Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh was a four hour bus ride and two hour flight from Laos. Cambodia is much more developed than Laos. Phnom Penh has the feel of a big city while being very easy to get around.

In Laos, many places would give you a price in Thai Baht before telling you the price in the local Lao Kip. Cambodia was stranger. Their local currency is hardly used other than to make small change. The common currency in Cambodia is the US dollar. All prices are in dollars and all ATMs dispense dollars. The Cambodian Riel began circulation in 1980, but never gained acceptance by the people. This is probably because prior to 1980 (during the Khmer Rouge) the country had no monetary system.

AROUND PHNOM PENH

Statues on a boulevard in Phnom Pehn

Street Market

Phnom Wat

Cambodian Royal Palace

FUN WITH GUNS

One of the popular tourist activities in Cambodia is shooting guns. Before going to the killing fields, we stopped at a shooting range to try it out. We were sat down at a table and given a literal menu of their gun offerings. The had everything from a handgun to a hand grenade and even a rocket launcher ($350 for one shot). I gave the AK-47 a try. I have a video but this computer is too slow for an upload.

THE KILLING FIELDS

The Killing Fields are the 20,000 mass grave sites scattered across Cambodia used by the Khmer Rouge to execute 1.5 million Cambodians. The best know site is Choeung Ek outside Phnom Penh where the a monument memorializes the all victims of the Khmer Rouge's regime.

The monument at Choeung Ek

The monument is filled with the bones of victims unearthed on its grounds

The Khmer Rouge took power of Cambodia in 1975. During their reign, one fifth of Cambodians were killed in mass graves as enemies of the state. In 1979 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and ousted the Khmer Rouge and installed a new government. The new Cambodian government was seen as illegitimate by the international community and the exiled Khmer Rouge continued to represent Cambodia in the UN until 1993. The Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot died at 82 without facing trial for his crimes.

The grounds of Choeung Ek are covered in pits which served as mass grave sites during the Khmer Rouge. During its height, Choeung Ek received over 300 people to be killed per day. Victims were not killed with guns, as ammunition was too expensive, but with hoes, knives, and shovels. DDT was spread over the bodies to eliminate the stench and kill any who had been buried alive.

Pits on the grounds of Choeung Ek

The tree where a loudspeaker would emanate propaganda music to drown out the screams of victims

The Killing Tree which was used to kill children who were enemies of the state

An artist's depiction of the Killing Tree

S-21 PRISON

S-21 was a secret prison and torture facility used to interrogate suspected enemies of the state within the Khmer Rouge party. Originally a school, the site became a prison after the Khmer Rouge outlawed education in Cambodia. Most prisoners from S-21 ended up in near by Choeung Ek.

S-21

A torture chamber in S-21 with tools

The regulations for prisoners at S-21

Mugshots of a sample of S-21 victims