This is my virtual version of a back flap on a dust jacket for books.

What a wonderful country Cambodia is! We met some of the friendliest people of all my trips so far. And the food! We can only recommend to stay AND eat at the Angkor Village in Siem Reap. The hotel is build like the traditional wooden structures for monks in a temple but it offers you all the comfort of a luxury hotel. The service is excellent and the chef learned how to cook at the royal palace. No wonder that eating there was quite an experience! Siem Reap is of course just entering mass tourism and in a few years (or sooner) it might all be different.

While we were somewhat annoyed first by the many street vendors in and in front of the temples, they can actually be quite entertaining when visiting the temples. Not by what they know about the past or the ruins, but by what they tell you about their culture and everyday life. We've met many children who have to bribe the local police for being allowed to sell their items in front of a temple or who go to school by bicycle on a dirt road every day - 25km one way - and then try to earn a dollar as a tour guide.

We have also learned that Cambodians are extremely clean and well dressed. This is not the place for shorts and beer bally filled muscle shirts - and specially not for those many German men, who believe that underwear with pink elephants printed on them can be worn as proper shorts!

Especially for the temples on the outskirts, it is a good idea to pack small presents and lots of small dollar bills. While it is below their dignity to beg, it gives you the opportunity to buy drinks, food or other items from them, or accept them as your tour guide and help them this way.

Well, here is one of the 1600 pictures we took in three days, in addition to the 200+ digital ones, of which you can see some on these web pages. It shows me climbing the steep stairs of Angkor Wat.