Visiting the temples of Angkor makes me realise how I've grown to appreciate old things. When Andy first came to Malaysia in 1980 I was amused at how he was so fascinated with the temples and village houses, things that I had lived amongst for twenty over years and had grown tired of. I was looking for the modern skyscrapers which I associated with progress back then! Nowadays ruins are no longer just a pile of stones, but something to fire my imagination as to what it was like to live in those days. People had skills and were creative, working alongside nature instead of against it. I now admire things in relation to local history and culture, and try not to compare them to something else in another country or from another time. Cambodians are rightly proud of their Angkorian temples - we were constantly told that we should visit, and now that we have they are happy to know we share their appreciation. The sad thing is that most of the local people we know have never had the opportunity to visit Angkor and probably never will as the ferry fare alone costs more than a month's salary.