American Youth Leadership Program with Cambodia (AYLP)

Sample Itinerary

• Day 1

  Travel to San Francisco and Preparatory Retreat

• Day 2

  Media Skills and Digital Storytelling Afar

• Day 3

  End of Retreat and Departure for Cambodia

• Day 4

  Continue Travel to Cambodia

• Day 5

  Arrival in Phnom Penh

• Day 6

  Conservation and Modern History in Cambodia

• Day 7

  An Introduction to Cambodian Culture

• Day 8

  Embassy Welcome and Climate Change

• Day 9

  Responsible Tourism and Expedition to Chi Phat

• Day 10

  Conservation and Sustainable Development

• Day 11

  Service Learning and Cross-Cultural Exchange

• Day 12

  Chi Phat to Sambor District

• Day 13

  Leadership, Service and Cultural Exchange

• Day 14

  Leadership, Service and Cultural Exchange

• Day 15

  Rural Lifestyle in Sambor

• Day 16

  Rural Lifestyle in Sambor

• Day 17

  Rural Lifestyle in Sambor

• Day 18

  Daily Culture and Cambodian Heritage

• Day 19

  Conservation of Cambodian Ruins

• Day 20

  Rural Lifestyle in Sambor

• Day 21

  Siem Reap and Surrounding Ruins

• Day 22

  Tonle Sap Lake Conservation

• Day 23

  Cambodian Food and Culture

• Day 24

  The Temples of Angkor

• Day 25

  Siem Reap – Bangkok and Closing Ceremony

• Day 26

  Return Home

Participants travel from their home communities to San Francisco for the first day of our preparatory retreat. After a brief orientation, we’ll begin team-building and leadership activities designed to enhance group dynamics and encourage participants to think about this experience in more meaningful ways. Overnight in San Francisco.

We review the lessons we learned during our preparatory sessions, build relationships as a team and learn how to tell our travel story from journalism experts at Afar Media. We will also learn more about environmental issues, climate change, conservation and sustainable development as they pertain to Cambodia. Overnight in San Francisco.

This morning we’ll have a bit of time to conclude our retreat with several short discussions and activities. Then, we’ll begin our journey to Cambodia.

We spend our entire day flying to SE Asia and arrive in Bangkok this evening, where we head to a hotel for some rest before flying onward to Phnom Penh.

We will arrive in Phnom Penh this morning after a long journey. We will head straight from the airport to the Royal Palace, built in 1866 under King Norodom. Adjacent is the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is covered with 5,000 silver tiles. We enjoy a nice introduction to Cambodia here before the sites close for the day at noon. From the Royal Palace, we will go straight to our hotel to check in. Lunch today will be at a restaurant called Mith Samlanh. The staff of Mith Samlanh restaurant are all disadvantaged children who are being trained to work in the hospitality industry. This afternoon we will have some free time to allow the group to catch up on some rest after our long flights. Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh.

This morning we have an early departure to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, which is home to over 1,200 animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. We will see the elephants on their morning walk, bathing in the lake where the painted storks, pelicans and lesser adjudants also like to hang out. Then we will stay for the morning to see tigers, bears and the gibbon rehabilitation area. Lunch will be on-site at a typical rural Cambodian restaurant that has excellent chicken, fish and veggies. After lunch we will visit Choeng Ek, the location of the infamous Killing Fields, where the remains of thousands of Cambodians murdered during the regime of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978 are found. Our guides will tell you the story of this very sad chapter in Cambodian history. We continue to Tuol Sleng prison, the notorious Khmer Rouge prison where thousands of Cambodians perished in the darkest hours of Cambodian history. Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh.

Today will be spent at the Apsara Arts Association (AAA). The Apsara Arts Association aims to preserve Cambodian arts and culture by giving teachers the opportunity to teach Cambodian dance and music to disadvantaged children. In the morning, we will teach English conversation lessons to the children of the AAA and will, in turn, learn some basic Khmer. Lunch will be enjoyed together. Next, the children of the Apsara Arts Association will perform a show of Cambodia dance and music. After this, the visiting American students will perform their own cultural show. Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh.

