It wouldn't be easy to leave Siem Reap.  Of course by dilly dallying and meeting more people I didn't exit until 2pm.  I knew what was coming up next, the interior of Cambodia and this was expected to be quite different than the ride from the Thai border.

For one the traffic increases and they only use the local currency at shops or at least small denominations of US dollars.  There is a lot more poverty as you make your way further inside the country and the food becomes an issue.  My suggestion would be to stock up a lot in Siem Reap if you're doing this because the food stalls in the boonies only serve instant noodles and biscuits.

A stop was made about 20km down the main highway and it proved to be super interesting at some landmine museum.  The guy running it, Phalli, proved to be super nice and full of information.  He wasn't expecting any visitors, and he gave me a free tour about how de-mining is done.  Right away he explained the details involved about how the work is done and I was shocked:  on a good day you might only clear about the size of your apartment in a marked minefield.  He also explained the painstaking slowness of the work and the need for multiple checks and rechecks.  Most of the time, the metal detectors only find nails or other scrap metal but they can't take any chances.  If a suspected anti-personnel mine is found, you have to poke around with a tool at a 30 degree angle.  Should you poke straight down into the ground it could blow up in your face.  The situation gets worse with anti-tank mines because they could be booby trapped with anti-personnel mines underneath if you should move one out.  He also explained how the anti-tank mines come with a built-in mechanical timer that would long outlast any dead batteries after many years in the ground.

[Update April 2024:  This gave a whole new meaning to the Ukraine war and what must be happening there along the front lines.  When the war eventually ends, it will take decades to de-mine the areas.  Surely the Cambodians will be called to help]

For all these reasons, when you move an anti-tank mine it is put in a secured bunker area and then you must wait for 30 minutes.  To make matters even worse, the Khmer Rouge buried the anti-tank mines deep in the ground with a vertical tree branch just under the road surface.  Metal dectors cannot detect these mines.  When the car goes over that branch, the mine blows up in everyone's face.

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He went on to explain many other types of unexploded ordinances such as cluster bombs, as well as metal spikes buried in the ground.  The spikes I found the most chilling and deadly:  when you're fighting the enemy and need to make a quick retreat, you fall on the spikes and die or else puncture your feet.  He had a ton more to say about the Khmer Rouge and he was from the generation that survived this brutality.  

This was a really fascinating educational pitstop.  He said he enjoyed giving this as much as I enjoyed learning from him.  As a science teacher it was very easy to grasp the concepts he was talking about and I didn't need to ask any follow up questions.  

He said many countries are helping with the de-mining work and that much progress has been made already.  But there is still a long way to go until 2025 when the task will be completely turned over to the Cambodian government.

Meanwhile he was more than happy to encourage me to sign up for a course on de-mining and join this work.  He hinted that donations for the museum were appreciated but was really tactful in the way he went about it so I certainly gave him a generous one.

I couldn't help but get a little worried while riding the bike after this.  If I wanted to step off the road for a bit, would I step on a landmine and get my legs blown off?  Thanfully I survived until the next town with a guesthouse.