Timeline: 29th April to 6th May 2005

Despite cultural and linguistic differences, Cambodia, on the surface, has much in common with Vietnam. A vast and diverse landscape, a bloodied history -- often at the hands of Vietnam -- ingrained corruption, a warm welcome and a surprisingly established tourist industry. This is particularly remarkable given the almost continued decimation of this stricken people and land by a succession of brutal, self-serving rulers.

In Cambodia I was perhaps most surprised by the beauty of the Khmer architecture, the temples and the palace in particular are amongst the most beautiful which we have seen in all of Asia; a fascinating fusion of Indian and Chinese influences.

While in Phnom Penh we visited Tuol Sleng, the secondary school which the Khmer Rouge used as a prison and torture centre during their barbarous reign (below).

The museum has been left almost as it was found; blood stains on the floors, scratches of desperation on the walls. Inside there is an exhibition displaying photographs of all prisoners held there before being taken to the Killing Fields, this included children and babies.

The museum is now known as Cambodia's 'Museum of Genocide'. It is grotesque and deeply moving but definitely worth visiting.

If you're interested in learning more about this harrowing museum visit www.dcam.org

Seven hours further north is Cambodia's second city, Siem Reap. Here we were met off the bus by the most intense, over-eager group of ' tuk-tuk' drivers -- a kind of motorised 3 wheel rickshaw -- as we've encountered during our entire time in Asia. Over 50 people screaming and bustling for your business of just a few pence reminds you just how poor this region is.

The small town of Siem Reap is an easy place to spend a few days relaxing and caters more than adequately for both backpackers and well-heeled tourists alike. But be warned, it gets very hot, 36C (96.8F) when we were there and that was only in May.

The most obvious stop while in Siem Reap is the Temples of Angkor, known incorrectly as 'Angkor Wat'. In fact, Angkor Wat is only one temple of the 70-odd that are scattered about over a huge area.

We managed to see all of the main sites in one day, although this did involve catching both sunrise and sunset so it was long but rewarding. When you're travelling it's easy to become blasé about some of the sites you visit but not this time. The sheer scale and detail in each of the Angkor sites is utterly amazing, amongst my favourites were those ruins which have been reclaimed by nature and are enveloped by tree roots (right).

What also makes it so appealing is that people still live within the perimeter of the main site; their families have lived here for centuries and are likely to be direct descendants of the people who actually built the temples. Now however, their specialty is charging tourists overpriced food and water while their children try to sell you everything from wooden flutes to silk scarves. These kids are extremely smart and friendly and despite not receiving English lessons at school, their command of the language is nothing short of excellent. We even had one 8-year-old girl converting our Dollars into Riel and Baht as she told us all about Scotland!

En-route to the main Angkor site there is a small Landmine Museum. It has been set up by a former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge. Now free of the regime he is dedicating his life to helping the victims of landmines. The museum is also a home and school to a number of children who have been injured and maimed by landmines. There are thousands of landmines still uncovered in Cambodia; it costs just $5 to lay a landmine but $500 to destroy it.

You can find out more at the following sites: www.cambodialandminemuseum.org and www.landmine-relief-fund.com