or so long off the tourist trail, visitors began to return to Cambodia in the late 1980s, but were restricted to the capital, Phnom Penh, and a few of the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap. It would be many years before the whole of the country was safe to travel around. In 1999, the remaining Khmer Rouge troops defected to the government side.

The temples of Angkor literally rise out of the jungle and are a magnet for visitors to Cambodia. Angkor Wat is the largest and most famous of the temples, and visitors could easily spend a week exploring the hundreds of other exquisite structures. Phnom Penh is a bustling city, often overshadowed by glamorous Angkor. It is a city of contrasts with fine colonial architecture side by side with ramshackle streets.

Elsewhere, few visitors take the time to discover the hill tribes around Banlung, the unspoilt countryside around sleepy Sen Monorom and the charming riverine town of Battambang with its faded colonial architecture. Those looking for relaxation make their way to Sihanoukville with its lovely sandy beaches and laid-back lifestyle.

With the road network little by little improving, so much more of this delightful country is open to visitors who take the time to discover the Cambodia beyond the temples.

• Look out at one of the world's major rivers, the Mekong River. Try spotting some of Cambodia's famous freshwater dolphins close to Kratie. If not, take a river cruise along the Tonle Sap from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the most significant inland wetland in South-East Asia.

• Go for an elephant ride in Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri; remember to grab a tour guide!

• Be a part of the extravagant Water Festival (October/November). It is around this time that the Tonle Sap changes direction, leaving behind an abundance of fish. Multitudes mingle on the river banks in Phnom Penh to watch hundreds of brightly coloured boats and their paddlers battle it out for top honours.

• Watch a traditional Cambodian Apsara dance. Siem Reap is probably the best place to watch a dance display, although travellers can occasionally catch a spontaneous one in the villages.

• Go birdwatching at Prek Toal, a biosphere reserve on the northwest of Tonle Sap Lake, close to Siem Reap. Look out for water birds including endangered spot-billed pelicans.

• Swim in volcanic Yak Lom lake near Banlung town in Rattanakiri province. The water is clear and cool and the surrounding forest is ideal for a picnic.

• Experience a little of the 'gold rush' and seek out the gem mines in Rattanakiri province. The mines and the attendant camps move regularly, depending on what they find. Miners are quite happy to show their finds, excavated by hand from deep holes in the red earth.

• Delight in Cambodia's Buddhist temples, such as Preah Vihear, close to the border with Thailand in the Dangrek Mountains, which is the site of various celebrations, especially during the Cambodian New Year.

• The interrogation centre of the Pol Pot regime in Phnom Penh is now the chilling Toul Sleng Museum of Genocide, also called S-21 (security office 21). It is also possible to visit The Killing Fields/Cheoung Ek Memorial, just outside the city.

• Do not miss Phnom Penh's gorgeous Royal Palace, which has a stunning and famous Silver Pagoda. Be sure to pay extra attention to the floor - it contains 5,000 silver tiles.

• Head to the magnificent temples of Angkor, the remains of the once mighty Khmer civilisation. Angkor Wat itself, built in AD 879-1191 to honour the Hindu god Vishnu, is often hailed as one of the most extraordinary architectural creations ever built, with its intricate bas reliefs, strange acoustics and magnificent soaring towers.

• See the much photographed Ta Prohm at Angkor, easily recognisable because of the roots of massive trees growing through the building. They are left there to show how many of the temples looked before they were reclaimed from the jungle and also because the roots are holding the structure together.

• Examine the extensive collection of Khmer artefacts in the distinctive, red-brick, pseudo-Khmer-style National Museum, constructed by the French in 1917.

• Take a trip out of town to Oudong, 30km (19 miles) from Phnom Penh, located on a hill overlooking vast plains and famous for the burial chedis of the Khmer kings. Little is left of this once former capital, but the first glimpse of the ruins on the hill is quite magical.

• Travel to the little-visited northeast, to Rattanakiri province, where there are hill tribes, gem mines and unspoilt national parks.

• Climb up to abandoned Bokor, the former French hill station, where there are the eerie remains of a hotel, casino, church, villas and a former royal residence. Enjoy the view down to the coast from the ramshackle hotel terrace. Equally as eerie, take time to visit Kep, once a beach resort which was destroyed in the 1970s, and the villas reclaimed by the forest.

• Relax at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's only beach resort, with its sandy beaches and offshore islands which are ideal for scuba-diving.