The Killing Fields:
We visited the spine-chilling Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge, which brought back the ghastly realities of Cambodia's bloody history. We stood silent before 8000 skulls of people that died during Pol Pot's reign. Between 1970 and 1978 three million Cambodians were killed in the senseless madness of a civil war that imploded on itself.

Landmines still litter the country, leaving vast areas unusable and unpopulated. It will cost Cambodia the equivalent of its entire annual GDP for the next seven years to clean up the deadly mess. We were warned NEVER, EVER to leave the road unless on well-used paths. The many amputees served as a constant reminder, as did a fellow traveller's story of watching a grazing water buffalo being blown to pieces.