Phnom Penh

We have only a few days to spend in Cambodia yet we took the 6 hours + journey overland from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh just so that we can see the Killing Fields. I know there is something morbid about wanting to look at death but this genocide in Cambodia was huge and something that I think everybody need to see to understand how deviant and cruel human beings can be.

The is is entrance to the Killing Fields, officially known as the Choeung Ek Genocidial Center.

Part of the place was so beautiful and tranquil that if not for the various signs and pits all over, I can never imagine the horrors that have been committed there.

Inside the stupa at the entrance is where all the remains of the victims of the Khmer Rouge are stored.

Just one of the many signs in the Centre telling the stories of what behalf the poor Cambodians.

From one Killing Fields to a Killing School, we went to the  Genocide Museum or Tuol Sleng Prison. This was a school that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge and turned into a prison where the prisoners are tortured in the day and driven to Choeung Ek to be killed at night

A school exercise station converted into a gallow used to suspend prisoner upside down and where they are dipped into the pot of cess below.

Some of the remains of the prisoners

Seeing is believing and it is hard to believe that any human can be so depraved that he or they can order the death of so many innocent peoples. I hope the on-going trial of the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders will bring a proper closure to the victim's families and the perpetrators will receive their due whether from the Cambodian authorities or from Power higher up!

Next: Back to Siem Reap