Phnom Penh

Struck down by a mysterious and vicious traveller illness (I'll spare you the details...), Ben and I spent two nights in Phnom Penh. With no appetite for food and unable to enjoy a chilled beer, we found ourselves at a slight loss for what to do... While we gathered strength, we luckily managed to catch a string of old films from our hospital - sorry, hostel - room, before heading out on a brief trip to some of the sights after the heat of the day had died down.

It being Phnom Penh, the main tourist 'attractions' lie in the Choeung Ek killing fields and the S21 prison which now houses the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. We fist visited the killing fields, and Ben and I both found the experience incredibly upsetting. I was in particular very impressed by the way the area functions as a beautiful and peaceful memorial for those who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, with landscaped areas and trees in flower, while also highlights the atrocities that took place in an informative and interesting way. The unearthed and emptied mass graves remain, and are harrowing reminders of the genocide and the tragedy, and the exhibition and accompanying video provide raw facts for the visitors to digest. The memorial itself is a tall white building, filled on every layer with hundreds of skulls - an arresting visual reminder of just how many people were brutally tortured and killed on this piece of land, and elsewhere in Cambodia.

It is almost impossible to comprehend how somewhere in the region of 2 million people were killed under the reign of the Khmer Rouge, whether by execution, starvation or disease, at a time when the entire population of Cambodia was around the 7 million mark. Furthermore, that this could take place just over 30 years ago (1975-1979) is mind-boggling.

The S21 prison held additional information and personal stories about the genocide, an contained a haunting display of hundreds of the individuals that were imprisoned there, adding a very personal perspective to the history. The former school was converted into a prison, with several mass cells and most other rooms converted into around 18 tiny brick or wooden cells. The balconies around the building were blocked off with barbed wire to prevent suicide attempts. Playground apparatus was used as a torture instrument, and the atrocity of this was highlighted by the artwork on display that simply was horrifying to look at.

Together, these exhibitions and the memorial gave a touching and distressing insight into the turmoil Cambodia and its people have faced and continue to live in the shadow of.