Choeung Ek Killing Fields & Tuol Sleng (S-21)

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Yesterday, we arrived in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, and headed straight for the Killing Fields and Torture Prison (S-21) which were used during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). Pol Pot attempted to "cleanse" Cambodia in order to create an egalitarian agrarian society and in doing so killed approximately 2.5 million people, 21% of the Cambodian population. Anyone who didn't conform to this ideal was brutally murdered. We visited S-21 where the prisoner's were tortured for up to four months and then they were taken to the Killing Fields, executed and buried in mass graves. The Stupa in the middle of the Killing Fields contains in excess of 8,000 skulls, most of which displayed cracks - To save bullets, the Khmer Rouge used numerous instruments to bludgeon their victims. The most harrowing thing for us was the Killing Tree, babies and children were beaten to death on it. We were warned that this city is one of contradictions and it's very true, after I had finished in the museum I found Mat sat underneath the Cambodian flag trying to process what he had just seen whilst listening to some school children laughing and playing.

We've already said too much; we will let the photo's do the rest of the talking.

xXx

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