reign of terror

I've flew Phnom Penh, Cambodia two days ago. Yesterday I went to the Tuol Sleng Museum. It was a high school that was transformed into a prison S-21 by Pol Pot in the late 1970s. The brick walls that formed the tiny cells where prisoners lived still remain. There's scarcely enough room to lay down. The devices used for torture are displayed in the cells. There's also a museum where prisoners photographs are posted on the walls. Engineers, teachers, anyone with an education, Vietnamese, women and children were all imprisoned here. The last 14 bodies found at S-21 are buried in the courtyard.

After I went to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where many prisoners from S-21 were taken to be killed. Here mass graves, the largest holding 450 bodies, were uncovered shortly after the Khmer Rouge reign. So far over 8,000 bodies have been uncovered, and there's many more graves that have been left alone. In the centre there's a tower of human skulls. The tower was designed by a monk in accordance with Buddist beliefs regarding death.

It was depressing and eerily walking around both these grounds. But on the ride back it gave a new appreciation for the Khmer people. They are working hard to recover, but it was been quite difficult. The genocide that killed 1/4 of the people is so recent. Even looking around the city, it's such a young population. There's no elderly here.

This city is very vibrant. When I was flying into the city I could see the roofs of the buildings, all sorts of bright colours. And the city is so busy, even more than Bangkok. There's very few pedestrians. Almost everyone is on a motorcycle. I get approached a lot by children selling books, sunglasses and water. It's certainly not Thailand, a lot fewer travellers, and there's not Internet cafes and travel agency's lining the streets.