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I'm probably not the only person who really only associates Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the Killing Fields.

It was a very important time in the country's history, and of course we should all know about it, but I was amazed - and just a little humbled - when we visited yesterday on Spirit of Adventure to discover his regime lasted just four years, from 1975 to 1979.

That means Cambodia had an awful lot of history both before and after that I knew nothing about. After attending a very interesting lecture about Thailand given by former British ambassador Sir James Hodge en route to Vietnam, it seems quite a bit of it was spent invading their Thai neighbours. But that was a long time ago.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, at peace only since 1998, because once Pol Pot had gone it was still ruled by Communist dictators and in the grip of civil war.

My initial plan on seeing it on the itinerary for this cruise was to do the excursion to Phnom Penh, the capital. But that's before I saw it was a four-hour drive each way - eight hours on the road - and you had just four hours there.

It would have been fascinating to visit, and very soboring to see the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed thousands of people, but I also noticed that if I did the local sightseeing tour in Sihanoukville, the port town where we were tied up, I would also be able to join the Evening in Cambodia excursion and get a taste of local food. Decision made.

Incidentally, the few people I've spoken to who did do the 12-hour trip to the capital said it was a very long day but was well worth going.

There isn't much to see per se in Sihanoukville, but it was fascinating to get a feel for the local culture and hear Bora, our guide, talk about his country. Actually it was also quite a challenge to listen to him as his English was poor, but he was quite charming - so cheerful and so keen to try to give us an understanding about his country.

It would have been so easy to go for the sympathy vote by dwelling on those terrible Pol Pot times, but he didn't. He talked about them in the same even tones that he talked about the French times, the civil war, the communists. It was his history and now they are rebuilding. He told us about that too. He was visibly so pleased that we had come to see his country.

First stop, the Ngean Pagoda, we picked up our first batch of young children, this lot just intrigued to see the things we were carrying (in my case my pen and notebook) but by the time we visited Tumnub Rolok fishing village they had become more demanding.

One woman made the mistake of handing out either some money or pens to a couple of the kids and rapidly became a modern-day Pied Piper.

In between the pagoda and fishing village, we had time at the local market - a fascinating, noisy, busy, grubby place selling clothes, souvenirs and the most scary-looking fishy things and sticky desserts, made all the more yucky because when a buyer came along, they were spooned into little plastic bags and handed over. They really did not look at all appetising.

I'll post some pictures, either when I feel strong enough to take on the steam-driven computers on Spirit of Adventure or when I get home.

The market made me realise that evening's local dinner might be a bit of a problem for me as I don't eat fish or seafood, so back at the ship I tucked into extra lunch. A good thing too!

Dinner was a buffet with fish soup, a shrimp salad, squid spring rolls and pasta with a fish sauce on the menu (there was also beef bourgignon but after the woman next to me pronounced it was a good thing she had her own teeth to chew it, I decided to give it a miss).

Luckily, on a cruise ship you're never going to starve so I just sat back and enjoyed the rest of evening. The Sokha Resort where we were dining had set out tables on the beach, we had lovely smiley waiters who could not do enough to help (some of the more elderly passengers found walking in the sand quite hard) and were treated to a performance by a local dance troupe. Apparently all were orphans who are picked early and go to a special dance school, which gives them special privileges.

Back on board, the ropes were cast and we set off. A day at sea and next stop Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where we are staying for a day and a half. I'll see you there.