It strikes me, after a week in Cambodia, how fast this little country is developing. It is common place to have a newly built, three-story family home, sandwiched between more than modest wooden huts. In contrast to England where, if you were moving up in the world, one would typically move to a more prosperous and desirable neighbourhood, Cambodians seem more than happy to grow where their roots lie — whether that be at a pace of knots, or one floor at a time…whatever they can afford.

This does seem to lead to a very mixed community, which works hand in hand; tolerating all circumstances. But it almost breaks my heart. The poverty in some areas is clear. While eating dinner in town one night, we had a few constant shadows — young teens, eyes downcast — waiting for diners to finish eating before they descended to clear what meagre food was left. Diners and restaurant staff alike seemed unfazed by this routine. Although, slightly discomforted myself, I can see this is a good thing. It would be horrible to see restaurateurs turning these soles away, only to then bin leftovers.

Part of the reason this little nation is developing so fast is probably down to a bit of ingenuity really. They have inherited quite a bit of infrastructure, from times before the Khmer Rouge regime (mostly left by the French), which they have leant to profit from again. The train line which runs through Battambang hasn't run for years but locals have engineered bamboo trains, predominantly for transporting produce eg rice. Apparently these trains are illegal…but that doesn’t seem to have stopped the local police 'overseeing’ trips for tourists (and pocketing most of the profits). It costs about $5ea but is well worth doing…

The train bumps along warped, misaligned rails — ouch, is all I have to say about that — and vertiginous bridges. Each train consists of a 3m-long wooden frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultra-light bamboo, that rests on two barel-like bogies, one of which is connected by fan belt to a small gasoline engine. It actually went pretty fast; kind of like a mini rollercoaster. The genius of this system is that it offers a brilliant solution to the greatest problem faced on any single-track line: what to do when two trains going in the opposite direction meet. In the case of the bamboo train, the answer is simple: one car is quickly disassembled and set on the ground beside the tracks so that the other can pass. Genius!