Our travels to Cambodia were an exciting time. With our love of different cultures and cuisines, we were in heaven! But little did I realise then, that the amazing sights of the Angkor Wat would inspire me to start my dream business.

I was in awe, walking around an incredible monument called the Bayon. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century, the Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. I felt calm, intrigued and inspired! Surrounded by calm faces in natural stone, I knew I wanted this feeling to last. Two hours later I was still walking around the site, with a buzz and a burning desire on the inside, studying the site. My wife was now sitting down, looking dehydrated and tired in the heat of the day, so we decided to leave for the day and return tomorrow.

That night, there was no sleep, it had become clear that I would take this look and feeling back home. That was the moment when the Bayon in Cambodia became my inspiration for a Landscape Design and construction business ‘Bayon Gardens where nature meets stone‘.

Looking back now, the 3 key points I learned from the Bayon and brought into Bayon Gardens company values are:

• Features that will last the distance of time
• Natural stone for environmental sustainability
• Designs that resonate so much with the client, that they can walk into their outdoor area and feel that initial inner buzz I got from the Bayon.