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Published: February 28th 2007
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Tue 27th Feb
On the bus yesterday met Katie and Nick and so they became the next pair for me to tag on to! They had to sort out there Vietnam visa so I had a lie in and met up with them at 12. Siem Reip is a busy bustling large town … well I’ll let Pete explain!!...
“we really weren’t prepared for the riot that greeted us off the bus. Christ I thought Siem Reap was bad! We could hardly get off the bus for the amount of taxi drivers grabbing your arm, trying to get your attention, asking you where you’re from and where you’re going.”
Even once you are at a place to stay every time you go out the same happens along with the children selling stuff. Although I never had anyone grabbing my arm. We had decided to treat ourselves so were staying in a fairly nice hotel with TV and hot water. So as you can imagine it wasn’t hard for me to have a lye in and wait for the others to return!! (I did feel safe walking around though don’t get me wrong its just the unwanted hassle of always saying no
to children and then feeling bad).
At midday we got a Tuk Tuk to the killing fields- Back to Pete…
“They are literally a set of fields dotted with what look like ponds. The ponds, in fact are mass graves that were excavated in the 90’s. There are 129 mass graves and in total 20,000 people were executed here. Towering above the fields is a column shaped building containing a glass tower that holds about 8000 human skulls. The skulls are arranged in groups according to age and gender - the lowest being 11-18 years. The majority of the skulls had visible holes in them where the Khmer Rouge guards had bludgeoned the prisoners to death using the butts of their guns in order to save ammunition. It really was quite a horrendous sight. The Killing Fields are an eerily peaceful and beautiful place considering the atrocities that took place there in the not so distant past. It is a place for remembrance and reflection.” It is certainly a bold statement with all the skulls pield up btu we wondered where the families would have wanted a “traditional” grave for there loved ones. The other horror is the government
Nick and Katie
in a cafe we went to twice as it was really good food. sold the killing fields to a Japanese business man to profit from. Selling peoples horrors and family bones for profit.
After seeing the killing fields we headed to S-21 the former school turned tourcher prison in town.
”The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (formerly the Khmer Rouge S-21 prison). The building was originally a school until May 1976 when the Khmer Rouge converted it into a prison designed to detain and ‘re-educate’ individuals accused of opposing Angkar. S-21 or ‘Security Office 21’ consisted of 3 main buildings all with 3 floors. The ex-classrooms in blocks A and B were converted into torture chambers with nothing inside except for a metal bed. The prisoners were shackled and tortured by various different means for up to several hours at a time.
On the ground floor of block B there a number of Perspex stands containing thousands of mug shots. The Khmer Rouge took photographs of all the prisoners before and even after torture and subsequent death. The majority of photos are of Cambodian people however there are also many foreign faces among them. The pictures are of people of all ages. When a person was sent to S-21, their families were also taken and subjected to the same treatment, regardless of whether they are newborn babies or teenagers. Each prisoner had a number attached to their chest for identification purposes, in some cases this number is actually pinned to their bare skin. Some of the facial expressions you see in these pictures are quite disturbing. Grown men in tears, young children terrified, women and children with black eyes and fat lips where they may have been beaten or raped upon capture.
The third block was completely covered in barbed wire in order to prevent the prisoners jumping over the balcony to commit suicide. The ground floor was filled with small brick cells that were about 4’ x 6’. The first floor was filled with wooden cells of the same dimensions and the top floor was completely open plan for mass detention. Metal bars protruded from the ground and up to 10 people were chained to it at a time amounting to horrendous living conditions. Walking around S-21 was a very intense experience and probably one of the most harrowing days of my life.”
The thing that got to me most is that this happened not long before Neil was born and it hits home that things like this are still happening today. I felt incredibly lucky and I am glad the Cambodians are now trying to educate there youngsters so nothing like this happens again although lots don’t understand how or why it happened in the first place.
There aren’t many photos as I just couldn’t take any that really sum up what it was like but if you want to see more then see Petes blog- http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/Phnom-Penh/blog-72742.html
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Mum
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I hope Pete is on commission!! He does write brilliantlly doesn't he. I'm sure this place must change you. love you - mum