Want to know a secret?

During its years of isolation, heavy-hearted travellers were forced to plot routes avoiding Cambodia, and everyone who travelled to Asia returned home with the same regret. Even from the air, tightly packed jungle barred even the slightest glimpse, adding to the country’s mystery and cementing its place at the top of everyone’s ‘must see’ list. Our tour certainly makes up for lost time! We start amongst the colonial architecture of Phnom Penh before heading to Siem Reap, gateway to the largest temple complex in the world including the legendary Angkor Wat on a tour that takes in the best of Cambodia’s stunning landscapes and culture.

Day 1 - Arrival into Phnom Penh

On arrival at Phnom Penh airport you will be taken to your accommodation and receive an orientation explaining the city, culture and wayof life. Depending on the time of your arrival, you may even have time to explore the city and visit the project where you will volunteer later in the tour.

Day 2 - Phnom Penh

After breakfast you will visit the most beautiful and interesting spots that the capital city of Cambodia has to offer. You will visit the Royal Palace and the most important temple in Phnom Penh, Wat Phnom, but Phnom Penh has more to offer, especially when it comes to the terrible history Khmer Rouge period. You will visit the Toul Sleng Museum and The Killing Fields to give you a clear understanding of the terrible cruelties committed during that era.

Day 3 to 8 - Volunteering in Phnom Penh

On day 3 your volunteer coordinator will give you information about the projects you will be assisting and the work you will be doing. Our in country team are continually sourcing new projects so please enquire for more information.

You will be volunteering at an orphanage in Phnom Penh, helping to improve the conditions and opportunities of Cambodian street children and orphans. You will be helping the orphanage in providing a safe shelter for the children by assisting with cooking, cleaning, washing and other general duties looking after the children. During your volunteer work you can contact your coordinator at any time. You will be provided with a bicycle for travel to and from your project.

Day 9 - Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

Today you will be taken to the bus station to take the early morning bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The journey is approximately 6 hours, with one break. You will not be accompanied on the bus, but a guide will be there to meet you when you arrive in Siem Reap. In the afternoon you will receive an orientation before taking a city tour by tuktuk.

Day 10 - Siem Reap

Today you will explore the beautiful ancient temples of Angkor. You will visit Angkor Thom, The South Gate, Bayon, The Elephant Terrace, The Terrace of Leper King, Ta Prom and of course the most famous and important building: Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is not only famous for its breath-taking architecture but also for its unique decorations and reliefs. At the end of the day you will climb Phnom Bakeng mountain from which you will have a view over several temples and hopefully enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Day 11 - Siem Reap

As Angkor is the largest temple complex in the world, it is not hard to imagine that 1 day visiting the temples is just not enough, so today you will explore some beautiful jungle temples. Your guide will provide you with more information on the ancient history of the Khmer empire. Just close your eyes and imagine yourself living during this glorious period. It isn't that hard to imagine how things might have been. You will visit Bantey Srey temple, Kbal Spean.

Day 12 - Siem Reap

In the morning of your final day in Siem Reap you will visit the Lolei temple and the Rolous group. In the afternoon you will take a trip to the floating village.

Day 13 - Siem Reap

Today you will visit projects such as the Sangkheum Center for Children where you can help the children with English or handicraft classes. You will also visit Artisan Angkor where you will see Khmer handicrafts.

Day 14 - Return home

You are free to depart at any time on the final day.

Please note that this itinerary may be subject to change and is a guideline as to the timings you can expect on this project.?

What is included

What exactly do i-to-i provide?

It may seem like a strange concept to pay for your volunteer experience. You'd be right if you think you shouldn't and the truth is you actually don't! Your placement is free; it's the benefits around it that you pay for. It's important to note that i-to-i is a travel company and not a charity. We provide a professional travel service. We are responsible for finding and assessing worthwhile projects across the world, preparing you for the volunteering experience and supporting you whilst you're there.

Here’s some more information about what your placement fee covers….

Project sourcing and assessment

We work with hundreds of locally run partner projects around the world and are constantly sourcing new opportunities. We visit all projects to check that they are worthwhile and legitimate and we also conduct a thorough safety assessment before we'll send volunteers there. More

Expert help-desk

Almost everyone who works for i-to-i has traveled extensively or worked overseas. This means we're a goldmine of information; we're always available to offer support and guidance before, during and after your trip.

Thorough project briefing materials

Once you book on to a project you'll receive a Welcome Pack that contains loads of general information about volunteering, about your chosen country and project, and a DVD about how to have fun and stay safe. We'll also give you advice on visas and inoculations.

