We flew north from Phnomh Penh to Siem Reap - the place to see Angkor Wat and other assorted temples. We have to get up at 4.30 a.m. to see sunset at Angkor Wat on the first day. But of course we're used to that after all the buses we've had to run and catch at unearthly hours of the morning. The entrance gates to the temple complex resemble a scene from Around The World in Eighty Days - buses, cars, minivans, motorbikes, tuk tuks and bicycles, all seething with grim faced tourists racing each other to get the best view of Angkor Wat at exactly the optimum moment.

It's weird arriving in the dark, dimly aware of other tourists around you, and then, when the sun finally arrives, you look around and realise that you are one among a cast of thousands, hanging off temple walls, photographing each other in various combinations and poses and generally milling about and being touristy.

Andy and Kayo start a craze for weird photography and we progress from photos of us 'wearing' Angkor Wat as a hat to doing yoga poses (mostly unsuccessfully) in front of various temples. Brian at first sniffily refuses to take part in these activities as he still has not forgiven me for the photo of him emerging from a large jar in Laos, but is persuaded to join in momentarily. Eventually we get a photo of Andy making bunny ears behind a monk and have to call a halt to our new game before someone gets hurt.

Angkor Wat is great, but some of the other temples are even more amazing - probably because they haven't had as much publicity. Bayon Temple has these great Buddha heads, some of which are four-sided so they face north, south, east and west simultaneously. And Pra Tom is the sight of the temples with roots growing through the roofs - and where they filmed Tomb Raider.

I am starting to realise that every trip contains a Token Odd Person - on this one it is David, a man sadly devoid of any form of conversational skill. To recompense he swiftly manouevres himself to the front of the party as we enter a restaurant (using the compass situated in the heel of his shoe no doubt) and then sits in the middle of the group, thus creating a conversational Berlin Wall and neatly dividing our group in two. He then proceeds to stare at the women and make them feel uncomfortable. By the end of the week there is a subtle battle for place sittings going on that would do justice to the United Nations.

On the penultimate day we celebrated John's birthday with dinner and a touristy dance show. Serey, our wonderful guide, organised a flamboyant pink cake complete with an icing sugar cheeky monkey and accompanying banana. The cake is iced to 'Mr Jhon'. Mr John cannot however be persuaded to take cheeky monkey and his banana to the bar where we end up listening to a khmer band and drinking cocktails. Mr John takes a particular liking to the Blue Hawaii cocktails and we have to leave him there sipping bright blue drinks and hoping he won't regret it in the morning. Halfway through the evening David, (TOP) firmly ensconced (silently) in the middle of the party closes his eyes and falls asleep. No one notices.

On our last day we took a trip on the river to see a floating village, which was interesting as the locals are resorting to increasingly desperate measures to get money from tourists. Children row about in tin washing up bowls that look super precarious (but quite fun). It certainly looks an easier option than the one their younger siblings face - they have snakes draped around their necks and sometimes, oddly, a rabbit hops around on board their small, ramshackle boats. We speculate that maybe, if times get desperate, the mothers feed the rabbit to the snake in order to increase earning potential. Hopefully the children aren't fed to any animals in the next step up in their attempts to attract dollars.

On the way back we stopped to learn how to make spring rolls and drink beer in hammocks. Unfortunately Brian sustained a serious 'beer injury' at this juncture. Apparently, having opened his beer can, he 'rearranged himself' in his hammock, at which point his forehead came into contact with the edge of the beer can opening and 'cut his head open' It meant he could not take part in the spring roll making that took place later, but he did manage to eat a few afterwards. Valiantly.

That evening we went to a 'concert' in a hospital which is run by an amazing, and inspirational, Swiss doctor, Beat Richner, who worked in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge destroyed the country and came back afterwards to set up a children's hospital providing free healthcare. They now have 5 hospitals in Cambodia with plans to open a sixth and nearly all the money - $24 million a year - comes from private fundraising and donations. His concerts are a mixture of him playing the cello and showing short video films of the work they do. It is incredible how much the country lost during such a brief period and how much some people can achieve. http://www.beat-richner.ch/

Afterwards we all went down to the river where there was a Water Festival taking place, very colourful and busy - everyone was lighting small boats made of palm leaves, tinfoil, incense and candles and floating them on the river - a really beautiful sight. We finished off the day having icecream sundaes and cocktails in Pub Street, yes really.