Reality Check - A Visit to Aki Ra's Landmine Museum

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A must for anyone spending time in Siem Reap is a visit to Aki Ra's Landmine Museum.  You must be careful that you are visiting this one as there are two landmine museums in the area.  We understood that one was run by the Government and was not as informative as Aki's.

We took a tuk-tuk as the museum is situated just past Angkor Wat down two mud tracks - we would never have found this on our own.

Please try and visit this place if you can - you will not look at life in quite the same way again!

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After a rather bumpy ride we arrived at what looked pretty non discript from the outside.  We were greeted by a boy called Boreak who was 13 years old who offered to show us around the museum which is basically a small wooden building.  He was full of interesting facts about the various antipersonnel and antitank mines which had been recovered from the area.  We couldn't fail to ignore that fact that he only had one arm and at the end of the tour he told us his story.

We was out in the fields playing with friends when we was 6 years old and picked up a 'pineapple grenade' - not realising what it was he dropped it and it blew his fingers away.  The medical professional (if we can call him/her that) made such an appalling job of tending to his injuries that during the next few months, he gradually lost more and more of his arm until it was amputated just below the shoulder - what a disgrace that if he received the correct medical treatment he would only have lost some fingers.  It is one of a number of incredible stories of human bravery we witnessed at this amazing place.

Aki Ra and his wife have over the years, opened their home to a number of mine affected children and their stories are pinned up in the musuem for you to read.  What an amazing man.  The museum runs on donations and does not charge an admittance fee.

Please try and visit this place if you can - you will not look at life in quite the same way again!

For more information please see www.cambodialandminemuseum.org or www.landmine-relief-fund.com