Armed with our bicycles, rented for a very reasonable $1 a day from the guest house, we set off for the 25km trip to Phnom Sampeou and the shrines dedicated to the victims of the Khmer Rouge at the notorious Killing caves. This was a strange unsettling experience, not just because of the obvious atrocities committed there, but also because of the (slight by Siem Reap standards) of pestering for money from one of the local kids at the entrance to the tombs, which for this and several other reasons we decided not to go into. It just felt wrong somehow, especially when we’d read in a guide book compiled by the guest house that tourists in recent years had taken arm and leg bones as souvenirs and now the remains on display are locked in cages. As the guide book said: “unbalanced tourists” - not quite the diplomatic words I’d have used, have they no soul?

The grisly nature of the caves aside, the mountain contained the most amazing cavern with stalactites which is home to hundreds of thousands of bats. Nicky and I spent some quiet moments there away from the unsettling capitalism that although probably necessary to a families livelihood, somehow tainted our visit. In the peace of the cavern we took some time to try and let the enormity of the Khumer Rouge genocide sink in. I have a feeling there will be many more moments like this as we continue to explore this beautiful, tragic and uplifting spirit of Cambodia…