There is the legendary Angkor Wat and the infamous skull mountains.There are hidden temples and dense forests. ROSHIN VARGHESE steps on and off the touristy track to savour the unusual and the exotic in Cambodia.

Mention Cambodia and the word immediately conjures up images of Angkor Wat along with the infamous skull mountains of the Pol Pot era. But, looking for more than the normal haunts that visitors frequent, I set off in search of the offbeat, unusual Cambodia, tucked away from the tourist trail. I wanted to learn the intricacies of Cambodian cooking and see the remnants of once frequented temples, now sadly overtaken by jungles.

But, when my friends, Marc Lansu and Debbie Watkins, sent me off to the market, with a young chef, from the Bodhi Tree restaurant in Phnom Penh, I learnt much more than the secrets of cooking.