Phohm Penh

After arriving in Phnom Penh we headed straight to the Tuol Sleng Prison. This building, which used to be a school, was taken over by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and became a place for torture and interrogation of educated people in Cambodia. Educated people included doctors, teachers, students, engineers, etc., as well as anyone who could speak another language, wore glasses, had pale skin, etc. If one person was targeted as being educated then often their whole family was taken as well. Between 1975 and 1979 an approximated 17 000 people were held as prisoners in the building. During those five years only about twelve people managed to escape and survive.

From the prison we headed over the Choeng Ek Killing Fields. It was especially hard to walk through here due to the fact that it had rained the day before. This meant that some of the dirt was washed away on the paths, and clothes and bones of the victims were re-exposed. Most of the bones could not be identified because they were mainly hidden in the ground still, but other things like a few teeth were lying loosely on the path. Luckily our guide only talked for about 15 minutes because too spend much more time here would have been way too difficult.

Needless to say this was a hard day, but I feel it was a good thing to see because I learned a lot about the history of Cambodia. Hopefully it will act as a good reminder for people and help prevent anything like it from ever happening again.

We ended the day by feasting on a home cooked meal at our local guide's home. His wife used to support their family by cooking meals for tourist groups (when the husband was training to be an certified tour guide). The food was absolutely delicious. Our host, Ran, also runs a school in his house, where he teaches English to children in his neighbourhood. The classes run Monday to Saturday, for one hour every evening and it is free.

For regular day school kids have to pay corruption fees to their teachers in order to pass. Without paying, the child may go to school, but they will be ignored and will not move forward.

We learned a lot about the culture and corruption in Cambodia during dinner, as Mr. Ran spent much of the time telling us stories about his life and family.