This morning we have the privilege of attending a reception at the U.S. Embassy and hearing a discussion of how foreign governments support Cambodia. After lunch we will visit the Cambodian Ministry of Environment where there will be a short lecture on the effects of Climate Change in Cambodia. After this lecture there will be time for questions and discussion. Overnight at a hotel in Phnom Penh.

After breakfast we will visit CCBEN, the Cambodian Community-Based Ecotourism Network. CCBEN is a network of more than thirty members including communities, non-governmental organizations, academic institutes and private companies who are working closely with ecotourism. Afterwards we will visit Childsafe International. ChildSafe is a proactive child-protection network involving key members of society, protecting children from all forms of abuse and preventing child exploitation and trafficking. After lunch in Phnom Penh, we will drive several hours to a boat launch where we will board boats that will take us up a tropical river to a small, rural community in the Southern Cardamom Mountains. This boat ride gives us a wonderful introduction to some of Cambodia’s wilderness and more rural areas. Flanked by lush green tropical forest on both sides, we will enjoy the scenery and enjoy the wide open space. Overnight at guest houses in Chi Phat.

This morning we will leave in the early morning for bird-watching-by-boat. The lush tropical forests and serene morning air will remind us of our connection to nature and the importance of protecting such areas. Our breakfast will be packed in a traditional rattan box and we will enjoy it along the boat trip. In the afternoon we will have a bike tour of the village including a visit to the tree nursery where reforestation is underway. Afterward we will visit a nearby waterfall where we can swim, relax and cool down a bit. Overnight at guest houses in Chi Phat.

Today we will visit the high school in Chi Phat and engage in cross-cultural learning activities with local students. Our group will teach English and engage in training sessions, teambuilding exercises, service and leadership training. Local students will teach Khmer. We may also work side-by-side on improvement projects that the community has decided are important. After working alongside local students, we’ll have time in the afternoon to have more fun together playing soccer or volleyball. Much of the rest of the community will likely join us. After dinner we will share night time performances with each other in the CCBEN community center. Overnight at guest houses in Chi Phat..

This morning we depart Chi Phat by boat and continue to the Sambor District in Kampong Thom Province. After checking into our home-stays, we have an afternoon reception and dinner at the Kampong Ccheuteal High School, a school funded by the Thai Royal Family. The curriculum at KCHS emphasizes such themes as the importance of environmental protection, preserving archaeological sites, health care and English language training. Overnight at local home-stays.

Today we have a full day of activities at the Kampong Ccheuteal High School including peer training/education workshops, teambuilding exercises, leadership development with workshop trainers, exercises related to increasing tolerance and cooperation and developing strategies for future collaboration and cooperation among participants and a local community service project. We will split into two groups for these activities. Overnight at local home-stays.

We will continue service projects and engage in additional leadership activities. Discussions will center on conservation issues in the region and in the U.S. and the challenges of sustainable development. Overnight at local home-stays.

Today we will take a break from scheduled activities, spend time in our home-stays and explore the local community with spontaneity and curiosity. We may ride bikes, play volleyball or find a quiet place to reflect on our experience and write in our journals. This afternoon, we will have time to work with our host families to do laundry the traditional Cambodian way. Our clothes will need a good cleaning at this point in the experience! Overnight at local home-stays.

Once again, we take a break from scheduled activities to experience the pace of life for a typical rural Cambodian family. We may catch rides on ox-carts, spend more time journaling or explore Sambor by foot. Today we will also have a roundtable discussion about sustainable development and what our presence in Sambor means to the community. Overnight at local home-stays.

We will spend a full day today learning how to cook traditional Cambodian food from local community members. This will provide an interesting contrast to the cooking class we will take at a culinary school later in the program. Overnight at local home-stays.

