Choeung Ek Genocidal Center
My first stop for second day. It's a place I've been quite looking forward to. I love history =)
It is rather a sad place where lots of families lost their love ones here.
A little information regarding this place:
It was the site of a former orchard and mass grave of victims of the Khmer Rouge killed between 1975 and 1979. It is sometimes known as The Killing Field.
Entrance fee: 3USD/person
The tower/stupa that stores thousands of human skulls.
The skulls were categories into respective age and gender. I'm impressed with the effort that the Government has put into for this project.
The skulls were categories into respective age and gender. I'm impressed with the effort that the Government has put into for this project.
After visiting the tower, we walked to the killing field which is the area outside the tower.
The residual part of the victim's clothes and some bones can still be found on the ground.
A speaker were hung on the tree so that the screams of victims were not heard from outside.
The pieces of bones collected will be stored into this box.
It is difficult to dig all the bones out from the ground as rain and mud have buried the bones deeper into the ground.
Before this place turned into a killing field, it was a Chinese graveyard.
This is the only well preserved Chinese grave found.
The tree which the Khmer Rouge used to beat children onto until death.
A mass grave for women and children during that time.
There are more than one mass grave like this. Imagine how many people had sacrificed during that time.
The colorful strings are the prayers made by the visitors to bless the ceased resting in peace.
There is a short film on the history of Cambodia during Khmer Rouge screening in the auditorium. A small gallery is also open for visit enabling Cambodian and foreigners to understand the story better.
Last photo taken before leaving this place.
The Cambodia flag.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Other information:
It is the former security office 21 in "Democratic Kampuchea", created on the orders of Pol Pot (Sa lut Sor). It is designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture, and killing after confession.
The grave of some victims of Khmer Rouge.
It's painted beautifully in white. May they rest in peace.
The buildings which I considered it as a jail, is where the victims were living and being tortured.
The place was formerly a high school. There are 4 buildings in the school compound.
After converted into S-21 office, victims were placed into Building A, B, C and D.
Building A is the one I called the better treated's.
The cell rooms are much spacious and there was a bed provided for each of the victim. Only one prisoner for each room. If I'm not mistaken, the prisoners in Building A are political prisoner. The size of each room is half of the original classroom size.
As for Building B-D, the cell rooms are much small, no bed provided and it's dark inside. A classroom was then divided into 4 cell rooms (if not mistaken). The buildings are covered in fishnet of barbed wire to prevent prisoners from committing suicide.
This is the Building A. No fishnet covering the building.
Photographic evidence of victim in Building A, found by the Government.
In one of the cell room.
The window were paneled with glass for sound prove purpose to minimize the sound of victims screaming.
One of the torturing tool used where victim were hung upside down and drown into the pot filled with water.
All the evidence found is now at display for Cambodian and international tourists.
If I do not remember wrongly, these are the employees in S-21. The girls are served as cooks.
Rusted handcuffs.
The broken chain that was then used to chain the prisoners up.
Building B-D:
The barbed wire outside the building.
Each room has the painted numbers on the wall. Not quite sure of the purpose but my guess is to record the number of prisoners.
Each cell room were made of unrefined brick walls.
Even after years, I can still feel that the room is quite filthy and very uncomfortable. It must be very torturing for the prisoners to live in such condition back then.
The chains and tools inside each mini cell room. It is so small that only able to fit in an ordinary man + the tools and nothing else.
The photos took in the galleries are not clear as most of them are paneled with glass or kept in glassed cupboards which causes reflection of lights. So I am not going to upload them.
One last photo of Tuol Sleng.
My lunch at Hanami Sashimi Buffet.
The environment and customer service are satisfying. =)
Just some random photos taken.
Last destination for Day 2
The central market
Lots of local stuff to be found there, especially the street food.
That's all for Day 2. End my post with Angkor Beer and bottled soft drinks. =)
Good luck to all my friends in the coming mid-term tests.
Eloise S.
