The downside of Phnom Penh

Rachs slashed bag
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After a two hour bus ride that was actually 5 (thanks LP) we arrived in Phnom Penh, and promptly discovered why many travellers we have met do not like this town. Rachs bag was slashed within 30 secs of getting off the bus, losing her camera with the unbacked up photos of the trip so far. So moral of the story is never put your small back pack with all your valuables on your back, for no matter how short a time. And back up photos.

On our first full day here we decided to get the horrifying Khmer Rouge (KR)museum and killing fields out of the way. This is something that you dont look forward to seeing, but you have to to understand the history of the country and its people. It was every bit as horrifying as we were led to believe.

Prison from the outside
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We first went to S21, or the genocide museum. A highschool converted into a prison, this is where people were taken for interrogation and imprisonment for months before being taken to the killing fields. Our tuktuk driver had arranged for us to be there in time to see a movie (starting at 10am) giving the background to the KR revolution and war, including the personal story of two people killed at the killing fields to give it a human face. The part that sticks in the mind the most is an interview with a guard/executioner, who told his story with smiles, any remorse or shame buried deep.

A photo in an exhibition about "perpretrators", the old guards of S21 and their current lives against their photos back then. Cambodians have graffittied the photos. There is a similar exhibition of the leaders who went unpunished, Pol Pots photo has had to be taken down. As you can see, this person is only a child.
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Part of the prison is still in its original state, and part is dedicated to a photo exhibition and memorial.  You can walk through the cells and torture rooms, some with original instruments inside.  All the victims were documented by mugshot, and these are displayed also. Very chilling.

The killing fields made even more of an impact on me, due to the juxtaposition of the now peaceful fields against the matter-of-fact bluntness of the descriptions given on signs around the fields of what took place there. Dominating the field is a large stupa with skulls inside of some of the victims. There are bones and material from clothes left artificially on the ground, I can only guess for effect.

The stupa in the killing fields.
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Sorry if this entry is a bit gruesome, but that is what it was like.