The capital city of Phnom Penh was not originally on our itinerary… but it became a necessary stop-through on the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap. We decided to stay a couple nights to try and better understand the atrocities of recent Cambodian history.
Between 1975 and 1978, under the rule of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the deaths of 2 million men, women and children… about 20% of the population of Cambodia at that time. Any citizens (and their entire family) who were educated, or religious, spoke another language, had ever travelled to another country or had any degree of wealth were collected (tricked into believing that they were being selected for a job in the newly-created government), taken to one of the 189 prisons where they were tortured before being killed in one of the 380 killing fields. Pol Pot sought to create a “peasant race” incapable of rebelling. It wasn’t until Vietnam defeated Pol Pot that the genocide finally ended in 1979.
In the spirit of moving forward, most of the 380 killing fields have been cleared and re-purposed as farmland. However one killing field, Choeng Ek, was left to serve as a museum and a stark reminder to future generations of what can happen if a government is allowed to go unchecked.
We had an excellent guide for our visit here… he said that everyone in Cambodia today has a close friend or relative that was killed by the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia tries its best to be a forward-looking, developing country… but with so much history and knowledge lost (the Khmer Rouge destroyed all schools, libraries and religious institutions), there is a difficult road ahead.
It was a poignant and moving day to say the least.
It’s estimated that 17,000 people were killed here… mostly using hand tools to save money on ammunition. About 9,000 have been exhumed so far.
A quick summary of what happened here.
A stupa was constructed to honor those found at Cheoung Ek
Within the stupa are nine levels housing the remains of the 9,000 people exhumed from the Choeng Ek killing field.
Their clothes piled on the first level.
Some of the empty mass graves at this site.
Tuol Sleng is one of the 189 prisons that was used by the Khmer Rouge. This one was a high school before all schools were abolished.
With just empty rooms, at first it was difficult to imagine the horrors that went on here not long ago. However, exhibits showing some of the thousands of prisoners (many were women and children) who came through here made it quite real… truly haunting and heart-breaking images. Almost all were executed a short distance away at Choeung Ek killing field.
Bats roosting in the hallway of the prison
Other pictures around Phnom Penh…
The Independence monument
The Royal Palace
A road-side stand selling a nutritious snack…
Stir-fried crickets
Stir-fried grasshoppers
It seems that, given what you guys have seen in Vietnam and Cambodia, you're getting an education way beyond what you might have imagined. Truly horrifying and heartbreaking. On a lighter note, I think we would all like to see a photo of at least one of you munching down on a fried cricket or grasshopper!
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