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Presenter: Ian Wright
 Traveller Ian Wright ventures to the heart of south-east
Asia, to Cambodia - a country which has endured a history
of famine, civil war and mass genocide, but in recent
years has become increasingly popular as a tourist destination.
Ian starts his journey with a trip through the mango
swamps to the oldest temple in the country. In the sixth
century Phnom Da was the capital of
the Chenla dynasty. Nowadays it’s home to a community
of monks and nuns who invite Ian to stay overnight so
that he can witness the Buddah’s Day
celebrations the next day.
From Phnom Da Ian travels to Kampot,
at the foot of the Elephant Mountains. The mountain
used to be a major Khmer Rouge stronghold but as Ian
discovers from his Italian guide David, its now safe
for trekkers and travellers to visit the extraordinary
Bokor Hill Station, built by French
colonisers in 1912.
Cambodia’s trains are notoriously slow and it
takes a whole day for Ian to reach the seaside resort
of Sinhanoukville. He meets up with
a group of tourists who have hired a boat to take them
to the nearby island of Koh Rong, where
a local chef prepares a fantastic seafood dinner for
his guests.
Next, Ian heads for the capital of Cambodia, Phnom
Penh. He hitches a ride with some members of
the Mines Advisory Group who take him on a detour via
one of the villages which the group is clearing of mines.
It is estimated that there’s about 6 million unexploded
mines in Cambodia, remnants of the fighting which has
consumed the country for much of the last 50 years.
Ian is dropped off at a killing field just outside the
capital - one of the 450 sites where the Khmer Rouge
carried out mass extermination of their countrymen by
the most gruesome means. He meets Yuk Tang, a local
historian who has been documenting the genocide for
20 years who tells him some poignant tales about the
troubled times he has lived through.
Ian finally arrives in Phnom Penh, where traditional
arts and culture are enjoying a revival and after exploring
the thriving central market he joins in the weekly rehearsal
of the National School of Dance. That evening he has
experiences Cambodian stand-up comedy at the restaurant
where he has dinner...but he doesn’t get any of
the jokes.
Ian leaves Phnom Penh and flies northeast to Senmonorom,
where he witnesses a hill tribe wedding. It’s a
colourful affair which lasts the whole day and involves
the slaughter of six different animals and consumption
of copious amounts of alcohol.
The last leg of Ian’s journey takes him up to Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia’s largest
inland lake. He finds accommodation with a local family,
then heads for the ancient site of Angkor, meaning ‘the
city’. This huge complex of palaces and temples
is 15 miles in length and 7 miles wide, and incorporates
Lake Sra Srang, Ta Promh, The Bayon
and Angkor Wat. It was built
in the 9th and 13th centuries by the Cambodian kings
and Angkor Wat itself is biggest religious site in the
world, considered by some to be the eighth wonder, and
for Ian it’s an awe inspiring end to his trip to
Cambodia.
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