Familiar warning signs all over Preah Vihear temple, and northern Cambodia, in March 2002The recent death of a Thai soldier after he stepped on a
landmine on top of Preah Vihear
is an example of how much of the Cambodian-Thai border is still regarded as one of the most heavily-mined areas in the world. Decades of civil war has left innumerable of these sentinels of death waiting to kill or maim unsuspecting villagers along the 800 kms of border area, some of which is still hotly disputed between the two countries. When I visited Preah Vihear in March 2002, a team of deminers from HALO Trust were camped next to the small pagoda on the summit of the mountain and were actively engaged in clearing the scrub-land just to the right of the processional causeway, next to Gopura V. They had marked a safe area from the pagoda to the temple though it was clear they had much work to do to make even the temple itself, a safe area. The closure of the border at that time had given them much-needed breathing space to get on with their hazardous job. Understandably, they weren't in the mood for snap-shots from me and in some of the pictures shown here, the only truly
safe areas are between the white markers. The downed helicopter was in fact left-over from a press corps trip to the mountain in 1998 that went badly wrong when one of the choppers made an unscheduled landing. The artillery gun is also a reminder of the civil war and the battles that took place for control of Preah Vihear for many years, between the Cambodian government army and the Khmer Rouge.
A female HALO deminer sifting through the mud and rock for landmines
The last stretch of cleared walkway before the open ground surrounding Gopura V
Part of the 200m track that guides you from the deminers camp to Gopura V
A path takes you up to the Cambodian flag flying above Gopura V
This mangled military helicopter lies in an unsafe area near to the walkway to Gopura V 
This is one of two rusting artillery guns that were a left-over reminder of the civil war that raged around Preah Vihear temple for so many years
Familiar warning signs all over Preah Vihear temple, and northern Cambodia, in March 2002
A female HALO deminer sifting through the mud and rock for landmines
The last stretch of cleared walkway before the open ground surrounding Gopura V
Part of the 200m track that guides you from the deminers camp to Gopura V
A path takes you up to the Cambodian flag flying above Gopura V
This mangled military helicopter lies in an unsafe area near to the walkway to Gopura V 
This is one of two rusting artillery guns that were a left-over reminder of the civil war that raged around Preah Vihear temple for so many years
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