Phnom Penh, Cambodia was the final leg of our journey. We decided to take a 6 hour local bus ride from Siem Reap To Phnom Penh during the day so that we could see a little bit more of the countryside. I was not surprised to find that the majority of the main routine connecting the two largest cities was mostly dirt roads through small villages, but beautiful nonetheless. Although the way, we got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, but we managed to get it taken care of quickly.
Although Phnom Penh is the capital city, I would not have called it much of a city at all. I am sure that we did not see all that it had to offer in the few short nights that we were there, but we spent the majority of our time on the riverfront area of local restaurant, a couple shops, but ultimately, I was not impressed.
Our first night was New Years Eve. We were not sure if there would be some celebrations going on, but we had heard raving reviews about the night life, so we were hopeful. We made reservations at a local restaurant with a rooftop overlooking the Mekong River and downtown area. We got all dolled up as we like to do on NYE and set out for the night. It turned out to be a lovely evening, loaded with drinks and not much dinner (we had ordered some food, but it never arrived). In true Anna fashion, we spent our "dinner" reflecting upon the year - the good, the bad, lessons, hopes, and more. Anna is such a gem for making me reflect and bring out the most positive attitudes, reminding me to the thankful for all that I have in my life and the many wonderful opportunities that I have been blessed with. The rest of the night was in true NYE fashion... after our dinner sans food plus long islands, we did a bit of bar hoping until we met a group of young traveling guys from the states. We hung out with them for the rest of the night jumping around to different bars and eventually ending up at a cambodia club. I am not really sure how I functioned the next day after my whirl wind of Long Islands, but we arose bright and early and mentally prepared ourselves for the heartbreaking day ahead.
While traveling, I am aim to learn about the people, embrace the local culture, and understand the history. The most influential moment in Cambodian history was the mass Genocide under the rule of Pol Plot and Khmer Rouge Regime. Although I was dreading the day, I knew it was important to helping me understand the people, history and culture, so we set out first thing in the morning to experience the S-21 Prison and Choeungk Ek Killing Fields.
In 1975, communist guerilla, Pol Plot began the Khmer Rouge Regime (under the influence of Mao) and began a gruesome holocaust to purify Cambodia. During his three year reign, Cambodian people suffered starvation, violence, murder, rape and torture as he outlawed education, government, religion, books/newspapers, currency exchange and basic human rights and forced Cambodians to work labor intensive jobs. During this time, people involved with government, educations, foreign affairs, and religion were executed immediately as he began the "cleanse".
S-21 was a former high school transformed into a prison by Pol Plot. People accused of a crime or betraying the movement were sent to the prison, photographed then tortured until they admitted their wrong doing. However, the prisoners never stayed for long. Every couple days, the Rouge Regime Prison guards would load a truck of prisoners in the middle of the night and transport them to Choeungk Ek Killing Fields where they were brutally executed and thrown into mass graves prisoners had built before them. S-21 was prison to more than 20,000 Cambodians and only 7 survived. 20,000 plus mass graves have become the final resting place for more than1.3 million people - men, women and children. Nearly 3 million lives were taken in less than 4 years at the hand of one man.
Today, the S-21 prison has been transformed into the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum with very little altered. To say that it was unsettling would be an understatement. Rows and rows of old classrooms, stripped bare with a metal bed frame in the center, torture devices in the corner, and blood stains on the floor. Photographs on the walls of people pleading for the life. A torture device still hanging in the middle court yard above a small pool of water. Rooms and rooms plastered with the tear-stained faces of innocent children, hopeless women and angry men. It was difficult to walk through the rooms (many I had to choked back the lump in my throat and avoid). The final rooms were dedicated to the four men convicted and sentenced to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity - leaders of the Rouge Regime and the S-21 prison. Unfortunately Pol Plot escaped justice and died of natural causes in 1998. Even more unfortunate is that the others are resting comfortable in a prison in Cambodia instead of being tortured for the remainder of their lives... but those are just my thoughts.
Next, we took the long drive from the S-21 prison to the killing fields, a drive that so many before us had taken as their last journey. The ride was quiet as we reflected on the events that took place less than 40 years ago, during my parents young adult life time, in a country I was growing to love for its gentle kindness and warm hospitality. It was just unfathomable.
The Killing Fields appeared to be so peaceful, yet so powerful... green rolling hills, a tall stupa in the center, silence. The area has been transformed into a Buddhist Memorial for so many lives taken so unjustly. We were given a headset to listened to as we followed the trail around the property. It told the story of how people were brought to the secluded fields without knowledge of their impending death. They were first taken to a small hut to be checked in as the Rouge Regime kept very accurate records of their people. Then inevitable, they were each executed in horrifying ways, and haphazardly dumped into a shallow mass grave. The rolling hills were the grave sites that had been excavated, yet so many graves remained untouched. At one point, the voice in the headset directed me to look down at my feet onto the dirt trail I had been walking on winding through the field. A tiny bone lay just in front of my open toe, and many others scattered about. Although many of the bodies have been removed, fractions of bones appear with each rain or blow of the wind as a constant reminder to cruelty. The tall stupa in he center acts as a memorial. From a distance, it is beautiful. Up close, it is a horrifying display of the truth - filled with broken skulls of victims. I sat at a distance, praying as tourists left their shoes at the door and filled in to get a closer look.
The ride back into the city was another long and silent one. After our day, we were not up for much more than a couple cold beers on the rooftop to calm our minds and spirits. Our last few days in Cambodia were relaxing and uneventful. We wondered around taking pictures and searching out local hot spots for food. We enjoyed our last tastes of Angkor beer and amoke (like a curry), and met a few other travelers. Michelle left a night before Anna and I, so the last day, Anna and I found a pool at a local hotel to hang out at for the day. What a way to end our adventure.
