The Killing Fields

Today was an very hard day but was something I'm definitely glad to have done. We met our tuk tuk at 9 and he brought us just outside the main city of Phnom Penh to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum which is better known as The Killing Fields . We had an audio guide and a map to follow to go around the outdoor museum. The voice on the audio guide was a man who had survived the killing fields.

Tuol Sleng was one of many "killing fields" that were used to murder "enemies" of Pol Pot's communist state during the Khmer Rouge Regime . Reasons for being an enemy of the Khmer Rouge included being an intellectual eg a doctor (sorry Grandpa), wearing glasses (sorry mum) or having soft hands. If a man or women was brought to the Killing Fields the rest of their family would be brought too, to prevent them trying to get revenge in the future. Cambodia was very poor after the Vietnamese war and bullets were expensive . Due to this the victims were not shot but were instead beaten with various weapons and then placed in large unmarked graves. Over 3 million out of 8 million Cambodians were killed during the Khmer Rouge reign.

It was horrific to see the site of such tragedy but the site has been made into an incredibly peaceful tranquil place with lots of trees and flowers that attract butterfles and birds, giving it a very peaceful feel. During the late 1980s the site was excavated and the bones were categorised by age, gender and cause of death. They are now stored in a large mausoleum with flowers and incense burning outside.Read more