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Published: December 9th 2006
Cambodia is a haunting country Whether it be when you are wandering round Angkor Wat, or reading about the horrors committed by the Khmer Rouge, you cannot avoid Cambodia’s lingering past. Even the locals nowadays are ashamed of their country's troubled history.
What you can take heart in is the future for the country. And what a beautiful country it is. The people are so friendly and genuine, the countryside is generally flat, but covered mostly with rice-paddies. The culture is rich and vibrant, and the food bloody excellent!
We started our trip in Siem Reap, a fairly small town which only exists as the stopover to visit the temples of Angkor. The town itself is nothing that great, particularly as there are several VERY luxurious hotels there! Very out of place!
The Lost City of Angkor Although many of us have only ever heard of Angkor Wat, there are hundreds of temples to see there.
Built between 9th - 13th centuries, the city of Angkor was the home of the Cambodian “god-kings” and at its peak was home to over 1 million people, at a time when London had only 50,000 occupants.
We hired
bicyles to explore on the first day and looked round Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Too many people as ever, but still very beautiful. You can feel the history oozing from the bricks.
Second day Rich went off on an explore further afield (he ended up going 75km!!). I stayed in the main area and explored some other temples on a tuk tuk.
Third day we hired electric bicycles (so much fun!!) and explored some more temples.
You may think we would have been sick of temples by the end of it, but you’re wrong. They are all quite different and each has its own unique purpose and function.
So from Siem Reap we got a bus down to Pnomh Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
”The only crimes that exist on earth are committed by men” Pnomh Penh acts as a memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge. There are several museums detailing the violence and bloodshed that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Tuol Sleng Museum: S-21 The S-21 museum is housed in an old school, that was turned into an Interrogation Centre during the regime. You wander around the rooms, which
Angkor wat
The view at sunset was supposed to be beautiful but couldnt drag our assses out of bed!are kept exactly as they were then. The fairly big rooms are divided into hundred of single cells and people were kept here for up to 6 months. During their stay they would be tortured and starved for information.
The Khmer Rouge captured anyone who could read/write/speak foreign languages/well well educated/had high opinions etc etc etc. They were indiscriminate and ruthless and whilst they used S-21, only 11 of the 14000 inmates actually survived. In total they believe the number of Khmer Rouge victims to be over 3.5 million.
The Killing Fields Just outside Pnomh Penh are the infamous Killings Fields where they brought their S-21 victims. There are many many mass graves, which were only discovered during the 80s.
The memorial at the site to all the victims is particularly harrowing…inside the memorial are layers of glass shelves, each holding hundreds of real human skulls. If that doesn’t bring home to you the magnitude of this crime, nothing will. 8000 skulls are contained in the memorial.
There are many other interesting things to see and do in Cambodia, however for me it was the history that provoked intense and insdescribable emotions.
It is just
bayon!
i really like this photo!new career maybe! the hope for the future that drives this nation on, and all we can do is hope with them…
For some more excellent Cambodian photos please look at this guys blog...
Macabre and the Magnificent
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Julian Armfield
non-member comment
Excellent blog!
Well done, you two. Another fantastic experience and a good piece of descriptive narrative. Lol Dad, Sue, Princess and Jill xxxx