Empty Nest Trekkers: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We arrived by boat in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 19 October. The capital of Cambodia, it is a beautiful and thriving city that has made a strong recovery since the horrible years of Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-1979 when the communist government led by Pol Pot systematically murdered over 2 million people (about 1/3 of the population of Cambodia at the time). Even more died of starvation working on collective farms throughout the country. Watch the award winning 1984 movie, "The Killing Fields" to get a good idea of what happened during that period of time that was intertwined with the Vietnam War. Essentially, Pol Pot and his fellow commie cadre attempted to implement in Cambodia a very pure and extreme form of communism that was centered around manual labor agriculture (rice farming). They sought to eliminate anything associated with modern civilization including machines, business, education, and so on. Therefore, anyone that was educated or even wore glasses was seen as a threat and therefore had to be killed along with their families.

The "Tuolsleng Genocide Museum" was called S-21 during the period of Khmer Rouge rule. It was a high school converted into a torture prison to document and extract confessions out of Cambodian citizens. Once the prisoners "confessed", they were then killed.

We listened to an audio tour that documented the horrific events that took place here along with listening to the few survivors tell their story. 20,000 Cambodians were processed at S-21 which was one of many such facilities throughout Cambodia. They ran out of room in the city to dispose of the bodies. So, they transferred them about 6 miles outside of the city to one of the "Killing Fields" where they killed and buried Cambodians in mass graves. Over 300 "Killing Fields" were used throughout Cambodia.

One of the many converted class rooms that was turned into a torture room.

List of rules the prisoners had to abide by.

Walls and walls full of photos of each prisoner. These photos were taken when they were brought to the prison. These innocent victims were normal working Cambodian citizens that were rounded up. Each "confession" was documented as "proof" of their conspiracy against the revolution to somehow legitimize the Khmer Rouge. There were, in fact, many defectors from the Khmer Rouge that are currently serving in the Cambodian Government today.

We visited the "Killing Field" just outside of Phnom Penh where the remains of over 9,000 people were discovered in 1979. Pol Pot's paranoia resulted in an ever-increasing number of Khmer Rouge party leaders being killed out of suspicion of them working against "The Revolution". These party leaders were subject to decapitation.

Entire families were killed to prevent the possibility of revenge later on.

Despite a concerted effort to exhume all of the remains, the heavy rains still bring bones and clothing remnants to the surface as we saw the day we were there.

Clothing resurfacing. Once a month the grounds keepers collect these remnants

The Cambodians constructed a giant Buddhist Stupa that contains the remains of the 9,000 bodies found at this "killing field".

Very haunting to look at the fear in their eyes.

It was a very sobering experience seeing all this horrible history that took place here. One that left us realizing how important it is to remember that this type of barbarism seems to repeat itself in modern times. Kassie wanted to hug every Cambodian when we left this place.

On a brighter note, Phnom Penh is a beautiful city that is peppered with unique giant memorials, palaces, and temples.

We are always on the hunt for good food. Ironically, the best food always seems to be some momma cooking on the sidewalk. Around the corner from our hotel we found this lady cooking up something different. We had to pull up a stool.

When looking for reliable street food we always go where there's lot of locals eating. Another trick is to look on the ground for lots of used napkins. Tells you its a good place! .