After the dark days...

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Rolled up in Phnem Phen at sunset. Quite a spectacular sight with the sun burning red-orange against the beautiful temples and pagodas. Because it was soon getting dark, we were keen to find somewhere to stay as quick as possible, so we made our way to the lakeside and found a room for $3, our cheapest yet! Probably about as basic as you can get but does the job. So once we got checked in we headed to the restaurant/bar downstairs which looks over the lake. At $3 for a jug of beer we spend all night there, and met a fine bunch of folk, again a fine night was had by all.

Next morning we went for a lengthy walk out to the main prison, Tuol Sleng, that they used to keep people in during the Pol Pot Regime. Not only did it serve as a holding place but also as a torture chamber for those against his people, the Khmer Rouge. In a nutshell, Pol Pot created a radical Marxist regime to create a Communist Country, killing and torturing anyone who was against the movement. Hard to believe this happened such a short time ago, in the 1970's. It seems that everyone here has been effected in some way, many having lost parents, grandparents, children. It's scary to think how quickly people can become brainwashed into committing such barbaric acts of violence and torture to their own kind, and in some cases even their own family. The next day we went to the killing fields where the prisoners were taken to for execution. A pretty horrendous place, with shards of clothing lying around and bones sticking out from the many mass graves. It's hard to imagine what people here have gone through so recently, yet the people of Cambodia are some of the most happy and positive people we've met. It makes me realise how insignificant some things are that we get ourselves in a tizzy about.

On a more happy note, we tried some of the local delicacies including some very good pizza which cheered us up after a dreary day!

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Photos

The Cells.
Undoubtedly one of the most chilling places I've ever been; just walking through here verged on terrifying.

Comments

[Katharine]

Man, those regulations are chilling - and somehow the comedy english just makes them even more so.