This time last year I was touring the temples at Angkor in Cambodia, which had been a dream of mine for a long time.

The temples date from the 9th Century and cover a surprisingly large area. My first stop was Angkor Wat, the biggest and most well known.

My favourite was Bayon, an eerie forest of multi-faced Buddha’s who stare silently past you.

Then came the Banyan trees in Ta Prohm, aka the Tomb Raider Temple.

Fans may recognise the first tree from the movie – sadly minus Lara Croft. It was early, so I had half an hour pretty much alone, before the non-stop stream of tour groups lined up for their photo opportunity.


I had to abandon the final tree when I nearly passed out from the heat! Having drunk my own body weight in water, I knew lack of salts was my problem.

Disoriented, I gorged on an entire pineapple from a street seller, before flopping into the tuktuk all templed out.