Welcome to Cambodia, a humble country where locals are quick to smile, ox-carts creak down the streets amidst cars and mopeds, and beautiful children run around naked and free. From their always smiling faces, faces would almost never know of the atrocities and horrors they experienced only 25-30 years ago. Here, scaffolding is made of tree branches, bony cows wander randomly and ancient motorcycles carry anything from a family of 5 to a flock of chickens. Everything is paid for in US dollars and their engligh is better than you would ever expect. The people are gracious and friendly, and urban progress is surprising. However, government corruption is rampant, and the poverty is heart breaking.
TUOL SLENG MUESUM (formerly known as the S-21 Prison)
The flat countryside is dotted with palm trees for miles, quickly changing to dense jungle-like areas lined with brown rivers. All of this witness to and setting for a civil war which turned into a "revolution" under the evil Pol Pot. Also called "Brother Number One," he headed up the radical Khmer group known as the Khmer Rouge. Revolution to him meant mass genocide, preceded by interrogation and torture of 1 in 5 Cambodian people from 1975-1979. Statistics vary but according to information at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Muesum, it is estimated that anywhere from 750,000 to 2,000,000 people were brutally murdered under this radical Marxist-Leninist (socialist) regime. The musesum was formerly the Khmer Rouge S-21 secret prison, where roughly 15,000-20,000 people were detained, humiliated, violently interrogated and tortured, and ultimately killed over approximatley 4 years. Only 7 people survived the terror of this horrid place.
We visited this ghostly and chilling site on 2nd day in Phnom Penh (PP), and walked mostly in silence through what was formerly a high school. There were 3 main buildings, each 3 stories high, which are mostly empty now. But you could not ignore the overwhelming heaviness in the air, the feeling of tortured souls who were never laid to rest properly. There are rooms filled with photographs of haunting faces and intense eyes that follow you as you pass (similar to Auschwitz). Entire floors of former classrooms were converted to individual prison cells (about 3 x 5 feet) made of shoddy bricks and others with wooden planks. Some had no cells at all as they held mass numbers of "less important" prisoners who were all shackled together at the feet. You can still trip over the chains on the floor that were attached to the iron shackles that still lie in some cells, the floors spotted with blood. It feels as though they just left, or could return at any moment. The prisoners were not allowed to speak or whisper or even scream when being brutally beaten, tortured or even electrocuted.
THE KILLING FIELDS
If the prisoners did not die tragically within the prison walls, they were loaded into ox carts or trucks and taken to the killing fields of Choeng Ek just outside the city. We went here our first day in PP with Adrienne and Brian, them on a dirt bike and us on a moped. Jodi and Brian bravely navigated the crazy streets of PP and its outskirts as we all experienced the local life first hand. No lanes, road signs or helmets (and did I mention no white people on the road either?!)Every man for themself but somehow it just works. We got a little lost, and after countless stares of locals who were probably wondering what these 4 crazy westerners are doing on their roads. But, we received just as many smiles, some out of humor, and hopefully some out of respect. We were all the same by then, weaving through traffic and dodging obscure obstacles. Good on Jodi and Brian, it was liked they had lived there for years. Age and I were the happy and supportive passengers, photographers and filmographers, and the extra set of eyes offering "back seat" advice.
When we arrived at the Choeng Ek Genocidal Center we were splattered with mud from head to toe but proud to have found our way. The smiles and giddyness were were quickly reduced to somber expressions and a dismal mood. We paid 3 USD each to enter the site (which was shockingly sold by the Cambodian gov't to a private Japanese company). We walked a short distance to find a giant building (like a temple with 4 glass walls) stacked full with skulls and bones taken from the mass graves just beyond. we found the site to be more humble in comparison to Auschwitz (if you can compare such places) but believe it or not, more shocking in the way this "death factory" was run. We also could not believe how little we knew about the history of this country with death statistics just as great as the holocaust, and occurring 30 years more recent.
The area was beautiful and peaceful with melancholic chanting-like music playing from somewhere in the background. The tree covered area was much smaller than we anticipated. There are larger open areas however where mass graves have yet to be uncovered. As we walked down the winding paths we quickly realized that the open pits to either side were the unmarked graves of thousands. Just beyond the perimeter fence there were a group of children signing traditional Khmer songs and smiling as they spoke about school in near perfect english. It was enough to bring a tear to your eye and an inevitable dollar from your pocket. One little boy did give me ring made from grass as he stated his favorite thing about school was football. Another little girl (who seemed to be the leading entrepeuner of the pack) told me she wanted to be a doctor as she identified the grass hut behind her as her home. You couldn't help but think that children such as these were victims of the Khmer Rouge not so long ago, who would now be just a few years older than us. There was actually a tree which was marked with a sign stating how it was used to specifically beat children against. Babies were thrown into the air and landed on the blade of the soldiers guns. Bullets needed to be saved.
We are sorry to be so graphic, but there are actually much more horrific crimes committed against these people, and not enough space or time to list them all. We felt it necessary to describe this experience in an effort to just to convey the helpless emotions we felt and to share this evil part of Cambodia's extensive history as we barely knew a thing about it. Just like the Holocaust it is important to remember, and now impossible to forget, the inhumane acts committed by human beings unto their own people. Some even their own family. Many of the Khmer Rouge soldiers (many of them barely teenagers) were also victims who would do anything to survive, even if it meant killing their own. It is such recent history and it is impossible to find any reason in it, or understanding of it. It is hard not to feel helpless here and at times to wonder if we are nothing more than gawking tourists. But by visiting these places, these people are remembered and their suffering is no longer in silence, or muffled by music once played at the Killing Fields to dilute the sounds of their cries. We can never know the devestation the Cambodian people have experienced by losing countless loved ones (1 in 5 people), and hope no one ever has to. These people have every right to be angry and bitter at the world with little or no trust in their hearts. But thus far we have experienced nothing but a warm embrace and a friendly smile from each and every one.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
**Just a note that most of this information was taken from a few books, pamphlets, and from the sites we vistited. This is just our humble blog so citing proper references is something we left behind at uni, so any accusations of plaigerism are not welcome!! Although any extra info or corrections regarding this post or any other is welcome and appreciated!!
Below:
- view from our hotel window
- Tawn preparing food in the vietnamese-style "squat"
- sights along the Mekong River in Cambodia driving through Phnom Penh (the river starts in Vietnam, see older posts)
- closer up view of "houses" along the river
- Driving along amongst the locals
- Gas station! What else would it be? (yes the gas is in old pepsi bottles, 3 cheers for recycling!)
The Killing Fields of Choeng Ek (see above for explanations)
TUOL SLENG MUSEUM (POL POT'S S-21 PRISON)
Okay...now some fun pictures, us on the bikes and in the tuk-tuk (most of the drivers live on/in them, and so does this bird)
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