“If you want to get a true taste of the beautiful, haunting, heart-breaking country whose capital, Phnom Penh, was once regarded as the “Pearl of Asia”, you have to see the killing fields.
You have to see the beauty born out of blood, and the courage that has grown – yes, like a pearl – out of suffering beyond imagining.”
To explore the majestic ruins of Angkor Wat from sunrise to sundown is a privilege, but to give time to understanding the tragedies imposed upon Cambodia is a necessity.
Struggling with the barbarism of humanity will frame the beginning or end of most visits to this south east Asian destination - but it should not be all that defines it. Indeed, to travel in Cambodia in the 21st century permits one to not simply drown in the melancholy of its relatively cent past, but to look toward to more of the positive, yet imperfect, aspects of its present and future.
And beyond the prestige of Angkor Wat, travellers can head out along dusty roads into the countryside, enjoy the bohemian bon-vivant of photogenic old quarters, and bask in several white sand and palm-tree island paradises.
There is a lot of sorrow to contend with when travelling in Cambodia, but there is an awful lot of joy to be found too - our personally crafted guides will show you how to plan your trip to find the right balance.
