What can I say?

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Today saw the Scooby gang visit S21 - the HQ of the Khmer Rouge prison/slaughter system - and the Killing Fields where over 8000 skulls are now housed in a small pagoda type arrangement as a permanent reminder of the atrocities that occured there.

S21 was pretty funky (and NOT in a cool Chopper kind of way). We first watched a film relating mainly to a husband and wife seperated by the regime and the horrors they had to endure before they were eventually killed...... also had some footage of ex guards who themselves were mainly forced into the positions they were in......although i found it a little hard to swallow one guys....."i only hit 5 people across the back of the head...i didn't kill anybody"..........

Many of the original cells remain......... there are also many many photos "mug shots"of the people who were murdered here.......this is a theme repeated through out the compound.....i took early leave and sat on a bench reading the uplifting tale (lent to me by richards) of warren fellowes (an aussie) who was locked in a thai prison for 13 years for heroin trafficking........ jesus that nunn/richards faction knows how to lift your spirits (i think we're going to watch requiem for a dream again soon!!!)

From here we progressed to the Killing Fields where over 8000 bodies were discovered buried in mass graves.......you can walk around and still see clothes and bones sticking out of the ground....very very heavy stuff...

The day did however end on a happier note, as under the direction of our tuk tuk driver Mab, we bought 50kg of rice and delivered it to an orphanage not far from our guesthouse......we spent about an hour there with the kids, and it really was a good end to a bad day.

As it was my last night we went out for drinks, which was particularly entertaining...until of course chopper got drunk and pissed off and went home.........which was probably just as well as he had a 6 hour bus trip the next day......

Got up early.......said my fond farewells to nunchucka....richards was stuck in bed with a similar head axe wound to the one i was suffering.......and boarded the bus back to Siem Reap.....

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Photos

Skull Tower
Over 8000 skulss of victims recoverd from the killing fields are housed here as a commemoration

Comments

[forgetfullpit]

Hi uncle chop chop Ye I have heard about those things from a friend that was over there, they also went to the orphanage and gave out lots of clothes they took with them from aussie. I also read that book before I went to Bali. You would think people would learn from these stories but they don't seem to. Keep on having a great time, how are you cuts and abrasions? Keep taking your antibiotic liquid it always helps a couple times a day. Love to all and have a great time.