8 & 9 February, 2024

Suor Sdey everyone (Hello, in Cambodian),

Yesterday, we were able to sleep in with no morning activities before heading to the airport in Saigon and flying to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We got to the hotel in the evening and went to dinner with the tour group for our first taste of Cambodian cuisine before calling it a night.

After dinner, we walked over the Royal Palace before going back to our hotel.

Today, we started with a cyclo tour of the city, passing by several sights, including the Central Market, Wat Phnom, the Royal Palace, many ministry buildings, a monument to the prior king, and a monument to their independence from the French (picture below).

Afterward, we met our local guide and went to tour the Tuol Sleng (S21) Genocide Museum. During the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, 1.7 million Cambodians were killed, and another 1 million died of starvation, out of a total population of 7 million before the regime. Nearly 20,000 people were held and tortured at Tuol Sleng alone, and there were hundreds of prisons just like it across the country.

Only 7 people survived Tuol Sleng, having escaped when the Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979. Two are still alive today and have a presence at the museum. One has dementia, but can still be seen there with his carer. Another, now 93, continues to tell the story of his four months at the prison where he was tortured and otherwise held in heinous conditions.

Chum Mey, the 93-year-old survivor, telling his story:

The kind of cell he was kept in:

The museum consists of a number of rooms where “VIP” prisoners were held. When the Vietnamese army came in and put and end to the Khmer Rouge, they found the prison three days later, including 14 VIP prisoners killed as the prior regime fled, along with attempts to destroy all evidence.

Fortunately, they found all of the film negatives in a building next door, much of which is on display in the rest of the museum. These include prisoner mug shots as well as photos of the horrific prison conditions, experiments, and labor camp fields.

A ‘VIP’ cell:

Many of Pol Pot’s army were child soldiers as young as 12 who were lied to, threatened, and brainwashed. Any Cambodians who were not soldiers, including children, had to work in labor camps growing rice or other agricultural products.

The Khmer Rouge specifically targeted educated people in an effort to prevent an uprising. If you wore glasses, had smooth skin on your hands, or spoke a different language, you were assumed to be educated and were interrogated and killed.

In the beginning, they told people that the new regime was recruiting teachers and other important community members for well-paying jobs. They started by asking about their background, their family, and who else they worked with. Then they were told they were going to a training camp, but instead, they were taken to the Killing Fields.

Our local guide worked in the fields as a young child. His parents were educated, and his dad, knowing what was coming, devised a plan for he and their mother to split up and leave the kids at a particular camp where they would contend that they were orphans. He lost his father and 5 of his 8 siblings to starvation, illness, and brutality under the Khmer Rouge regime.

After the Museum, we drove out a bit further to the Choeng Ek Killing Fields, where some prisoners from Tuol Sleng were killed. There were 383 of these fields across Cambodia. At Choeng Ek, over 100 mass graves were found with bodies of men, women, children, and even the regime’s own soldiers. In the 80 that they dug up, they found the remnants of almost 9,000 bodies.

The regime would send a truckload of prisoners out in the evening and kill them overnight, covering the bodies with DDT to prevent the smell from emanating to nearby farmers. They played loud music to cover the sounds of the victims and avoided the use of guns so as not to attract attention.

Today it remains as a reminder of and memorial to the people killed by the regime.

The killing fields:

The monument to the dead:

Inside, we could see at least 10 shelves protected by glass, each full of skulls. Out of respect for those who were killed, I have not included a picture.

It was a difficult morning, but we appreciate having this experience and learning about Cambodian history and people.

Back at the hotel, we had a bit of downtime before heading out on a river cruise, which was quite lovely. Afterwards, we got dinner at Sora Skybar, on the 37th floor sky deck of Phnom Penh’s tallest building. Tomorrow we make our way via a long drive to Siem Reap.

Sunset from our cruise:

A view from the skydeck:

Lots of love,

Sarah & Spenser