Angkor Wat is often compared to other iconic ancient sites such as Macchu Picchu, Petra and the Pyramids. But the comparison is misleading. The instantly recognisable Angkor Wat is actually only one of over 600 temples and other relics in a vast complex that cover 400 square kilometers and represents over 400 years of temple building frenzy undertaken by a bewildering list of Khmer kings. Individually the temples and cities do not, in my opinion, match up to thes...

I was telling our guide, Paulo, about Noel Coward's song as we cycled off after lunch with the temperature at over 400. "The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts, Because they're obviously, absolutely nuts" but Paulo looked blankly at me and pedalled off. Is this the way I should be spending my 58th birthday I thought as I followed him? We had started the day in Phnom Penh, being picked up at our hotel at seven. We didn't see much of what seems t...

Why? The insistent question that demands an answer but gets none. The who and the how are painfully well documented. Anti-semitism, racial superiority, tribal hatred or ethnic cleansing - however depraved and perverted at least they provide some explanation for the events of the Holocaust, Srebrenica and Rwanda. But here there seems nothing - only killing for killing's sake. Death as a way of life. We have travelled from Vietnam into Cambodia. Five hours by fast...

Back in Hanoi after our trip to Ha Long Bay we visited the Museum of Ethnology. Vietnam has over 50 different ethnic minorities, many of them comprising only a few thousand people. The Museum includes displays showing their traditions, costumes, crafts etc. Outside are reconstructions of several different architectural styles from different groups. These figures come from a Giarai tomb of Gia Lai province. Surrounding the tomb are large wooden figures symbolisin...