|
|
|
||
|
The Entrance to the Choeung Ek Genocide Center (More commonly known as the Killing Fields) I'm gonna do this page in the order that I travelled it in Cambodia. After I got off the plane and cleared customs, I found myself a motorcycle rider right outside the exit door, and for $2 he took me into town and to my hotel, by the Ton Le Sap River. Not wanting to waste any time in Cambodia, I got the guy to wait for me while I checked in and threw my bags in the room and then went straight to the killing fields. My memory's not so great, but I think it was about 45 mins to an hour ride (it's not that far really).This is at the main entrance to the Killing Fields and where the story really begins. |
|
|
Monument Where The Skulls of the Killing Fields Victims are Housed Inside the glass doors in the middle, there are shelves upon shelves of victims' skulls, all the way up to the top. |
|
|
|
A closer Look? You are a Morbid Bunch! |
|
|
Pretty Gruesome Stuff The skulls have been categorized into age groups, from 15-20 years, 20-40 years etc. |
|
|
|
Victims Clothing That Has Also Been Recovered You can actually see holes in the victims skulls, an indication of just what a horrible death these people endured. At the bottom, you can also see the clothes recovered from the victims. |
|
|
Had Enough Yet? Actually, this wasn't the most depressing place. Seeing hundreds of human skulls wasn't so bad; it was a little dehumanized as there were no faces to go with the skulls. After here I went to the High School which the Khmer Rouge turned into a concentration camp - S-21, Tuol Sleng; now that was disturbing! More on that later. |
|
|
|
Children Playing Around The Tree Where Children Before Were Beaten to Death Yes, the irony wasn't lost on me. I wonder if these kids have any idea what transpired here. Saying that, being a kid in Cambodia's tough enough in today's world; they probably have enough to worry about as it is. |
|
|
A Mass Grave The sign in the middle says "Mass Grave". If you look at all the depressions in the ground, these are all mass graves. In the top right corner you will see what looks like a wooden hut. These are all covers for more mass graves. |
|
|
|
The Sign Speaks for Itself |
|
|
And This one, too. The signs not too clear: 450 People. |
|
|
|
Human Remains Still Wash Up When it rains, the remains of victims and their clothes wash up to the surface. The entire area is covered with fragments of human bones. |
|
|
||
|
OK, enough of The Killing Fields. We're gonna go to a much more depressing place next. After the Killing Fields, on the way back to the hotel, I went to Tuol Sleng, the highschool converted into a concentration camp by the Khmer Rouge. It was codenamed S-21 by the regime at that time. I have to be honest, this place had a profound effect on me and really depressed me. The Khmer Rouge documented and photographed every person that came through here, was tortured and murdered. The faces of many of the victims are on display, but I couldn't bring myself to take photos of them. There are places on the web where you can see these photos, if you really want to and I'll put up a link.
|
||
|
Tuol Sleng - S-21 Concentration Camp, Cambodia The first shock, for me, was how much like the schools where I live this place was; it could have been the one from a hundred yards down the road from my house. For your reference: Block "A" is the one on the left, Block "B" the one on the right. Block "B" is more museum style, housing displays of torture instruments and hundreds, if not thousands of photographs of the victims. For me this was the most disturbing place, seeing the victims looking out from passport style photographs and imagining the horrors they must have gone through. As I said above I couldn't bring myself to take photos in here, but I did find this link on the web http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/phnompenh/tuolslengindex.htm |
|
|
|
Block "A" - Tuol Sleng - S-21 The classrooms on the ground floor of this block had been converted into interrogation cells (torture chambers) with steel bed frames and manackles (photo below). The upper floors were used to detain prisoners. |
|
|
Interrogation Cell These cells were used to torture and exctract confessions from important people. You can see a photo, on the wall behind, of one of the last victims to be tortured and killed. These photos were taken by the Vietnamese soldiers when they liberated the concentration camp. The Vietnamese soldiers took the final victims and buried them in graves just outside Block A (see photo further down page) |
|
|
|
The second Floor Detention Cells of Classrooms converted into large holding cells. |
|
|
The Gallows These were originally used for students to exercise, but the Khmer Rouge found a more sinister use for them. Prisoners had their hands tied behind their back and were hung upside down until they passed out. They were then revived by having their heads submerged in filthy water( which was often used as fertilizer) in the clay pots shown in the photo. |
