January 27, Tuesday – Phnom Penh – Visit Killing Fields of Choeung Ek & Tuoi Sleng Prison Museum

Destination: Phnom Penh – Accommodations: Sun and Moon Urban Hotel

This morning we visited the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek—a grim reminder of Cambodia’s bloody past under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge came to power under the Marxist leader Pol Pot, who sought to turn Cambodia into a socialist, agrarian republic. Anyone who opposed those aims was rounded up, imprisoned, and murdered.

Allan walked through the Killing Fields and took some photos. It was a horrific time in Cambodia’s history. The horrors that took place against men, women, and children were inhumane. The Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge led to the deaths of about 3 million people of the 7.5 million of Cambodia’s population.

In Phnom Penh and other cities, the Khmer Rouge told residents that they had to move only a few miles away and they would be returning in a few days. They were told not to lock their homes when they left. They also were told the evacuation was because of the threat of American bombings. If people refused to evacuate, they would immediately be killed and their homes would be burned to the ground. The people had to walk for miles and miles and most of the elderly and infirmed died along the way.

These city dwellers were not farmers, so the expectation that was put on them to produce rice by the tons was unattainable. Violence was widespread when the quotas were not met and because bullets were scarce, executions were carried out using hoes, machetes, and pickaxes. Sometimes babies were killed by bashing their heads into trees.

I wasn’t feeling that great and so Are arranged for Allan and me to go back to the hotel with our bus driver. I was very disappointed that we didn’t get to tour the prison and we didn’t get the opportunity to speak with a survivor of Khmer Rouge, but I just felt nauseous and needed to lie down.

We missed lunch, but Are brought the lunch to our room which Allan enjoyed, but I just couldn’t eat. I climbed into bed and slept almost 17 hours straight. I wasn’t hungry, so Allan found some crackers and ginger ale at the local 7/11 and later asked the hotel manager for some bananas and a Coke.

We have a long drive tomorrow by bus, so hoping that my appetite returns and I’m feeling better.

It was an emotional day at the killing fields and I recommend the movie The Killing Fields on Netflix if you want to learn more about this horrific time in Cambodian history.