Tuesday our morning started early. We left Sihanoukville by 6am - well we were supposed to - you really have to have patience with the way time works here. Usually if a time is given to you, don't expect to leave exactly then. Regardless, we did manage to get away, and arrived safely in Phnom Penh. From a distance the city didn't really attract me all too much. But from a closer glance I can see why some people love it so much here. After we spent a long frustrating tuk tuk ride to our guesthouse (our driver didn't speak very good English and seemed like he didn't even know the city too well) we managed to check in and take a breather. We then visited the S21 ( Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum). What used to be a high school and elementary school here in Phnom Penh, was transferred and changed into a security office designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture, and killing after confession from the various detainees were received and documented. This all happened from 1975-1979 when Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge Regime. When we arrived at the museum we hired a guide (who, I might add was a victim herself in the Killing Fields) and toured through the facility. What an eye opener! I really had no idea everything that had taken place at the S21, or really during the whole period Pol Pot took over the country. Astonished and wide-eyed, I tried to listen to every word this lady had to say. Only educated people were taken here : doctors, lawyers, teachers, political etc. The main goal here was to find out and information about different campaigns or people trying to take down Pol Pot. We saw all sorts of different torture methods used, one which included a gymnastics bar in the school yard, where guards would hang victims until they became almost unconscious. They would then lower them into these mass jars full of water, long enough to wake them up and repeat the process until information was given. They would also take victims into different room within the school and torture them anywhere from 1-6 months! In the middle of the school yard enclosed were the last 14 bodies tortured there. It is estimated that over 20, 000 people had gone and died there. Our tour guide told us that her whole family was killed during the regime. She, herself, worked in the field before fleeing to the country side and hid out. She also showed us her scars, where the guards beat her because they said she was too lazy! Ah! This morning we drove to the Killing Fields just outside of the city. You receive a tape-recorder style tour, which leads you around the fields. I had no idea what to expect. It was pretty unreal. In 1975 every three weeks or so 50-70 people were brought to the killing fields. By 1978, 300 were brought daily. As we toured the fields, I felt like I could almost imagine people everywhere as the guide told eerie stories of what went on there. Work would commence at midnight and they would work until 8 at night. Some would get no water and some would get no food. Those who did, would get a ration of 2-3 spoonfuls of rice. They would sleep for 3 hours and then start working again. Various methods of torture also took place here. They have a tower-type of building with 17 tiers. Each tier holding different bones of the bodies collected from the mass graves over the years. You could see fractions on each skull of how the victim had died. Most people that had families, the babies would die first. Guards would grab their legs and thrown them against trees or they would throw them into the air a fire bullets. Bullets were expensive, so most killings were done by slaughter via bamboo stick or farming tools. They would kill each member of the family for fear if they didn't, revenge would come later. During the regime, 3 million Cambodians died, most being the well educated. Today almost 60 % of the country is under the age of 21. Pol Pot wanted a self-sufficient society. One where there was no rich, no poor, all equal. He forced everyone from out of the cities to work in the country. He then destroyed almost all of the cities. So much information I have gained over the past 2 days. It blows my mind that this genocide took place. Innocent people that just wanted to live their lives and prosper, payed for it. I couldn't imagine. Even though our visit to the city was short, it is probably one of the best experiences I have had.
Despite the fact that pretty much all of Cambodia is ridiculously dusty (many locals where doctor's masks) is really has been an amazing country. Each and every place we have gone to is different than the one before. Tomorrow morning we're at it again, leaving by 6:30 for Ho Chi Min City, a place we really know nothing about. Excited for a new country, new food, and a new experience, we'd love your prayers for a safe border crossing and arrival. It's always a little nerve-racking stepping into the unknown, but the stories we've heard about Vietnam are endless and beautiful ! Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment