My last grand adventure of the trip occurred as Mr Kim drove me from Banteay Chhmar to Siem Reap.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

The next morning, over coffee in the GHF courtyard, Sarun told me he had first visited the main Banteay Chhmar ruin in 1997.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

So it was that on my third morning, filled with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation, I set off with Mr Kim for Banteay Chhmar.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

On the second morning of my stay in Banteay Chhmar, I awoke before dawn to explore the main ruin where Sarun had taken me the day before.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

When it was completed in the early 13th Century, Banteay Chhmar was one of the largest and most important religious sites in the kingdom, rivalling Angkor Wat in size and grandeur.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

Next we motored 12km south past tranquil rice paddies and simple stilt houses to Banteay Torp, a temple built to honour Jayavarman VII's troops for their defeat of the Cham.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

Here I was, a temporary traveller on a spinning globe, alone yet connected to every single one of these: a piece in a puzzle of a journey whose design I would probably never know, but whose path had restored my sense of the whole, in the ruins of Banteay Chhmar.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia

Sopheng had kindly arranged to be my guide for the rest of my stay, and over the next two and a half days, through an ever-changing flow of sunshine, light showers and deluging downpours, he went far out of his way to give me an exceptional tour of Banteay Chhmar.

BBC: Piecing together puzzles in Cambodia