We visited the Killing fields and the S21 prison both on the same day. This day was gut wrenching and traumatic. We began at The Killing Fields where thousands of Cambodians were slaughtered everyday. The Temple has almost 20000 skulls which are layered over 17 stories. Men, women, children and babies were found throughout the fields along with a variety of weapons i.e picks, machetes and hoe’s. The Khmer Rhouge Regime didn’t want to “waste bullets” so the Army used blunt force. We left with so many negative emotions, only to walk into the Tuol Sloeng prison. The building was originally a school, which was later turned into the S21 prison. The torturing that took place was simply inhumane. Each room has a metal bed, shackles and photos of the tortured prisoners. They photographed all the prisoners and there would be three rooms full of faces, from babies to the elderly, and the majority of them were executed at The Killing Fields if they survived the torture. Everyone we met had lost a family member and spoke openly about the genocide. It is hard to believe it was only thirty years ago.
A more positive experience in Phnom Penh was meeting Jackie, a local at the guesthouse. He decided to take us under his wing and show us the ropes! We had bbq bird (like a sparrow- head and all) and some other Khmer food LakLoc which was delicious! Afterwards he took us to his house where we met his wife, daughter and two brothers and drank beers on the floor (Jay struggled crossing his legs of course!).
No comments:
Post a Comment