The Killing Fields

Today we saw the darker side of Cambodia. Until now, it's been temples and admiring a great ancient empire. But today we saw some of the more recent history at the Killing Fields.

Yesterday, after we arrived in Phnom Penh, we made arrangements with a Tuk Tuk driver to pick us up at 6 AM. We're going to all of the venues as early as we can to get ahead of the heat. Today, that was a very good strategy.

The Killing Fields are about 37 kilometers south west of the city. If you didn't know where you were going, you would miss it. There's just a small sign.

We arrived 1 hour before the official opening. But since there was someone there to sell the ticket, we were allowed in. The first thing you see is a large stupa with layer upon layer of skulls. There's easily a thousand people represented in the building. You remove your shoes before climbing the stairs, observing a moment of silence is encouraged. This isn't Disneyland. We've come to where some of the worst of humanity did their dirty work.

We wandered through the field. There are markings explaining how many people had been found in some of the mass graves. There are depressions that look like bomb craters. I'm assuming these are more graves.

The Tuk Tuk took us to a prison where the people murdered at the Killing Fields had been tortured before being taken to their deaths. The prison had started as a high school. The Khmer Rouge changed it to a house of horrors. For months a prisoner would be shackled to the floor and endure numerous interrogations.

We walked through blood-stained cells. There were a couple thousand pictures of the victims. Later we read accounts from people who had worked at the prison. They all wrote that they were just following orders. Why do people always hide behind that defense?

Our last destination in Phnom Penh was the Royal Palace. A much lighter venue from our earlier destinations. For this, I had to wear long sleeves and pants today. This is a working palace, and certain areas are off limits. It's very ornate and picturesque. But it's almost 10:30 and the heat was getting to us. We decided to call it, and head back to the hotel until the evening when we went out for street food.