The Killing Fields
26th February 2007
A 6 hour bus journey took us from Siem Reap, in the North West of Cambodia, to the South, and the capital city, Phnom Penh. $6 a night goes a long way in Phnom Penh, and on the evening of our arrival, we did nothing but enjoy the air conditioning and 100+ cable channels at our guesthouse (trust me, it hasn’t always been this good!).
The next morning we set out for what was to prove the most harrowing day of our adventure so far. Our first stop was the Tuol Sleng Museum, aka S-21. In 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh, they turned the former Tuol Svay Prey High School into a prison. Conditions in Cambodia rapidly degenerated, and S-21 soon became the largest detention and torture centre for ‘enemies’ (i.e. anyone other than farmers who had sided with the Khmer Rouge in the preceding civil war) of the ‘revolution’.
In the 4 years that followed, approx 20,000 people were held at S-21, of which only 7 remained alive when Phnom Penh was liberated by the Vietnamese in 1979.
It feels strange to call this a ‘tourist attraction’ and at times it did feel extremely uncomfortable to be visiting the scene of such evil. Without going into the detail of what we saw here, it helped us to understand and appreciate the Cambodian people all the more. We had hired a guide to show us around, a women in her 40s. She gave us great insight into the events that took place in the country during the time of the Khmer Rouge. As we talked, it emerged that she herself had lost her husband and only daughter to the regime after being evacuated from Phnom Penh in 1975. After the fall on the Khmer Rouge, she had walked for 3 months to return to the capital from the countryside to find work, and look in vain for her family.
Next we ventured the 15kms out of town to Choeung Ek, aka ‘the killing fields’. It was here the prisoners of S-21 were brought to be ‘exterminated’ after interrogation at Tuol Sleng.
The Khmer Rouge, not wanting to waste precious ammunition, bludgeoned to death men, women and children at this site, before burying the ‘traitors’ in mass graves. Several graves have since been exhumed, and over 8,000 human skulls now stand in a central monument as a reminder of the horrors that unfolded here, less than 30 years ago.
The remainder of the Killing fields site at Choeung Ek remains ‘intact’. As you walk around the grounds, fragments of human bone and clothing are visible in the dirt, a sobering reminder of the evil that remains buried here and at other sites across the country.
In the afternoon, in much need of a pick-me-up, we headed to a late lunch at Friends restaurant back in the capital. This place serves great tapas style Khmer food, and even better it is all for a good cause, giving street kids the chance to train as chefs (the Cambodia version of Jamie Oliver’s 15!). After food we toured the National Museum (exhibiting artifacts that have been taken from the temples of Angkor – shame!).
As if we had not endured enough pain and heartache for our poor little souls to take in one day, we spent the evening watching Newcastle lose to Wigan in the Premiership….that’s the last time I fork out for cable TV in our room!
Tags: Cambodia
Chris and Charl
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