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I decided to update my blog whilst this is still kind of fresh in my mind...although it's probably something that will stay with me for a long time...
We arrived into Phnom Penh late afternoon, checked in and pretty much headed out for drinks, overlooking the river and watching the sunset. We ate in the same place, and the food was great. I opted to share a couple of dishes with Sharon-the Fish Amok and a traditional Chicken Curry, both were very nice!
After the meal a few members of my group headed back to the hotel and the rest of us went for one more drink in a local what looked to be restaurant/bar...
Well unfortuantely we seemed to have ended up in some kind of awkward situation! We were all sat on a round table and ordered drinks, when we noticed there were VERY few females in there, apart from about 10 young 16/17/18years old local girls who were up on stage, some singing, some dancing and some just looking really uncomfortable...yep we was in some kind of sex bar?! not sure what to call it! So feeling rather uncomfortable we drank our drinks and made a very quick exit!
The next day (today) was a fairly early start. Breakfast at the hotel was included-not sure I can stomach spring rolls and fried rice though! So I stuck with toast!
At 8am we were picked up as a group and we made our way to the 'Killing Fields' now I'm probably going to make this as brief as possible, purely because what I read, saw and learnt was incredibly shocking and sad...I'll let you research it more if you want to (but I doubt you will)
Basically incase you don't know or remember, Cambodia had a horrific past of genocide which left over 1million Cambodians dead-through starvation, malnourishment, poor medical care and torture from the Khmer Soldiers.
The Killing Fields are mass graves about 15km from Phnom Penh. Around 17,000 people were murdered at this site alone and as we walked we could see bone fragments and also clothing still remaining in the soil.
There is a monument which was built to house the bones and skulls of nearly 8000 victims and also a tree known as 'The Killing Tree' which to be honest was pretty awful to see. There's signs as you walk around and the one next to the tree explains how it was used to kill babies by swinging them against it until they died, and then their bodies were thrown into nearby pits.
These signs continue as you walk around, and although what you see and read is incredibly gruesome and sad, not many tourists leave Cambodia without trying to understand and learn more about it's horric past...for me it wasn't something I particularly wanted to do but you kind of have to?
After the Killing Fields our next stop was Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as S21.
This building was once a school but was turned into a Prison. The classrooms were converted into cells and interrogation rooms which today still have the chains in that the vicitms were attatched to and along the outside of the buildings is barbed wire so that people were unable to commit suicide by jumping from the balconies...
As we walked around the museum we saw photos of many of the victims and also stories about what they went through. They were brutally tortured and to see the faces of these people was pretty distressing, I think most of our group found it hit home pretty hard. We also met one of the very few survivors...
Over 20,000 people were sent to the prison, and only 7-12 survived.
I've tried not to go into too much detail, the day was upsetting and I doubt anyone in my group will forget what we learnt! A very strange feeling!
Today however the Cambodian people (many of which still live in poverty) are so friendly even though they live with a pretty horrific past...
Needless to say after this we all just chilled out, you don't really feel like doing anything! We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and then headed out for a meal at a restaurant aimed at supporting and raising money for the street children.
Next stop Vietnam!
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