Phnom Penh, Killing fields and S21
Trip Start
Dec 02, 2007
1
9
22
Trip End
Aug 2007
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It had a good communial area where you could eat and watch DVD's and chat to fellow travellers!
It ran on a write down what you have system, so anyhting you had to eat or drink you wrote down in your room book, cept beer, the geezars had to sign it if you had a beer.
So went off for lunch along the Tonle Sap riverfront, and just seeing the poverty was awful, the kids running around happy as can be, as young as 5 or 6 with their baby brother or sister balanced on their hip, crikey, you just cannot prepare yourself for that
Another view of Silver Pagoda
! Had a curry, but to my disgust it contained CAULIFLOWER, I mean come on!!
So made our way back to Guesthouse, and chilled out with a film and a beer, and went to call Dave (stepdad) to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, but crap line.......
20/12/07
Today we arranged to to the Shooting range, Killling fields and S21 museum.... We had met a couple from Cornwall the previous day who had been and had warned to prepare for a harrowing day! And that it was!!
So we started at shooting range, which was ace!!! Shot an AK47, and the power and kickback on it was Immense at first but I have now got taste for shooting!! Will defo be doing that again oon the trip - Saff and I decided we would get it for each other for Christmas, so ata mere $30 each it was a blinding experience. After the TucTuc driver from our guesthouse said for us not to tell anyone he had took us there at it is illegal, though there posters advertising this at the guesthouse?!?
Cambodian Angels
! SO anyway onto the Killing Fields. This a very sombre moment. We arrived and the mood instantly dropped, although it looks nice from the outside, sunny and bright, you know happened here and it just makes you feel so totally overwhelmed! There are 43 mass graves that have been disinterred out of possibly 129, and a White Stupa that serves as a memorial to approx 17,000 men women and children who were executed by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978. Within the Stupa are over 8,000 skulls which were found during the excavation in 1980. There were clothes on the bottom shelf that had also been excavated and still random pieces of clothing on the floor as you wander around the field itself. Some of the skulls just had cracks in them, where the Khmer rouge would just bludeon them to death as opposed to shooting them to save bullets. It was to say the least very emotional to realise what had gone on in this now peacful place.
After gathering ourselves and our emotions we made our way to the S21 (Tuol Sleng) Museum, S21 standing for Security Office 21, and the 1 is for Brother number one, meaning that f**ker Pol Pot. This use to be Tuol Svay Prey High School, this was even worse than the killing fields!! We walked in and you are first lead to the cells on the left of the complex where there are 4 cells containing a single rusty bed and a horrible black and white photo of what was found within the cell
Fish surrounding Miniture Angkor Wat, Royal Palace
. It was just awful, there was still blood stains on the ceilings and what looked like claw marks in the doors. There were also skulls again like at the killlings fields, and there were paintings of all the different types of torture that took place.There were photos up all over the museum of staff and inmates. you could not quite work out who was who, and then we found out how they had been organized and were shocked to find out tha those we thought were children inmates, were infact the staff! Staff were as young as 7 years old, and were made to kill the prisoners in the most brutal ways, and due to they're age, they got used to doing such things and soon came to enjoy making the prisoners beg for mercy!!! It truly was a harrowing day, where I did not take any pictures, as not something I would like to see or share again!!
So, again after gathering ourselves and emotions we left there and headed back to the guesthouse for a much needed beer! And what do you know Green Mile on Star Movies, and that was it for me, out came the tears and the fags!!!
21/12/07
The following day we gave Saff and I, "Gave something back" and Gave Blood a the Kantha Bopha clinic, upon which we recieved a free T-shirt, Noodles, Condensed milk, biscuits, water, all it needed was a cuddly toy!!! Then we spent the day wandering around the Royal Palace, which was a sight, sooo pretty and lavish, and finally i got to see the Silver Pagoda, where the fllor is made from pure Silver, you're not allowed to walk on it, there are rugs covering the majority, but there is a part exposed, so Saff and I obviously popped a couple a toes on that bad boy while no-one was, looking!!!
We then went up to book bus tickets outta there and had a nice drink on River side whilst watching the sunset, then it was back to hotek for a chilled night before the trip to Siem Reap in the morning.......
