Friday 6th March, Siem Reap

Another single day in Siem Reap, to re-enter orbit! It's a colourful town full of surprises and lovelinesses, as well as dirt and poverty and probably a lot of suffering. Here is me in my newly handmade dress, with my seamstress in the Old Market.

And how better to relish being here than by experiencing some of the best arts culture that the town offers?

We went to the fabulous Phare Cambodian Circus, an hour of acrobatic delight, astonishment and laughing. Just joy, all of it. (No pics.)

And to the Ankhor Artisans Living Museum where local master craftspeople using traditional techniques are working at their benches for you to marvel at their skills close up. Silk weaving (here), stone carving, wood carving, silverware and lacquering, Wow.

At the Royal Residence park there is a shrine where a 'pin peat' orchestra plays intermittently all day every day - again, largely unrecognisable pitches and rhythms! - as people come to pray with offerings of flowers and fruit. Watch the sralai ('oboe') player's breathing pattern if you can!

I also visited Theam's Gallery, a quirky collection of antiques and modern arts and crafts displayed in little rooms, nooks, corridors, stairways, courtyards, ponds, on benches, seats, window sills, walls and ceilings (make sure you look up as well as down, as well as all around you!) - like entering a wonderland.

Tripadvisor, take note.

Then a night bus - beds, not seats - for 9 hours to get to the coast, for a different week yet again ... we even managed to sleep, which was never a given!Read more