Buzz
On my second day in Phnom Penh, I woke up early. Just outside the hallway of my hotel, the street from last night was still bustling... but now it's empty and peaceful.
A Day at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh
The Cambodian sky during the dry season is incredibly beautiful, clear, without a single cloud. Today, I'm heading to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Killing Fields, and the night market on Sisowath Quay.
Tuol Saleng
Mrs. Vinh, the woman selling beef noodle soup and pho whom I met last night, wasn't the first to mention Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. Earlier, the tuk-tuk driver had brought it up. He didn't speak much English, but the way he gestured with his hand mimicking a throat-slitting motion and mentioned the name Pol Pot let me know it's where the Khmer Rouge killed people. Despite my vague knowledge of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide in Cambodia, I decided to visit the museum.
I grabbed a bowl of pho for $1, rented a motorbike for $7, and hit the road. The genocide museum sits right in the city center. Passing through bustling streets and eateries in the morning, I arrived at a small alley lined with old, dilapidated buildings, gray walls wrapped in barbed wire, rusted and faded, resembling more of a school than a museum. This was Tuol Sleng.
I greeted the elderly guards and purchased a ticket at the entrance. My first impression of Tuol Sleng was a shaded space with serene tranquility. Reading the guide, I learned it's also known as S21. This used to be a school. When the Khmer Rouge took over the city, the school was disbanded and this place was used as a detention and torture center.
The first row of houses consisted of small, dark rooms. Inside, there was nothing but old iron beds, torn mattresses, pliers, hammers, boxes of bullets... An eerie, pitch-black space.
Ascending to the second floor through even darker stairs, I entered rooms adorned with paintings depicting scenes of torture. I wondered: “Who are these people, why are they subjected to such brutal torture? What crimes did they commit?”
The answer lies in another row of rooms, where images of faces with various emotions are kept: confusion, fear, resentment, pleading... even the innocence of some children. They were all intellectuals, brought here to sign confession papers, forced to admit to crimes like theft, spying for the CIA, or having family members as spies, traitors... They were cut off from their families, unaware of what was happening. They were brought here to complete the final step of legitimizing their crimes, and then taken away for execution.
Over 20,000 people were brought to S21, tortured, harassed, forced to sign verdicts, and complete their files before being transferred to a place 15 km away from the city center, called Choeung Ek, for execution.
Leaving the final room, where the victims' skulls sit on stone benches in the courtyard. It's still that quiet space, but my emotions have changed since I first stepped in here. Sorrow creeps in, haunting me with images of classrooms turned into prisons, like the victims forced to confess to crimes they never committed.
The Killing Fields and the Pain of Division
The Killing Fields are located 13 km from the city center, through dusty, foggy provincial roads. A signboard on the left reads “Choeung Ek”. The space is green, serene, peaceful, filled with the sounds of chirping birds.
I purchased a tour ticket along with a radio guide. The radio starts playing melancholic tunes, songs of loss and anguish. A warm voice guides me through the small path at the entrance, taking me to the various sites within Choeung Ek, from the Khmer Rouge's arrival, detention, execution, mass graves, human bones, instruments of torture, to the reenactment of torture methods...
I stand before mass graves, where thousands of bodies are buried together. It's suffocating and chilling to see human bones protruding from the ground, right beneath my feet. Then there are other bone fragments, scattered clothes... This is the resting place of over 20,000 victims. They were brought from Tuol Sleng, many of them women and children. The Khmer Rouge used the crudest tools, even tree branches, to slit the throats of victims until death.
Choeung Ek is just one of nearly 100 mass grave sites across Cambodia. In 3 years, 8 months, and 20 days, over 3 million Khmer people died, with more than 1.2 million executed and the rest perishing from hunger. Considering Cambodia's population at that time, 3 out of 4 Cambodians were killed by their own people.
I can't believe what I've heard and seen—20,000 corpses buried in a few dozen hectares, a colossal cemetery where even a tower dozens of meters high can only hold a few thousand skulls. The rest forever rest beneath the earth. Any traveler visiting Phnom Penh should visit Toul Saleng and Choeng Uk, not only to understand more about the past and the resilience of the Khmer people, but also to bring back love and appreciation for what they have.
Night Market at Sisawath Quay
Leaving Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), I returned to the hotel for a while then continued to stroll the night streets, the Sisowath Quay night market. Here, I tried some insects (I didn't dare to eat all of them, just tried a grasshopper, a small lizard) which are specialties in Phnom Penh. These insects originated from the famine in Cambodia. I told my roommate: “I've had a day full of horror and hunger.” It's one of the most special destinations I've ever been to.
That day was the weekend evening, the crowd in Phnom Penh was livelier with music. Many Cambodian boys and girls came to the hotel where I stayed to attend the weekend party. Amidst the lively sounds, lights, the radio, images, and stories of Tuol Sleng - Choeung Ek still lingered with me.
The next day, I bid farewell to Phnom Penh, farewell to the images of wandering families with muddy children, which can be easily seen in a corner near the Royal Palace; farewell to the genocide museum - The Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge genocide… I traveled down to southern Cambodia, to the coastal city of Sihanoukville, also known as the “hidden gem of Cambodia”, where there are white sandy beaches, clear water, comfortable hammocks, cheap rooms and food, bird's nest houses on deserted islands… – a paradise for backpackers.
According to Zingnews
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Reference: Travel Guide by Mytour
MytourJanuary 5, 2016
