Cambodia's dark past- Phnom Penh

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We had a hellish bus journey to get to Phnom Penh so were really pleased to have arrived after sweating on a crampt bus for 5 hours. Initially it was a big disappointment- we walked out of one guest house in disgust at the state of the rooms that they actually expected us to pay to stay in, and the next one wasn't much better as it was full of drunk/stoned people making a nuisance of themselves.

We found a better place eventually, and got a TV and air con for 10 USD so we were happy. We arrived knowing very little about the horrific history of Cambodia, but the small children selling (illegally) photocopied books on the streets have filled the gaps. One of the most evident reminders of the genocide here is that in Cambodia you do not have old people. There is just no-one over the age of 40 or so, no people with grey hair to be seen. Those few that can be seen, you can't help but wonder how they survived the 70s here and what horrors they have seen, how many family members they lost. Or maybe they were part of the Khmer Rouge and took part in the indescriminate killings of their own people.

We took a day trip to an ex-high school just outside of Phnom Penh which was used by the Khmer Rouge as a prison/torture centre, known as S-21, whilst they ran the country. The class rooms were converted to small individual cells and here many inoccents were incarcerated maybe for weeks or months, enduring horrific torture before being killed in a brutal manner. In many of the cells it was possible to see blood splatters all over the walls/ceilings, acting as a reminder of what happened there. Before the people were killed, a mug shot was taken of them, and these are dislplayed in the museum. There are thousand of photos of men, women and small children all about to be killed, by their own country men. Seven people survived Tuol Sleng Prison.

Our next visit was even worse- the 'Killing Fields'. This was a site outside of the city where 80 or so mass graves were found. Many have been exhumed and there is a memorial containing 8000 human skulls and clothing of the victims. There are so many bodies buried here, that walking along the path inbetween the mass graves you can see pieces of human bone sticking up from the ground and pieces of clothing.

It was a horrible place to visit, but nonetheless important to help fully appreciate what happened to the Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge.

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Photos

S-21
a normal school

S-21
used as a place of torture

S-21
just a few of the many victims

S-21
the cells

Killing fields
clothing taken from the bodies

Killing Fields
skulls of the victims, recovered from mass graves