The killing fields

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We arrived in Phnom Penh two days ago after a bus journey from Kampot that took five hours not three like we all thought!
We are staying in a nice little guesthouse called ''Sunday'' guesthouse. This city is huge it is the capital of Cambodia so is to be expected! This city was almost emptied during the war which is so hard to imagine now as it is so busy here.
Yesterday we visited the killing fields and to be honest i kinda wish we hadn't we it was the worst thing i have seen so far........there are around 9000 people that died there and the place is not that big. There are holes that were dug as mass graves and a huge monument that is made from skulls of the victims which was horrible to look at. We had a guide that took us around and told us all about what had happened there i will not go into that because it really is not nice. as it has been raining the clothes of the victims and remains of the victims were all coming up to the surface where you were walking......it just made you realise how it was not that long ago that all this happened and how these people have come so far since then. nearly everybody you meet here was effected directly or indirectly from what happened here......around 3million people were killed over a period of just under 4yrs. We didn't stay there long and we couldn't even bring ourselves to take photos like a lot of people were.
After that we went to the school that was used a s a torture prison a day of joys i know........the school is clearly a school and they have left everything as they found it with classrooms with equipment that was used to torture people with and cells constructed from wood and brick in classrooms. They took photos of every victim before and after they were tortured and a lot of these were on display! It made it worse and quite haunting that you could see these peoples faces.
What happened to this country should never have happened and still people around the world are doing similar things.......in one respect you can agree why they have left things as they are so that it will hopefully never happen again but then on the other hand for these poor people it must be awful to think about everyday as it is in the middle of the city!
A very upsetting morning was ended by a trip to the local market where we bought a few things followed by tea and a film in the guesthouse!
I hope this hasn't been a too depressing blog but we wanted to share what we had seen and learnt yesterday. We are off to Vietnam in the morning by bus so another long day ha ha! speak soon xxxxxxx

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Photos

Cambodian Boy
Extremely sad faces at S-21

S-21
The torture rooms in the old school

S-21
The exterior of the building has been left as it was found after the demise of the khmer rouge

Tuol Sleng
Thousands of young and old passed through this school in Phnom Penh, really was tragic

Removal Man
So many rules and regulations in the western world, we saw many people like this, including one riding on the main street holding a drip above his head!!!

Cambodian Cup final
The final watched by many locals in Phnom Penh, at the first olympic stadium built in south east asia

Cambodian Cup Final
My first cup final, i haven't a clue who beat who, one day in my lifetime Man City will be in one also!

Maarten
one of our netherland friends enjoyed pulling silly poses

Bex and Lyke
In one of the rooms at S-21