|
|
|
The Last 14 Victims The sign relates to the last 14 victims who were found and buried by the Vietnamese soldiers (see photo below) |
|
|
Graves of the Last 14 Victims of S-21 The building on the left is Block "A" as shown in the photos above. The bodies of the last victims were brought out and buried here by the Vietnamese soldiers |
|
|
|
Block "C" - Tuol Sleng - S-21 The ground floor (1st floor) classrooms were partitioned into tiny brick built cells. The 1st floor(2nd floor) classrooms were sectioned with wooden partitions to make equally small cells (pictures below). The balconies were covered with wire mesh to prevent suicides; after seeing this I can understand why anyone would want to commit suicide. |
|
|
A Closer Look at the Wire Mesh Covering Block "c" - Tuol Sleng - S-21 |
|
|
|
Ground Floor (1st Floor) Brick Built Cells |
|
|
They Knocked Holes in the Walls and Converted all the Classrooms into Cells |
|
|
|
The 1st (2nd) Floor Wooden Cells Just as nasty as the brick cells; why they used wood here, I don't know. |
|
The following are pictures of the Boeng Kak lake area in Phnom Penn. This is the place were all the backpackers stay. Accommodation here is cheap, about $4 a day, I've even heard of one place offering free accommodation, but I don't know how true that is. There are beautiful views of the lake from wooden decks behind the guest houses, especially at sunset. But be warned, this area is pretty seedy, and I would guess pretty dangerous to walk around alone at night (I didn't stay in this area). I did visit this place for about half an hour to get some photos, and got offered drugs even before I got out of my tuk-tuk. When I returned to my tuk-tuk to leave, two of the dudes trying to sell me pot were sitting in the tuk-tuk waiting for me. After politely refusing them (I don't object to smoking pot; I just don't do it myself, anymore - I mean at all) they left me alone. |
||
|
||
|
A Fisherman on The Boeng Kak Lake This looked like a nice photo opportunity - fisherman on the lake at sunset. I followed the guy and tryed to get him in the sunset shots. |
|
|
|
The Fisherman Again |
|
|
The Lakeside - Boeng Kak Lake This is the area behind the lakeside hostels. As you can see, it's really beautiful; people like to sit out here at sunset and down a few beers. This is where I took all these photos. |
|
|
|
Sunset at Boeng Kak Lake |
|
|
Fisherman at Sunset - Boeng Kak Lake |
|
|
Next, let's move on to the National Museum which is right next to the Royal Palace, both of which are located by the Ton Le Sap riverfront area. |
||
|
||
|
Gardens at the National Museum This photo was taken at the entrance to the National Museum, and if I dug around in my receipts, I could tell you the admission fee, but I can't be bothered to do that right now; it was about a couple of dollars. I'm not really into museums; I'm just not that kind of person, so this was a quick visit. Notice the bush in the photo, cunningly disguised as an elephant. |
|
|
Entrance to the National Museum Save your tickets and give them to the man at the top of the steps. No photography allowed inside, but you can buy a photography pass for $1 which allows you to take photos in the National Museum gardens, but not the exhibits inside the building. |
|
|
|
Some Exhibits Inside the National Museum I know I said you weren't allowed to take photos inside, I don't know how I got this one; my camera must have gone off by accident. Well, it gives you an idea of the kind of stuff that's inside - statues of Buddha and lot's of them. I don't want to sound pretentious, but I've lived in Asia for 14 years, and quite frankly I've seen enough Buddha statues to last more than a lifetime, even if they are centuries old. |
|
|
Another Exhibit My camera must really have been on the blink that day, snapping away all by itself. |
|
|
|
||
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
Beautiful Buildings and Scenery at the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
Beautiful Buildings and Scenery at the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
Beautiful Buildings and Scenery at the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
Beautiful Buildings and Scenery at the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
The Silver Pagoda Itself This is the actual Silver Pagoda. |
|
|
|
A Huge Model of Angkor Wat in the Royal Palace Gardens A very good replica of the original Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap, right down to the surrounding mote. |
|
|
Beautiful Buildings and Scenery at the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Inside the Royal Palace This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
|
A Food Vendor Outside the Royal Palace The grounds of the Royal Palace are home to a collection of beautiful buildings and gardens. |
|
|
|
Making Tracks This is the building which holds the throne, shoes off and no photographs inside. |
|
No! this really is the bottom line; there is no more; it is the end of this page; well except for the ubiquitous... |
||