Day 1 Departure from London Heathrow
This adventure into the exotic starts at Heathrow where you meet your companions and Tour Manager, for complimentary drinks and snacks in the Executive Lounge – a service only offered by Journeys of Distinction. Then comes your non-stop Qantas scheduled flight to Singapore.
Meals: Inflight
Day 2 Arrival into Singapore
This morning arrive into Singapore and transfer to your hotel. After a day at leisure enjoy early evening drinks and get to know your fellow travellers.
Meals: Inflight
Hotel: Swissôtel Stamford
Day 3 Singapore
After breakfast you tour Singapore. Spectacular modern buildings contrast with traditional sights like Thian Hock Keng Temple, Little India and the Malay area of Geylang Serai. You also see the Orchid Gardens in Singapore’s botanical gardens which contain a real rain forest – then relax for the rest of the day.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Swissôtel Stamford
Day 4 Singapore to Malacca
You cross the sea via the long causeway connecting Singapore to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. Your journey takes you past seemingly endless lush rubber and oil palm plantations before you reach the seaside city of Malacca. Malacca combines an amazing number of different influences – your tour takes in an old Portuguese Church, the oldest Chinese Temple and Jonker Street – antique bargains sold by Chinese dealers in colonial Dutch houses.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Majestic
Day 5 Malacca to Kuala Lumpur
Today you are off to Kuala Lumpur to see the sights. The contrasts between old and new, west and east are quite startling. After the Sultan Abdul Samad Building – an extraordinary century-old Anglo-Oriental construction – are the mock-Tudor (once whites-only) Royal Selangor Club, the Petronas Twin Tower – the world’s 2nd tallest building, the railway station, another Edwardian architect’s oriental fantasy, then your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Grand Millennium
Day 6 Kuala Lumpur
You are at leisure, but we have arranged a free morning trip to Batu Caves, one of the greatest Hindu religious sites outside India, with some fantastic statues – not to mention bats and monkeys. En route, you see how Malaysian handicrafts; batiks and pewter wares are made. The afternoon is at your leisure to do some shopping or enjoy more of the multifarious sights of Kuala Lumpur.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Grand Millennium
Day 7 Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands
Today you head for the sprawling tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands, once a British hill resort. There are strawberry farms, vegetable gardens and flowers bloom everywhere You can see the “Orang Asli” – the original inhabitants of Malaysia – complete with blowpipes, who still live in the traditional way – fishing, trapping, and growing herbs for medicine. After lunch at a highlands restaurant you tour a Tea Plantation, dining later at your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Cameron Highlands Resort
Day 8 Cameron Highlands
Make the most of the cooler Cameron Highlands climate and take a walk on one of the many walking trails the resort has to offer.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Cameron Highlands Resort
Day 9 Cameron Highlands
Take time to relax and make the most of the excellent resort spa or take in more of the astounding scenery that surrounds you, with another walk.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Cameron Highlands Resort
Day 10 Cameron Highlands to Penang
En route to Ipoh – ‘city of millionaires’ we visit the abandoned (allegedly haunted) Kellie’s Castle, then some spectacular Cave Temples, before reaching Penang Island over the bridge – the longest in Asia.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: E&O
Day 11 Penang
Today, explore Penang, which has great old world charm and Malaysia’s best cuisine.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: E&O
Day 12 Penang to Bangkok
The Eastern & Oriental Express recaptures the golden age of rail travel. Watch the changing scenery from the open deck of the Observation Car or relax in the Saloon Car. Dine in the sumptuous dining car – then sleep to the rhythm of the rails.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Train: Eastern & Oriental Express
Day 13 Bangkok
Stopping at the River Kwai Bridge station you cruise past the river’s lush greenery and under the Bridge. There’s a trip to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, with time to visit the Don Rak War Cemetery. Throughout the tour, a local historian provides commentary and answers questions. Your Eastern & Oriental journey continues with lunch before you reach Bangkok and your hotel, where your deluxe room overlooks the busy Chao Phraya river.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (on train)
Hotel: Royal Orchid Sheraton
Day 14 Bangkok
Today you visit the Royal Grand Palace, once the home of the King, including the Royal Funeral Hall and Royal Coronation Hall. This extraordinary blend of traditional Thai and European architecture has in its vast grounds the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's holiest religious site which holds the Emerald Buddha – carved from one piece of Jade. Nearby Wat Phra Chetuphon has over 1,000 Buddha images and some of Asia’s finest murals, but the sight is a massive reclining gold plated Buddha which occupies a whole building.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Royal Orchid Sheraton
Day 15 Bangkok to Siem Reap
We fly to Siem Reap, where we visit the immense walled city of Angkor Thom. The scale is simply staggering. There are bridges, platforms, bas-reliefs, with intricate scenes of ancient battles, a Terrace of Elephants and the 900-year old Baphuon Temple, one of the most beautiful temples at Angkor. But this may be outshone by the enchanting temple of the Bayon, whose 54 towers are topped by colossal heads bearing the four faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of Compassion). Finally at the mountain temple of Phnom Bakheng you see the sunset cast its soft light over the temple of Angkor Wat. Incredible!
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: De La Paix
Day 16 Siem Reap
Before breakfast, an unforgettable sight: sunrise over Angkor Wat. As crowds return to their hotels, we enjoy the temple’s magnificence in peace and quiet. Intricate carvings – perhaps the world’s longest unbroken piece of art - tell tales of Hindu mythology and the Khmer empire. Finally we reach the pinnacle, the sacred heart of Angkor Wat, a blend of spirituality and symmetry so perfect that few moments can equal it.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: De La Paix
Day 17 Siem Reap to Luang Prabang
Time to reflect on yesterday’s extraordinary experience before flying to Luang Prabang, where you stay for 2 nights.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Grand Luang Prabang
Day 18 Luang Prabang
You can join in the morning ritual of saffron-clad monks collecting alms (often sticky rice) from the faithful: only in Laos is this ritual preserved. Then you visit the Royal Palace Museum, with time to see the impressive Wat Visoun stupa and Wat Aham and Wat Mai shrines, besides the Wat Xiengthong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground – perfect classical Laotian architecture.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Grand Luang Prabang
Day 19 Luang Prabang to Chiangrai
You fly to Chiangmai then travel to Anantara Golden Triangle Resort. Among the fascinating stops en route, the utterly unconventional, still unfinished modern White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, will certainly amaze you. Dinner is included for you at the hotel tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle
Day 20 Golden Triangle
Today you see the infamous Golden Triangle – long an opium smugglers’ haven – where Thailand, Burma and Laos meet. You take a boat on the mighty Mae Khong River to the ruins and temples of the ancient capital city, Chiang Saen. One of the most memorable sites is the temple of Wat Phra Thad Jom Kitti overlooking the Mae Khong River.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle
Day 21 Golden Triangle
This morning you see two of the hill tribes that survive. The Akha are particularly known for the artistry of their village gates, whilst the Padong – of whom only some 7,000 remain – have heavy brass coils which the women fit around their necks to give them an elongated “giraffe-necked” look. Afterwards you visit flower-rich Doi Tung with its Royal Villa, gardens and Commemorative Hall followed by lunch at a local restaurant and the rest of the day at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle
Day 22 Golden Triangle
Your day is free, before a farewell dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle
Day 23 Chiangrai to Bangkok
Your morning is at leisure before you fly to Bangkok to make your connection back to London.
Meals: Breakfast, Inflight
Day 24 Arrival into London Heathrow
You arrive at London Heathrow ... with new friends made and splendid memories of an extraordinary part of the world and its people.
Meals: Inflight