“DRIVE TEN MINUTES in any direction, look around- that’s Cambodia.”
So stated a magazine article on the joys of Phnom Penh, in 1994.
Across the Japanese Bridge, or north along the Tonle Sap, west past the airport, or south in Takeo province, the slow-paced Khmer world could be enjoyed whenever you felt like a break. A few hours before work? Jump on the bike, see what you find.
Phnom Penh is for many the doorway to Cambodia, worthy of a visit in its own right.
The countryside is never far away in Phnom Penh, perhaps more than the 10 minutes it was in the 90s, but still close by.
Classical, traditional, authentic or just plain primitive rural practices happened on the edge of the capital city.
Post-war babies grew up hoping for a better future.
The old and penniless just grateful to be alive.
Year Zero left its mark in strange ways.
Survival and humour left theirs as well.
Firing up the bike and picking and random road would always turn up something. City life vanished in 10 minutes.
A number of Angkor-era temples a tad further out are worth seeking out.
Just 35km from the central market, Ta Prohm is a 12th century temple, built on the site of a 6th century shrine.
The seldom visited Hindu temple features a central tower with four more towers around it.
Locals combine a visit to the temple with a day of picnicking at the lake, Tonle Bati, below.
A high school in Tonle Bati was used for executions by the Khmer Rouge. These remains sat, forgotten, for 15 years.
Khmer Rouge barbarity is also evident at (Phnom) Udong, north of Phnom Penh.
Nearby Longvek replaced Angkor as the Khmer capital in 1431, and it moved again in 1601, to Udong.
Hundreds of pagodas were built in the area by King Ang Duong (1841-1850).
This recent royal history saw Udong's temples targetted by the zealot peasant regime under Pol Pot.
Dynamite was liberally employed to destroy what they saw as Cambodia's "feudal" past.
What remains of the hilltop sites is worth the 40km journey, following the Tonle Sap river.
Like many of Cambodia's isolated hills, Phnom Udong commands views far and wide.
One of the best views near Phnom Penh is from the top of Phnom Chisor, 20 km further south than Ta Prohm.
400 steps descend east to Sen Thmoul sanctuary first, on to Prasat Sen Ravang in the distance where the sacred pond Tonle Om is visible.
Built in the 11th century of laterite and brick, it contains some excellent sandstone carvings.
Originally Hindu, but now Buddhist, Phnom Chisor sports some quirkily decorated doors....gaurdian on a pig?
Reigning from Angkor, Suryavarman I built many mountain temples, including this one, Phnom Ek in Battambang, and the superlative Preah Vihear on a cliff-top just inside the modern Thai border.
The fertile and productive farms, combined with the dramatic skies are why Cambodia is better seen in the wet season.
Some of the best skies I have enjoyed were around Phnom Chisor.
Simple, raised thatched houses surrounded by a bountiful rice harvest, and friendly wave.
Cambodia's national tree, the "tnaot" palm tree makes the perfect silohuette as dusk colours the sky above the padi fields.
The flip side of all this photogenic countryside is the dire state of development in the provinces.
How different would this potter's life be to that of his great grandparents?
By the end of the dry season, fields are parched.
Harvesting and threshing happens with a minimum of technology, in the shadows of the country's major international airport.
The April heat is relentless an unforgiving.
Despite their precarious lot, the back-breaking work, people laugh and smile.
Some may try to suppress it though.
The work of the toddy-tapper, bringer of the home-brew, may help keep spirits high.
A movie shoot in the urban fringe is another sign of a country that is repairing, leaving its darkness behind.
Phnom Penh has experienced several traumatic transformations. On the periphery, changes is coming, but at a different pace.