I set off early to the Tuol Sleng Museum so that I could walk there and see the town instead of being shoved into a tuk tuk to be carted around and not seeing the town. I got a bit lost....not too off the the beaten path but walked through a few neighborhoods and had a stroll through a wedding. The locals got a kick out of that!
Fortunately for me I got to the prison just in time to watch the documentary about the place and learn about how people were treated. It was a horrible thing to see but it was necessary and educational! The prison itself is a converted school. People were brought here to stay until they were killed either on the grounds of the school or at the nearby killing fields.
The School/Prison
Where they kept the prisoners until taking them to the killing fields
A cell the size of a small, small closet
I overheard a tour guide telling his group that this was a spot of blood from that time.
I read the book, "First They Killed My Father" to help me understand more of what was going on during Pol Pot's reign, In the book it describes the lengths the ruling party went to in order to create a single identity. This picture is of a family wearing their "black pajamas" as the author described them. These were some of the very few lucky Cambodians that were able to stick together during the work camps, or so the picture description told.
The next stop was the infamous killing fields. The Khmer Rouge murdered somewhere between 1.4 to 2.5 million people. Some were executed and thrown into mass graves in locations such as these. Others were killed slowly through hard work, malnourishment and random assaults from party members. I really wish that there were guide services available for the sight. A constant annoyance to me was the need to hire an guide for the day versus just catching a tour at the sight itself, then there are few if any signs explaining what is there. I think I would have gotten much more out of it if I would have hired a guide.
My tuk tuk out to the fields
One of many many mass graves
A tree near one of the graves that still had clothing buried beneath it
Memorial for those who were killed
Offerings
The skulls of those who were excavated from the graves during the 80s
International Sympathy
1 comment:
We did the same thing there (both on one day) and it was by far the most humbling experience of the entire trip. The things those people went through... I cried so many times.
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