Phnom Penh

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh
May 14th 2009

Published: May 27th 2009

Edit Blog Post

Flyin Hawaiian

Toul Sleng Prison

The School Yard

Ah Phnom Penh, my first taste of Cambodia. I arrived by plane from Vientiene Laos and headed to by Tuk Tuk to the hostel, ST 23. A place I would see three different times during my trip, due to the need to backtrack.

Cambodia is a strange mix of the old and the new. Of hope and change and desperation and death. Just twenty five years ago Cambodia was in the grips of the imfamous Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. The entire country was upheaved. People were forced to leave theirs homes and the their lives and move to the countryside in a twisted attempt to make Cambodia into a purely agrarian country. Entire cities, like the massive Phnom Penh, were emptyed over night. Turned into Ghost Towns. The working class had little to no knowlage on how to farm and subsequently millions died of starvation. The educated in Cambodia fared even worse. Thousands were rounded up and sent to death camps for "re-education", sometimes on the simpelist pretenses, such as wearing glasses. See if you wore glasses then you could read, and you had no place in the "revolution". These objectors and educated and opposition party unwanteds were

A "Classroom"

The actual beds and rooms used by the Khmer Rouge

sent to the chilling S-21 prison. An old high school retrofitted with barbed wire and homemade prison cells. There they were brutally tourtured and eventually sent to the Killing Fields. There they were made to dig there own mass graves and then casually killed and disposed of. Because of the limited supply of ammunition they were often dispatched by a blow to the head, or the swing of a machete. More often than not they were just thrown in and buried alive. Both S-21 Prison and the Killing Fields are heavy places to visted. Especially the killing fields where many deep craters mark the spots that teams have dug up the bones of countless victims. Even after mounting a sizable effort to recover the dead from the killing fields, the Cambodian goverment has yet to unearth everyone. As you walk around the massive complex of graves you can still see the tattered remnets of old clothes being washed to the surface of the earth by the lastest rains. Everyday the reminders of the horrors that occured here rise to the top Everyday. There is a collection spot for visitors to leave any bone fragments that they may have found on

Faces of the Dead

Room after Room of those that were killed by Khmer Rouge

their visit.

The amazing thing about Cambodia is how quickly the have risen from there dark and troubled past. While the most "3rd world" of all the countries I have visted there is a energy and pulse to the people. With something like 60 percent of the population under the age of 30; the people spend there time looking foward not back. Phnom Penh itself is hot, dusty, dirty, chaotic and exciting. A place where you still feel like you are experiancing something that has yet to be made "tourist friendly." You cannot just dip your toes into this city; it forces you to jump in. And if you do you will not be disapointed. As I mentioned earlier I stopped here a total of 3 times as all buses to the the North, Siem Reap, and to the South, Sihanoukville, run trough here. I had a chance to get to know the people of my hostel very well. ST 23, is a very new hostel and they are still really working all the kinks out of there operation. But due to the newness of the place there really is a sense of wanting to get to know there

The School

Prison was wrapped in Barbed wire to prevent people from jumping to there death.

customers. And me being one of the first "repeat" customers I really got taken care of. Shown around the city and taken out for dinner and drinks.

When I travel I feel the need to balance myself. After spening 5 days in a busy city like Phnom Penh I decided to move myself to the beachside town of Sihanoukville. A place to catch some sun, drink some beer and have great seafood on the beach. I will write more about it in my next update, which I promise I will do tommorrow. I hope everyone is well back home. I am having the time of my life out here and not even close to ready to leave!

Additional photos below

Photos: 16, Displayed: 16