Admittedly it does feel a bit strange – next week I am gonna spend three days in mine fields. Normally this should be the kind of place any sensible person should avoid, but I think I will be well looked after.

The guy who is gonna take me around the “fields” as he put it – and he sort of makes it sound as if we were gonna see some strawberry fields – is a former French colonel who is charge of one of Cambodia’s demining units. One that is being financed by Germany and so the German embassy in Phnom Penh got me in touch with him. I had only expected to maybe spend an afternoon with him but he said that it’d be good if I had three days. This would give me a chance to talk to some villagers and will get me a good understanding of what demining is all about. Well, it certainly is gonna be interesting. I just have to remember not to touch anything…