Feel the spirit of Cambodia

Cambodia’s coastline is scattered with white sand crescents of beach and tiny tropical offshore islands. With its Robinson Crusoe feeling, you can wander barefoot along near-abandoned beaches, watch the local fisherman reeling in the catch at sunset, swing in a hammock overlooking the Gulf of Thailand and snorkel through an underwater world filled with colourful marine life.

Beyond the well-trodden tourist route between Cambodia’s major cities, there are remote, rural pockets that are still largely untravelled. Getting off the beaten path and experiencing real life in the countryside is still possible. While it might take some time to reach these isolated nooks, your efforts will be richly rewarded. You can stretch out in the sunshine alongside volcanic crater lakes, trek through untouched forests, swim in jungle waterfalls and look out over endless rice paddies to karst mountains in the distance.

Mix the warm and welcoming local people with the quiet beauty, castaway beaches and stunning volcanic lake backdrops and you’ve found yourself a top honeymoon destination. Cambodia has so much to offer from ancient ruins to hidden, remote areas of beauty, it’s just begging to be explored.

Angkor is Cambodia’s ancient pride, a mind-boggling complex of temples slowly being claimed back by the jungle. Absolutely not to be missed, it’s brimming with atmosphere and mystery. Watch the day break over Angkor Wat, where the pastel shades of dawn bounce off the temple lake at dawn, see tree roots busting through the boulders of Ta Prohm and amble between giant carved reliefs at sunset. One of the man-made wonders of the world, there really is nowhere quite like it.

It’s the people of Cambodia that make the place. With a gentle, unshakeable spirit and bags of genuine warmth, they’ll have you at ‘hello’. Having lived through untold atrocities, they’ve emerged smiling and it’s impossible not to feel inspired. Stay with minority tribes in tucked-away villages, visit locally-run forest eco-projects and sleep in a traditional stilted shack as family houseguests on Tonle Sap.