Today is filled with visits to villages around Sambor district. We will visit local houses that engage in stone carving and produce palm oil, “flatten rice” (unique to Cambodia), organic rice, and Khmer noodles. Activities will provide insight into how local people make their living and challenges faced economically and socially. We end the morning at a silk farm where we will get a short explanation before we have lunch. This afternoon time we will slow down and spend time at our home-stays. Overnight at local home-stays.

We start the day with a bicycle ride to Sambor Prei Kuk. After arriving, we will visit the main ruins of this ancient site and learn about the conservation work at Sambor Prek Kuk by the Waseda University from Japan. Lunch will be set in between the ruins. In the afternoon, we will actively help in the restoration of one of the monuments of Sambor Prei Kuk. Overnight at local home-stays.

We will spend time today wrapping up our experience in Sambor and reflecting on the privilege we’ve had to be invited into someone’s home and look at daily life from another perspective. We will break into small groups to process our time in Cambodia thus far and begin to brainstorm ideas for follow-up leadership projects. Overnight at local home-stays.

As a short detour on our way from Sambor to Siem Reap, we arrive at Beng Melea, one of the more distant temple sites that once was part of the ancient kingdom of Angkor. We will have a picnic lunch at Beng Melea before we continue to Siem Reap, gateway to Angkor. Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap.

Today we will focus on the Tonle Sap Lake region, learning about the remarkable seasonal changes of the lake and its fascinating biodiversity. We will meet people who live on the lake and whose livelihood depends on it. We will be joined by naturalist guides and take boats to Kampong Phluk Village, a small community on the Tonle Sap Lake. The village consists mainly of floating houses. We will learn about the lake, its unique biodiversity and the importance of the lake for the livelihood of the local people. We will enter the flooded forest and will do some bird watching. Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap.

Today we will focus on Cambodian food—how to prepare it and how to serve it. After breakfast we will transfer to the Ecole D’Hotellerie et du Tourisme Paul Dubrule. We will get a short introduction of this school before we go to a local market to shop for some of the ingredients of a delicious Cambodian lunch we will prepare this morning. We will go back to the school and start preparing a Cambodian lunch. After lunch return to the hotel for a couple of hours relaxation and a much-needed cool-down at the pool. For dinner, we visit the Sala Bai Hotel and Restaurant School. Sala Bai is a hotel and restaurant school in Siem Reap created by the French NGO Agir Pour Le Cambodge in 2002. In the last five years, 413 disadvantaged young people have been trained, enabling them to achieve economic independence and improve the living conditions of their families. We will have an introduction to the school, interact with some of the students and have dinner catered by the Sala Bai School. Overnight at a hotel in Siem Reap.

Today, we start our exploration of the temples of Angkor. This morning we focus on the Angkor Thom complex, including Phimeanakas, Baphuon, the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King and finally the Bayon, with its mysterious towers and beautiful bas reliefs. In the afternoon and sunset hours, we will explore Angkor Wat, the largest and most breathtaking monument at Angkor. We will enjoy a farewell dinner in Siem Reap and overnight at a hotel.

This morning, we say goodbye to Cambodia and have some time to shop for mementos responsibly at Artisans D’Angkor. Artisans D’Angkor is part of Chantiers-Écoles de Formation Professionnelle a professional training school, which helps young Cambodians rediscover traditional handicrafts and give them the opportunity to take part in the rebuilding process their country had undertaken. It is part of a self-sustaining handicraft network that provides opportunities to artisans around Cambodia. After lunch we fly from Siem Reap to Bangkok, where we will depart for the United States after one last night in Southeast Asia. We will have our closing ceremony where each student will pledge a “Wish and a Promise,” as all Global Explorers participants do. Overnight at a hotel in Bangkok.

We wake up early and head to the airport in Bangkok, where we begin our journey back home. With the time difference, we actually return to the United States in the morning of the same day we depart from Bangkok (June 27).