for 100 kilometres to the east of angkor wat. many cambodians, the missing statues are thought to have souls. they are thought to have souls. they are notjust stone, are they? they are definitely notjust are notjust stone, are they? they are definitely not just a stone for us. we never think, this is only the statue, but the spirit of ancestor. sokya mis is an — the spirit of ancestor. sokya mis is an archaeologist - the spirit of ancestor. sokya mis is an archaeologist with | mis is an archaeologist with the cambodian ministry of culture. when he saw the statue broken into pieces, how did you feel physically when you saw something like that? i feel physically when you saw something like that?- something like that? i feel ain, i something like that? i feel pain. i feel _ something like that? i feel pain, ifeel sad. _ something like that? i feell pain, i feel sad. sometimes something like that? i feel. pain, i feel sad. sometimes i pain, ifeel sad. sometimesi just don't want to see it, to tolerate as appealing. ijust don't want to

but angkor wat hasn't been totally deserted all that time.ation work to protect the temples has continued. but angkor wat hasn't been totally deserted all that time. important conservation work to protect the temples has continued. this is the psar chaa. it is the most well—known market in the city where tourists would come for shopping, for woodcarving, t—shirt, silver, silk. yeah, normally, these stores are opening, but at the moment, every store is closed. they are excited and it's so happy to see tourists walking in the street, walking around the temple. even not enough to give jobs to people yet, but, yeah, when we see people coming, we, you know, have, like, a good sign. nice people, we have beautiful temples and a lot of beautiful places around cambodia, so it is something that they should come and have a look in their lifetime. welcome back to the netherlands. this week, i'm in what's always been one of europe's busiest city destinations. oh, so many to choose from. amsterdam. when i travel, one of the first things i notice about a pl

the conservatory is a secret warehouse just outside angkor wat where statues are still stored for safekeepingean, we've got an elephant, we've got a lion dog, we've got lintus from angkor. no—one's been granted access to see this complex in decades. brad thinks the four—armed vishnu was stolen from here and sold on. so, where is the statue now? the latest information we have is that we've been going through the files of materials handed over to us by the latchford family, and we found a photograph, and the photograph is an image that is identical to the statue that featured in the programme back in 1988, and so, we looked at that photograph and it actually had a label on it. latchford's photo is labelled with the name of one of his old customers. brad thinks this customer or the customer's family might still have the statue. we're not sure yet if they have it or not, but hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we will find out. what chance do you have of getting that statue back? i think we have a very good chance, and especially now that we understand a lot more of the history, i think we sh

reporter: the towers of angkor wat are mysterious and breathtaking.are also nearly deserted. it feels lonely to tour guide son sorm too. before the pandemic, he guided groups of visitors around the landmark almost every morning. and even though tourists are allowed back into cambodia now, son sorm still looks lost in the centuries-old sandstone temples. >> they live to depend on tourism industry that makes income daily from tourism. so when nobody come, and people lose a job. so that is the bad consequences. reporter: tourists currently have a lot of space among the stone figures. son sorm thinks more visitors could be lured back with special deals. but there is one noisy group right in the middle of cambodia's national monument. tapping and hammering, luis sofor and his team of restorers are working to maintain angkor wat. for the past 25 years, the team has received funding from germany. throughout the pandemic, these so-called temple doctors have continued to clean and seal the masonry. >> at the beginning we also feared that maybe sometime we woul

cambodia's most famous temple, angkor wat.what they can to travel here at least once in their lives. these statues are more than just stone. they're thought to be living gods. but look closely and you'll realise something's wrong. angkor wat's been emptied. the head's been taken off. a hand's been taken off. you canjust imagine a looter would cut that, take it, smuggle it across a border, probably into thailand, and then on into some auction house. we simply don't know where this has gone. angkor was looted over 100 years ago, but thousands of other temples in cambodia were pillaged just in the last few decades. investigators are tracing the looters who carried out this modern antiquities heist. the former looters — who've become government witnesses — have all been given code names to try to protect their identities. right now, we're on our way to see a man they call red horse. he leads me to the remains of an 11th—century temple. wow! these dead vines are covered in really sharp thorns. oh, and there are hornets too. red hor

but angkor wat hasn�*t been totally deserted all that time.round the temple. even not enough to give jobs to people yet, but, yeah, when we see people coming, we, you know, have, like, a good sign. nice people, we have beautiful temples and a lot of beautiful places around cambodia, so it is something that they should come and have a look in their lifetime. welcome back to the netherlands. this week, i�*m in what�*s always been one of europe�*s busiest city destinations. oh, so many to choose from. amsterdam. when i travel, one of the first things i notice about a place tends to be the smells. and often, it�*s one of the strongest memories when i go home too, like the scent of a venetian canal or a middle eastern spice market. here in amsterdam, the smell i identify with this place tends to be these things — stroopwaffels. sort of cinnamon and caramel, you sort of get it in the air when you�*re travelling around the city. the best part of it is you get to eat them too. mmm, it�*s good. scientists say there�*s a link between smell, memory and e

cambodia's most famous temple, angkor wat.han just stone. they're thought to be living gods. but look closely and you'll realise something's wrong. angkor wat's been emptied. the head's been taken off. a hand's been taken off. you canjust imagine a looter would cut that, take it, smuggle it across a border, probably into thailand, and then on into some auction house. we simply don't know where this has gone. angkor was looted over 100 years ago, but thousands of other temples in cambodia were pillaged just in the last few decades. investigators are tracing the looters who carried out this modern antiquities heist. the former looters — who've become government witnesses — have all been given code names to try to protect their identities. right now, we're on our way to see a man they call red horse. he leads me to the remains of an 11th—century temple. wow! these dead vines are covered in really sharp thorns. oh, and there are hornets too. red horse says he unearthed a statue in the 1970s. "this is the exact location," he tells