Not even one generation ago, Pol Pot & the Khmer Rouge rose to power. In the years of 1975-1979 about 2 million people lost their lives – about 20% of the country’s population. It was one of the worst human tragedies of the last century. Pol Pot showed no mercy and went against his own people; doctors, teachers, intellectuals and city dwellers. The people who lived in cities and towns – some 3 million – were driven out to work in the countryside (it only took 3 days for Phnom Penh to become a ghost town). They were labelled “depositees,” and were given very short rations with the intention of starving them to death.

When Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia, Pol Pot fled to the Thai border, where he would hide out. He was arrested in 1997 and died during house arrest in 1998 – it was not a painful death for him…

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was a former high school, which was used as the Security Prison 21 (S-21). Out of the 17.000 people who died there, only 7 survived. 14 others had been tortured to death as the Vietnamese were closing in on the city. Their graves have been placed inside the courtyard.

A visit to Tuol Sleng is a depressing experience. It’s clearly nothing for the faint-hearted, because there’s something about the sheer ordinariness of the place that make it even more horrific; the setting right in the city, the simple school buildings, the grassy & flowery area in the courtyard, ousted beds, instruments of torture and most of all, wall after wall of B & W portraits of men, woman and children conjure an image of humanity at its worst.

Admission:
$2.00 per person
Open everyday from 8.00am – 5.00pm

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Killing Fields.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are located about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh. It was a place where more than 17.000 civilians were killed and buried in mass graves. Many of them were transported here after detention and torture at the S21 prison. In the center of the area lies a 17-story glass stupa which houses 8.000 skulls, bones and cloth exhumed from the mass graves. Again, this place is nothing for the faint hearted, since you’ll be walking on paths with visible cloths & bones, as well as disturbing photographs.

Admission:
$5.00 per person (including a headset) + $15.00 per tuk tuk
Open everyday from 8.00am – 5.00pm

Stupa in the center of the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Human skulls at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Mass grave at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Mass grave at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This is the kind of history you don’t learn about in school (at least I didn’t). WWI & WWII, as well as the Vietnam War are on the agenda in almost every textbook, but the history of little Cambodia is left out most of the times. Yet it’s not even slightly less relevant!

The reason why I find Cambodia’s history so heartbreaking is because its people are one of the friendliest you’ll ever come across and imagining that someone would want to erase them, leaves me speechless.

“Let history not repeat itself.“ A statement most people would sign immediately. Still, it’s a wish one can send to Santa Clause, because reality looks a lot different…

There are people who were really unlucky, who unwittingly stepped on a hidden danger – a landmine. Even nowadays not all areas in Cambodia and Laos are cleared of landmines. It’s a long and dangerous process and it will take another 10 to 20 years to declare Cambodia UXO (unexploded ordnance) free.

The sad truth is, that even today about 250 people step on such a device each year. Very often the victims are children who play in the fields, while not realizing that hidden dangers lure beneath them. In many cases, one dies right on the spot because the next hospital is far away and often there’s a lack of proper infrastructure to treat such traumas. If your survives such incident, the scars stay forever; a lost leg is the most common injury. In most cases, these people are no longer capable of taking on a job or continue the work they had. Therefore, you’ll see many people with bad disabilities begging in the streets, in front of market entrances, hotels or restaurants.

We’ve come across many landmine victims during our travels through Cambodia. The country and its people have faced many unbearable situations, which gives us the chills when thinking about it … There’s one story that still sticks as if we heard it yesterday: During our first visit back in 2006, we drove up to Angkor Wat with a local taxi driver. He showed us the area and knew a lot about the countries history. He told us about the time when the Khmer Rouge rose to power and the genocide of approx. 2 million Cambodians took its course. His entire family was slaughtered during the Pol Pot regime as well … What’s the appropriate way to react if someone tells you a horror story like that? He said it in a way as if he had made peace with history. After all, what else could he do? Still, the scars on the outside might heal but it will take more than one lifetime to forget …

Human skulls at the Killing Fields just outside of the capital city, Phnom Penh..

The landmines in Cambodia were placed by different factions clashed during the Civil War in Cambodia in the 1970s. They were placed in the whole territory of the country. Cambodia has some 40.000 amputees, which is one of the highest rates in the world.

Founded in 1997 by ex-child soldier Aki Ra, the Landmine Museum in Siam Reap tells the story of his rise from a 10 year old fighter in the Khmer Rouge to his present place as an internationally recognized hero.

Even today there are still about 200 landmine victims every year. Very often the victims are children who are playing in the fields while not being aware of the hidden danger that lures anywhere in this otherwise beautiful country.

The Museum tells the story of landmines in Cambodia and the country’s continuing efforts to rid itself of the aftermath of over 35 years of warfare. Here you can see landmines up close, find out how they work and how you can help Cambodia and the rest of the world in the on-going efforts of clearing these weapons from the face of the earth.