Kandal

Day 1: Our journey continues! After a peaceful stay in charming Kampot, we hopped on a bus to Cambodia's bustling capital, Phnom Penh. Despite the extended bus ride ( 5 1/2 instead of 3 1/2h) , the journey was surprisingly smooth. It was a particularly busy day due to a national holiday, as Cambodians were reuniting with their loved ones. Upon reaching Phnom Penh, we settled into our cozy mini apartment, graced with a stunning view of the cityscape. We had another “ like sleeping on a carpet floor” hard bed, but Jeroen was creative and created an extra mattress with the sofa cushions.

* TRIGGER WARNING disturbing content and graphic images about the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge*

Day 2: An eye-opening but not necessarily fun day lay ahead as we embarked on a tuk-tuk adventure to explore Cambodia's tragic past. The Khmer Rouge regime, a dark chapter in Cambodian history, claimed the lives of a staggering 25% of the population (1.5 - 3 million) in its reign of terror from 1975-79. It's a sobering thought to imagine 1 out of 4 people you knew were killed or “ disappeared”. The Pol Pot regime was a radical communist group that took over with Guerilla warfare. They displaced millions of people into the countryside for manual agricultural Labour, abolishing schools and religion, disowning property and land , prosecuting everyone deemed a “ traitor” with the aim to make “ Democratic Kampuchea” a “ free and class less state”. Famine, Labour camps, land mines, disease, executions, torture, starvation, persecution marked the Cambodian genocide.

Our first stop was the haunting Tuol Sleng Prison, or S21, often referred to as the Genocide Prison. This place served as a grim reminder of the atrocities committed during that period. A memorial to the millions lost and to educate people about what happened to serve as living “ keepers of memory” sharing it with others. Etched in stone is “ Never again” echoing the Holocaust we are all so familiar with.

Overall there were many depressing similarities found between visiting a concentration and Tuol Sleng, a similar disregard for human dignity, meticulous documentation of their crimes, inhumane torture and mindless executions of hundreds of. When the Vietnamese liberated Phnomh Penh they still found seven decomposing corpses tied to iron beds. It’s difficult to stomach looking at the beds, the chains and gruesome images the worst of which I will not show. Who once was guard and taught the methods of “ interrogation” often found themselves in chains later on, similar to people who once held power next to Pol Pot.
Especially intellectuals were prosecuted like doctors, lawyers and anyone with glasses really, making forced false confessions of being spies for the CIA or KGB.

A deeply disturbing place juxtaposed on such a peaceful setting of a former high school in a bustling city with a beautiful garden.

As we continued our quest for understanding, we headed to the chilling Killing Fields of Cheoung Ek a bit outside of the city. These sites, spread throughout Cambodia, many found and some lost to the jungle or surrounded by landmines. The sheer number of these sites scattered across the country is a solemn testament to the scale of this tragedy.
The place is next to an orchard and a lake and is a grave to at least 20000 men women and children. Most who were tortured at S21 and were of use no longer were then transferred at night to the extermination site at Cheoung El.

Even still there are scattered pieces of clothes, fragments of bones, teeth and rope washed up by rain laying over the sloped grass. 43 graves were left untouched.
One of the most harrowing places is the “killing tree” where young children and babies were smashed.
To save bullets most people were killed by blunt trauma to the head, or with axes and iron rods. There is an exhibition of some of the instruments used and a categorization of cause of death on the skulls.

Today, Choeung Ek serves as a memorial and a place of remembrance for the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. Visitors can see a memorial stupa containing the skulls and bones of many of the victims. The site offers audio-guided tours that provide historical context and details about the atrocities that occurred there. It's a place of great significance, reminding people of the horrors of the past and the importance of ensuring such tragedies are never repeated.

Our day of reflection concluded with an Indian dinner, where we as usual ordered way too much food and a quick visit to the palace during a rain shower. After going back we packed our bags in anticipation of the next leg of our journey: the vibrant and bustling streets of Bangkok! 🌆Read more