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Published: September 4th 2006
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Making the shadow puppets
All the shadow puppets were made there, on site, from leather After we arrived in PP and settled in for the night, there was a hard rain for most of the night. In the morning, I hired a motorbike taxi to take me out the Cheuong Ek “Killing Fields” memorial about 9 miles to the southwest of the city. It may be overprotective of me, but I didn’t want the kids to have to face the darker side of Cambodia’s history. I did tell them the story of what happened, but hearing it and seeing it close up are two different things. The trip out to the site where hundreds of bodies were found after the Khmer Rouge years had ended was quite an event. We turned off of the paved roads and drove out into the country roads which were giant mud holes after the torrential rain the night before. In some areas the going was pretty tough and the motorbike’s wheels went a little squirrelly on the soft mud a few times. There were very few other motorbikes or any traffic for that matter. After our motorbike fell over, I understood why. The roads were in just too bad of shape. I managed to stay on my feet as the
bike fell over, but the driver fell over with the bike. After we stood up, we inched our way over to the side of the road and washed off in an irrigation ditch. We continued the last quarter mile at a crawl.
The beauty of the area belies the horrendous crimes that went on in the village of Cheuong Ek between the years of 1975 and 1979. The memorial displays scores of skulls unearthed in the “killing fields.” On the bright sunny day that I visited, you could never guess what went on there and the terrible pain that the victims suffered. From the memorial I could hear the nearby schoolchildren on their recess laughing and playing. I wonder what they know of the terrible history of their area. I hope they never have to face anything like it.
My next stop was a former school in Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge turned into a jail and torture center. Toul Sleng, as it’s called tells, the history of the thousands that went through its doors. Only a handful of people survived the place. I have read several stories and biographies of the KR years in Cambodia and
road to Cheuong Ek
The muddy road to the 'killing fields' felt compelled to see the places I’d read about. Yes, they are quite morbid and not the usual holiday sites that people visit, but I think it’s important that we not forget the atrocities that have been perpetrated throughout history. Both of these sites bear witness to the evil that is capable in human hearts. The most striking part of Tuol Sleng, I felt was the display of photographs taken of the victims. It seems the KR took great care in documenting all of their victims. The top floor of one of the buildings had an exhibition of photographs of cadre, jailers, and victims of the prison. It told their biographical information and even showed pre-war family photos. It was heartbreaking to see the pre-war photos and the happiness in the eyes of the subjects right alongside of the mug-shots taken before their execution.
The place will leave you stunned or in tears, but is a must visit if only to make you feel lucky to be alive and have a voice in your government.
After the sobering morning, I rejoined Jo and kids and looked around the city. We went to the Russian Market to do some
Washing off the tuktuk
The downpour gives the tuktuk drivers a chance to do some washing shopping, and visited a shadow puppet troupe to see the behind the scenes happenings. They were very happy to show us how they made the puppets or prepared the accompanying music. Back at the hotel balcony, we had a front row seat for the flood scene playing out down in the street as the rains started in the afternoon. The street actually filled up with about a foot and half of water! Some traffic would try to get through at first, but it all stopped eventually. We tried to get back to the puppet troupe for their rehearsal, but the streets in that area had flooded as well. We did come across a real grocery store, something we hadn’t seen since Malaysia, so we stocked up on a few snacks for our trip to Vietnam the next morning before heading back to the dry hotel room.
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