WHEN in Cambodia it is impossible not to be a tourist.

That is because you do want to see what every other visitor needs to see and that is the dark and light side of this country The horror of the Khmer Rouge regime and the splendour of the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. The stark black and white, yin and the yang contrast of these two aspects gives you a pretty clear itinerary.

About half an hour in a tuk tuk gets you to the killing fields where thousands were bashed to death or shot in the late '70s. The bones of these supposed enemies of the state, many of them children, have been dug up from shallow mass graves and arranged on the tiers of a memorial or perhaps it is a temple.

We removed our shoes, as a sign requested, and entered this devastating exhibition. Outside, I walked the park-like couple of hectares where the craters of the graves and the very paths still expose clothing and fragments of bone and teeth. You do your best not to stand on them.

In the West this would surely be completely sanitised, ordered and cordoned off but here you are right amongst it. There was a large and beautiful tree that a notice informed us was used to bash babies against. My sad reverie was jolted by three little beggars behind the netting fence. Such dilemmas are just what you don't want.

The question that nags constantly in the mind is how could a people do this to themselves? The Cambodians are an undeniably attractive mob. All the girls are beautiful. This may have something to do with the fact there are no old people. Very few survived their holocaust. The impression you get is that everyone just wants to make a quid and get on with life. How then could this thing have happened? There is a building that houses photos and scratchy audiovisual displays which we would describe as a visitor centre.

While there was no sign requesting the removal of shoes, I noticed that those inside had. Taking off my laced boots didn't appeal but here was an interesting insight.

Someone had innocently slipped off their thongs and the rest had followed suit. As the collection of footwear grew, so did the pressure to conform. Could this simple human characteristic be the seed of unimaginable horror?

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