TOMB RAIDERS

It was meant to be a simple 9 hour bus journey from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap, but of course things in SE Asia (or anywhere!) are never simple. After our bus broke down, we were stuffed into another bus which was already full, so we found ourselves standing in the aisle until eventually Emily nabbed herself a tiny plastic stool to sit on. It was during this laborious trip we met Jori, from Holland, and we ended up travelling with her for the next few days until we reached Bangkok.

Most people visit Siem Reap to see the famous temple complex of Angkor Wat and that's exactly why we were there... and, like everyone else, we weren't disappointed. The most often-used phrase by other travellers, when telling us about it, was 'mind-blowing'... and we have to agree. We spent 2 whole days being taken from temple to temple by Mr. Savay in his suped-up, customised tuk-tuk.

The stand-outs for us were Ta Prohm (used in the Tomb Raider movie), which seemed to be losing an ongoing battle with nature, and the beautifully coloured Banteay Srei (32km north of town via a fantastic ride through the surrounding countryside & villages), considered by many to be the jewel in the artistic crown of Angkor Wat (ok, we nicked that from Lonely Planet!).

On our way back from Banteay Srei, we visited the 'easy to miss' Landmine Museum. Easy to miss because the government keep destroying the museum owner's signs, as they fear any awareness of the 3 million remaining landmines in Cambodia might damage the flourishing tourist industry. This fascinating museum was set up by a Cambodian who was made to join the Khmer Rouge at only 10 years old. He estimates that he planted 50,000 mines himself and is now dedicated to removing as many as he can, in order to make his country a safer place to live.

On the same road as our guest house, we had noticed a hand-painted sign for 'Angkor Wat Miniature' and on our last day, having now seen Angkor Wat 'life-size', we decided to take a closer look. We wandered through a rusty door, into an overgrown garden, and were greeted by an old man. He was the artist and seemed happy to have visitors, especially as it was his 77th birthday! He proudly showed us all of his miniature masterpieces and intricately, hand-rendered plans & drawings, as well as a photo of himself being honoured by King Sihanouk of Cambodia. An unexpected extra was being taken through some dusty sheds at the back of his garden and shown his neighbour's 'crocodile farm'... or rather a backyard and pool full of sleepy crocs, waiting to be turned into shoes & handbags. Very disturbing.