Day 72 - Tuol Sleng (S-21), Killing Fields and Royal Palace

Today 4 of us ended up hiring a tuk tuk for the day for $20. We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the Genocide Museum located at Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge S-21 prison. This prison used to be a high school that was turned into a prison in 1975 to keep people who opposed the Democratic Kampuchea and were said to be opposing the revolution. Many of the people held here were the educated, people with glasses, high officials, women and children. At the time, the Khmer Rouge only wanted 2 social classes: working class and peasants. Due to the 2 class system imposed by the Khmer Rouge, all of their soldiers and medical staff of the prison were from the villages and very young, between 10-15 years of age. All had little training to properly do their assigned jobs.

Tuol Sleng is a horribly gruesome place and about 2 million people were killed between 1975-1979. This prison was a horrible place where each person was tortured and/or raped and then killed. About 30 people at a time were put on the backs of trucks monthly taken to the killing fields, executed and thrown into mass graves at Choeng Ek (the killing fields) just southwest of the city limits. I felt sick to my stomach as I was there because being in a spot where people were tortured and having many of the rooms set up exactly like they were at the time with all the original pieces of furniture was very unsettling. It felt like being back in Germany when I was visiting the concentration camp in Dachau. It was horrible.There were photos of the victims either dead or dying and painting of the torture they endured. I could tell that the brown and white checkered floors on which I was walking had been stained with the blood of thousands.

The next stop was Choeng Ek AKA the killing fields. The admission here was $2 USD and is the spot where all prisoners from S-21 were brought to be executed and buried in the mass graves. All of the mass graves found have been excavated and all the remains were put into a glass memorial monument. The excavated graves were left as open pits so that you were able to see where all the mass grave sites were. There were graves as far as the eye could see. I was quite glad I went to the museum first for information as the killing fields has very little explaining what actually happened. Its horrible to think that people could treat other people this way and truly believe that its okay. It's something I really cannot fully comprehend and I don't think I ever will.

While walking around the back of the site by the perimeter fence, there was a boy about 10 asking us to take his picture. This was his way of making money, by getting you to take a photo of him and then give him money. When I didn't take his photo, he said "some money?". About 15 feet from this boy was another who was inside the perimeter fence who followed me asking for my drink and money. The begging in this city is absolutely astonishing.

Our last stop with our tuk tuk driver was to the Royal Palace. It cost $6.25 to get in and was beautiful. The architecture was amazing and the buildings were very well maintained. However, the Silver Pagada was quite disappointing as the floor was made of silver but it was completely covered in carpet except for a 2m square in the front of the building.

At lunch back in the city, the poverty by the waterfront is so noticable as children and women with babies beg for money and food. The children are filthy and naked, sleeping vulnerably on the streets. The Khmer Rouge revolution for 2 classes really impacted the society here. This country is so incredibly corrupt there are only 2 classes: extremely wealthy and dirt poor. I mean seeing someone drive by in a Jaguar while there are children begging at the street corner is a real contrast to say the least. Sitting at this restaurant really allows you to take in a culture and society just by watching it pass you by. While I sat there for about 40 min, 4 children asked me for money, 2 tried to sell me bootleg books, a woman and her baby begged as did a blind man with his child. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is the best way to describe how I feel here because you can't do anything to help anyone under such a corrupt government.

The sex tourism industry here seems like its running rampant. There are so many older western men with young Cambodian women it's disgusting. The tourists here are much different than the tourists everywhere else I've been so far. The ratio of older western men travelling alone to other travellers is about triple.