The story of finding Angkor is a long sequence. With a retinue of bearers, eccentric French naturalist Henri Mouhot hacked his way through the Cambodian jungle in January 1860, in search of beetles and butterflies. Though his interest lay more in insects than antiquities, he spent three weeks exploring the ruins of Angkor. He arrived by way of Lake Tonle Sap, where, he noted, fish were so abundant that they impeded the progress of his boat.

Phnom Penh does have an eccentric charm. Seen from the river, palm trees and the pagoda-like spires of Khmer royal buildings rise over French-era shophouses and villas. In the 1950s and 1960s this was one of the finest cities in Southeast Asia. The riverine city’s yellow-ocher buildings, squares and cafes, and frangipani-lined boulevards give it the atmosphere of a French provincial town.