-day hike through Kiriom National Park which included a homestay in a small Cambodian village, a bike ride to an amazing view of the mountains, and lots of great scenery while on the hiking trails. It was a truly amazing experience. I would highly recommend Vana and Mr. Chea for anyone visiting Cambodia.