In Andy own word :

Welcome to my Cambodia Tales and I hope you enjoy your visit. I owe a debt of gratitude to the award-winning journalist John Pilger. It was his 1979 documentary 'Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia' that first grabbed my attention and exposed me to the tragic story of Cambodia (then also known as Kampuchea). I was horrified. Deeply moved by the film, 'The Killing Fields' in the mid-80s, a few years later, my knowledge of Cambodia as a country had improved substantially and more hard-hitting Pilger revelations in 1990, kick-started an affair that has since become a real passion. In the early nineties, my zeal was boosted with membership of the pressure groups, Action Cambodia and Friends of Cambodia.

My first trip to Cambodia, a five-day white-knuckle ride of an adventure, took place in November 1994, after the United Nations' supervised elections had ushered in some semblance of normality to a country wrecked by more than twenty years of war. Two short visits followed in 1996 and 1997 as side trips to tours of Vietnam. Then, a longer two-week solo tour in March 1998, only served to cement my fascination for Cambodia and the Khmer people. I completed a 3-week trip in December 1999 which gave me a further opportunity to see a lot more of rural Cambodia, as did my last adventure which ended in late December 2000. Trip number seven took place in November 2001, another visit is booked for March 2002 and my first jaunt to Isaan is booked for November 2002. As you can see, staying away just isn't an option!

This website is devoted mainly to the tale of three trips in 1998, 1999 and 2000 (and very soon, 2001), comprising my travels in and around the capital Phnom Penh, in Siem Reap, the home of the magnificent Angkor temple complex, and elsewhere in the country. There's also a lot more besides. Cambodia's glorious past is inextricably linked with its tragic recent history. There is no escaping the horrors of the 1970s, every Cambodian was touched by it but now there is real hope that a new chapter has begun on the long road to recovery. I remain optimistic. The Khmers are a special people, they have survived so much and deserve better. The aim of my series of travelogue tales is to illustrate that Cambodia has much to offer the traveller although overwhelmingly, it is the spirit and the warmth of the people that make it such an exceptional destination.

Andy Brouwer's Cambodia Tales