Around 7am, as I made my way out of the town of Siam Reap and towards the temples of Angkor Wat, I felt very much at peace. The air was cool, with a light drizzle. Around me were lush green forests, and thanks to the rain, very few people on the roads.
Running past ancient monuments, greeting the various security guards across the place, avoiding dogs, souvenier-sellers and other sundry-characters while cheerfully waving at them, gave a sense of freedom and security. And then as I was running back, my eyes fell on a notice board that brought back the grim reality of what price they paid to get this peace and security. It was a small sign that thanked some organization for funding the clearing of the area of landmines. The same area, that for the past hour I had been nonchalantly running along.