Although Phnom Penh is the capital city, I would not have called it much of a city at all. I am sure that we did not see all that it had to offer in the few short nights that we were there, but we spent the majority of our time on the riverfront area of local restaurant, a couple shops, but ultimately, I was not impressed.
Our first night was New Years Eve. We were not sure if there would be some celebrations going on, but we had heard raving reviews about the night life, so we were hopeful. We made reservations at a local restaurant with a rooftop overlooking the Mekong River and downtown area. We got all dolled up as we like to do on NYE and set out for the night. It turned out to be a lovely evening, loaded with drinks and not much dinner (we had ordered some food, but it never arrived). In true Anna fashion, we spent our "dinner" reflecting upon the year - the good, the bad, lessons, hopes, and more. Anna is such a gem for making me reflect and bring out the most positive attitudes, reminding me to the thankful for all that I have in my life and the many wonderful opportunities that I have been blessed with. The rest of the night was in true NYE fashion... after our dinner sans food plus long islands, we did a bit of bar hoping until we met a group of young traveling guys from the states. We hung out with them for the rest of the night jumping around to different bars and eventually ending up at a cambodia club. I am not really sure how I functioned the next day after my whirl wind of Long Islands, but we arose bright and early and mentally prepared ourselves for the heartbreaking day ahead.
While traveling, I am aim to learn about the people, embrace the local culture, and understand the history. The most influential moment in Cambodian history was the mass Genocide under the rule of Pol Plot and Khmer Rouge Regime. Although I was dreading the day, I knew it was important to helping me understand the people, history and culture, so we set out first thing in the morning to experience the S-21 Prison and Choeungk Ek Killing Fields.
In 1975, communist guerilla, Pol Plot began the Khmer Rouge Regime (under the influence of Mao) and began a gruesome holocaust to purify Cambodia. During his three year reign, Cambodian people suffered starvation, violence, murder, rape and torture as he outlawed education, government, religion, books/newspapers, currency exchange and basic human rights and forced Cambodians to work labor intensive jobs. During this time, people involved with government, educations, foreign affairs, and religion were executed immediately as he began the "cleanse".
S-21 was a former high school transformed into a prison by Pol Plot. People accused of a crime or betraying the movement were sent to the prison, photographed then tortured until they admitted their wrong doing. However, the prisoners never stayed for long. Every couple days, the Rouge Regime Prison guards would load a truck of prisoners in the middle of the night and transport them to Choeungk Ek Killing Fields where they were brutally executed and thrown into mass graves prisoners had built before them. S-21 was prison to more than 20,000 Cambodians and only 7 survived. 20,000 plus mass graves have become the final resting place for more than1.3 million people - men, women and children. Nearly 3 million lives were taken in less than 4 years at the hand of one man.
Today, the S-21 prison has been transformed into the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum with very little altered. To say that it was unsettling would be an understatement. Rows and rows of old classrooms, stripped bare with a metal bed frame in the center, torture devices in the corner, and blood stains on the floor. Photographs on the walls of people pleading for the life. A torture device still hanging in the middle court yard above a small pool of water. Rooms and rooms plastered with the tear-stained faces of innocent children, hopeless women and angry men. It was difficult to walk through the rooms (many I had to choked back the lump in my throat and avoid). The final rooms were dedicated to the four men convicted and sentenced to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity - leaders of the Rouge Regime and the S-21 prison. Unfortunately Pol Plot escaped justice and died of natural causes in 1998. Even more unfortunate is that the others are resting comfortable in a prison in Cambodia instead of being tortured for the remainder of their lives... but those are just my thoughts.
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| One of the rooms at S-21 |
Next, we took the long drive from the S-21 prison to the killing fields, a drive that so many before us had taken as their last journey. The ride was quiet as we reflected on the events that took place less than 40 years ago, during my parents young adult life time, in a country I was growing to love for its gentle kindness and warm hospitality. It was just unfathomable.
The Killing Fields appeared to be so peaceful, yet so powerful... green rolling hills, a tall stupa in the center, silence. The area has been transformed into a Buddhist Memorial for so many lives taken so unjustly. We were given a headset to listened to as we followed the trail around the property. It told the story of how people were brought to the secluded fields without knowledge of their impending death. They were first taken to a small hut to be checked in as the Rouge Regime kept very accurate records of their people. Then inevitable, they were each executed in horrifying ways, and haphazardly dumped into a shallow mass grave. The rolling hills were the grave sites that had been excavated, yet so many graves remained untouched. At one point, the voice in the headset directed me to look down at my feet onto the dirt trail I had been walking on winding through the field. A tiny bone lay just in front of my open toe, and many others scattered about. Although many of the bodies have been removed, fractions of bones appear with each rain or blow of the wind as a constant reminder to cruelty. The tall stupa in he center acts as a memorial. From a distance, it is beautiful. Up close, it is a horrifying display of the truth - filled with broken skulls of victims. I sat at a distance, praying as tourists left their shoes at the door and filled in to get a closer look.
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| The craters of former mass graves |
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| bones washed up along the trail |
The ride back into the city was another long and silent one. After our day, we were not up for much more than a couple cold beers on the rooftop to calm our minds and spirits. Our last few days in Cambodia were relaxing and uneventful. We wondered around taking pictures and searching out local hot spots for food. We enjoyed our last tastes of Angkor beer and amoke (like a curry), and met a few other travelers. Michelle left a night before Anna and I, so the last day, Anna and I found a pool at a local hotel to hang out at for the day. What a way to end our adventure.
