How to beat the booze by hunting temples

via Khmer Times, 14 January 2021: You might have seen his YouTube channel floating around – this English expat in Cambodia spends his time exploring Khmer temples and recording videos.

Having spent the last fourteen years living in Siem Reap and steadily drinking, retired 52-year-old English-expat Paulo Bonini has turned to a new pursuit – temple hunting.

Or, as he puts it, he’s gone from being an alcoholic to being a temple-holic.

“The truth is I started all this as I am a recovering alcoholic, on a litre of vodka a day,” he says, “My anxiety and depression were crippling and I was truly lost, but it is without doubt having the draw of ancient wonders that got me out and on the road, and my life went from a complete lonely wreck to me being a very contented man.”

Now, instead of going to bars, he goes bush-bashing, hunting down little-known temples and ancient artifacts such as elephant statues hidden deep in the Cambodian wilds.

And instead of guzzling, he’s Googling to find more information about more hidden sacred edifices which are then filmed on video for broadcast via YouTube.

Source: How to beat the booze by hunting temples – Khmer Times