Made it...at last!

The author at Preah Vihear with my best pal, Sokhom

It's official, the cliff-top temple of Preah Vihear is now a UNESCO World Heritage listed monument, despite the shameful shenanigans of the Thai authorities in recent weeks. A redrawing of the area to be included in the application did the trick and Cambodia got the vote despite the Thai Foreign Minister flying to Canada, where the vote was taken, to try and disrupt the bid. During its deliberations so far this week, the United Nations cultural agency has added 11 new heritage sites covering a swath of civilization from 10,000 year old agriculture in Papua New Guinea to 20th century social housing in Berlin - Germany by the way has 33 sites on the List. If you thought the Preah Vihear temple was the only site up for the vote, think again. More sites are expected to be added this week. In total, 862 sites in more than 140 countries have been designated world heritage sites. Cambodia's only other listed site is Angkor, which received its inscribed status in 1992.