Cambodia Top Things To See

Delight in Cambodia's Buddhist temples, such as Preah Vihear. Located in the Dangrek Mountains, the site is home to various festivals, especially during the Cambodian New Year.

• Visit the interrogation centre of Pol Pot's regime in Phnom Penh, the chilling Toul Sleng Museum of Genocide, also called S-21 (security office 21). It is also possible to visit The Killing Fields/Cheoung Ek Memorial, just outside the city.

• Do not miss Phnom Penh's gorgeous Royal Palace, which has a stunning and famous Silver Pagoda. Be sure to pay extra attention to the floor - it contains 5,000 silver tiles.

• Explore the magnificent temples of Angkor, the remains of the once mighty Khmer civilisation. Angkor Wat is the most famous temple, but the surrounding areas are worth visiting too. Go at sunrise or sunset.

• See the much photographed Ta Prohm at Angkor, easily recognisable because of the roots of massive trees growing through the building. They are left there to show how many of the temples looked before they were reclaimed from the jungle.

• Examine the extensive collection of Khmer artefacts in the distinctive, red-brick, pseudo-Khmer-style National Museum, constructed by the French in 1917.

• Hold your nose at Stung Meanchey Garbage Dump. A visit here will show you how many children spend their days: sifting through rotting rubbish for food and things to sell. A shocking and humbling experience.

• Travel to the little-visited northeast province of Rattanakiri, where there are hill tribes, gem mines and unspoilt national parks.

• Climb up to abandoned Bokor, the former French hill station, where there are the eerie remains of a hotel, casino, church, villas and a former royal residence. Equally as eerie, take time to visit Kep, once a beach resort which was destroyed in the 1970s.

• Relax at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's only beach resort, with its sandy beaches and offshore islands which are ideal for scuba-diving.