"The most interesting thing in Cambodia is not Angkor Wat, it's the people,"

insists travel agent Diana Rimedio of Transair Cambodia.

With more than five years experience in Cambodia she see the Khmers as "soul

artists, good at chatting and entertaining, extremely friendly and kind".

On the surface, many Khmers appear shy but this is gradually changing as their exposure

to outside influences and people grows.

Although Cambodia is a former French colony, the drive these days is to learn English

and students always appear willing to talk.

Former Soviet influence and training has left many Khmers with East bloc language

skills, including Russian, German and Hungarian, to name a few.

Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai are also spoken.