TEFL training

If you are volunteering on a Teaching project then a 40-hour Online TEFL course is included in your placement fee. This is an internationally recognised and accredited certificate that will help you to make the most of your time overseas. More

Airport pickup

It can be pretty daunting arriving in a different country for the first time… especially after a long flight! If you arrive on your project start date, there'll be a welcoming face at the airport to pick you up and take you to your accommodation.

Arrival orientation

Soon after you arrive you will attend a thorough orientation with our in-country team. This is to cover important safety and security information. You'll also get some tips about sight-seeing options for your time off and maybe even learn some of the local lingo!

Accommodation and meals

Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are even included with some. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so that part of your placement fee is filtering back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard. More

Local in-country coordinators

Your in-country coordinator (ICC) will pick you up from the airport and conduct your orientation upon arrival. All ICC's are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They won't be at your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you need them. More

24/7 emergency support

Aside from the local support from your in-country coordinators you'll be given access to a 24/7 emergency phone line manned by i-to-i staff in case any problem should arise while you're overseas. We also hire crisis management professionals Docleaf to be on hand in case of a situation that requires additional expert support. More

Ongoing training

The safety and security of our volunteers is paramount. For this reason we provide ongoing crisis management and emergency response training to our local teams around the world. At the end of 2006 we flew all our in-country coordinators to the UK for thorough training to help them offer the best safety to the thousands of volunteers they support each year. More

Supporting our projects

We don't fund our projects directly, but once a year they are all invited to apply for funding for special projects or resources from our registered charity arm, the i-to-i Foundation. i-to-i funds the operation of the i-to-i Foundation and is the largest single donor. Along with the generous support of our volunteers, we have distributed over US$200,000 in funding in the last two years alone! More  

Recruiting people like you

We make no secrets of the fact that part of your placement fee is reinvested in to recruiting volunteers just like you! The volunteers recruited in one week will typically deliver over 2000 man-days of service. The difference this makes to projects overseas is immeasurable. Many of our overseas projects rely on assistance from international volunteers, so it's necessary for us to put together brochures and websites to find the people who can support them. This recruitment process is vital to ensure programs have a constant stream of reliable volunteers.

The intangible benefits

VVolunteering through a company like i-to-i has a lot of intangible benefits to developing overseas communities and the individual projects that we work with. To find out more about our placements. click here

What we will do after you've booked:

• Once booked on you will instantly receive a welcome email confirming your booking with access to your online account
• We will send a Welcome Pack in the post containing further information and a t-shirt, the information in this pack should answer most things you need to know
• Community Development and Teaching customers will receive an email introducing them to their Online TEFL course
• Community Development and Teaching customers will be requested to complete a police check (where relevant) or send through a reference
• We will contact you if we require anything else e.g. CV/resume for some projects, doctors note for medical conditions etc.
• We will hound you to complete your forms and pay your final balance when they are due
• We are available for any questions you may have on 800 352 1794 or operations@i-to-i.com
• We will prepare for your trip and send you an email with final project and accommodation confirmation 21 days before you go

What you need to do after booking your place with us:

• Book your flights
• Arrange suitable travel insurance
• Fill out some extra details through our online interface:
  • application from
  • travel details
  • insurance details
  • medical information
  • emergency contacts
• Complete your police check or request your reference (where relevant)
• Do your Online TEFL Course (where relevant)
• Make final payment at least 60 days before you go
• Make sure you have a visa for your trip if its needed
• Visit a nurse or travel clinic for advice on inoculations and malaria prevention
• Read all details and prepare as much as you can for your trip
• Take contact details of the in country team and where you're going in your hand luggage - just in case!
• Get on the plane!

Orientation Information

Insurance

It's important that you get adequate travel insurance for your i-to-i experience and as many of you will be working this often means standard policies won’t work. The good news is that no matter where your coming from we have already found a policy to suit you.

The best time to get your insurance is when you book your project as this means you can get a fully tailored policy exclusive to i-to-i, just ask your consultant for further details at the time of booking.

EU Customers – find out more here >>

Australian customers - find out more here >>

All other customers - find out more here >>

Flights

As with insurance we advise you get these booked as early as possible to avoid high prices and to make sure you arrive on the right day. The i-to-i team is right up to date with the best deals no matter where you’re flying from; their insider knowledge could save you some time and money.

Early Airport Pick-up

If you are arriving before your designated arrival date, we can arrange for an extra meet and greet service for you. For an extra supplement we will be there to meet you at the airport and take you to your orientation accommodation. One additional night accommodation is included in this payment; if you require more than one night please inform the team.

The cost of this Early Pick-up service is US$ 22.00