CYCLIST Brian Martin swapped the hills of his Exmoor home for the tough terrain of Southeast Asia for a challenge that has helped raise more than £100,000 to help clear landmines.

The 57-year-old, who runs a holiday accommodation complex with his wife in Exford, has just returned from a cycle ride across Vietnam and Cambodia.

The 400 kilometre trek took him from Ho Chi Minh city - formerly Saigon - to the jungle setting of Angkor Wat, a collection of temples dating back 900 years.

Brian was part of a 29-strong team of cyclists raising money for the Mines Advisory Group, a charity which clears landmines and other ordnance from former war zones.

"It was an amazing, life changing experience," he said.

The cyclists were all from the UK but had never met before and had to endure temperatures up to 38 degrees celsius throughout their journey.

"But we all helped each other to get through to the end," said Brian.

"This was a group of really interesting and genuine people from all walks of life and they helped make this such a memorable experience."

Among the highlights was a stop at a Cambodian school to donate gifts of paper, pens, paint and colouring sets, which are in short supply among the poor communities.

"The local Vietnamese and Cambodians we met were wonderful and often said how grateful they were for the work of MAG in making their land safer.

"And I must have waved to more than a thousand young children who rushed from their houses to say hello to the passing gaggle of foreign cyclists."

The end of the journey was marked by a demonstration of landmine clearance by MAG representatives working in Cambodia.

"This showed us just what a painstakingly slow and stressful process it is to clear land, dressed in heavy protective clothing and operating in high temperatures and humidity," said Brian.

MAG has to be 100 per cent sure that land is safe before handing it over.

"Having safe land not only means fewer casualties but also means these poor communities can grow crops on previously unsafe areas."

Landmines and other unexploded ordnance have caused 60,000 deaths and injuries - often to children - in Cambodia since 1979.

Experts estimate that there are still between four and six million landmines and other devices in the ground.

In Vietnam, millions of tons of ordnance were dropped between 1964 and 1973, around a third of which is believed not to have detonated, affecting 20 per cent of the area of the country.

Brian, who in 2008 cycled across Australia to raise funds for WaterAid, said he wanted to thank everyone who had given so generously to his latest challenge and supported fundraising events over the past six months.

He is still collecting donations and anyone wishing to give can do so at justgiving.com/brian-vietnam-cambodia.