Day 5: Phnom Penh's Darkest History

It was a fine morning, the weather was perfect and the cars were ready to serve us. We were ready to explore Cambodia’s darkest history. In fact, the tragedy in Cambodia was one of the darkest history of 20^th century.

For you who have no idea about Khmer Rouge, I will give a brief explanation. So, Khmer Rouge was a Ultra-communist party which led Cambodia from 1975 until 1979. The party’s leader was Pol Pot. This party wanted to make Cambodia as a 100% agricultural country. All books, library, school, movies, temple, and hospital were destroyed. All intelligent people such as doctor, teacher, lecturer, scientist, engineer, and people who have connection with foreigner were captured, tortured, and finally killed. Even man with eyeglasses were also captured and killed because they thought that people with eyeglasses were an smart and intelligent people and they could be dangerous for them. Such an irrational reason right? So, those innocent people were jailed in the Toul Sleng S-21 Prison where they were tortured very hard. After that, they were executed in this place, Choung Ek, The Killing Field. It was believed that 2 millions people died when this regime ruled, most of them died because of malnutrition. It was also believed that 17.000 people were executed in this Killing Field.

Our first destination was Choung Ek Genocidal Museum. Choung Ek is also well known as “The Killing Field”. It was located at the suburbs, 15 km from Phnom Penh center and took about 20 minutes by car. The driver was Mr. Phannak’s brother and since he only spoke little English, we didn’t have much conversation with him but overall he was very nice person. During the journey to Choung Ek, we could see some places of interest such as Independence monument, Naga Casino, and Vietnam-Cambodia friendship monument. The road to Choung Ek was in a good condition although a little bit dusty.

Welcome to the Killing Fields

Finally we arrived at Choung Ek Genocidal Museum a.k.a The Killing Field. The entrance fee was US$ 2 per person and if you wanna add a tour guide, you have to pay more but we didn’t use a tour guide at all. First, you will see a 17-stories monument in the center of Choung Ek. This monument contains so many skulls and bones. Those are the Khmer Rouge’s victim. The ground floor was filled with the victim’s shirts and trousers, the second until the seventh floor was filled with the victim’s skull and from the eight floor was filled with the victim’s other bones.

The Ticket was US$2

Choung Ek Monument. It was filled with victim's bones and skeletons.

Can you see the skulls? It was a large amount of skulls. Tragic.

Close Up version.

A Mass Graveyard. More than a hundred headless corpses were found here. Yes, they were headless. Really tragic.

Another mass graveyard. You can find so many teeth here. Yes, they were the victim's teeth.

The Victim's Clothes. Full of blood stain.

This tree was used by the Khmer Rouge to kill babies. They hit the babies to the tree till the babies died. Really heartbreaking, isn't it?

The so-called Magic Tree. When the khmer rouge killed someone, the speakers,which were put in this tree, were releasing a sound. The aim was to covered the victim's scream so the residents who lived near the area couldn't hear the victim's scream.

There were also a mini museum in this place. It had a mini theatre which played a movie about Khmer Rouge every 30 minutes. The movie itself explained about the actual fact of the event happened in Khmer Rouge era. It was a good movie, made me understand more about this Killing Field.

Museum inside the Killing Fields.

After about an hour in this place, we moved to our second destination which was Toul Sleng Prison. Toul Sleng was located near the city center. The Toul Sleng museum was just as depressing as Choung Ek. The prison was actually a high school building but Pol Pot transformed it into a prison. Inside this prison, the victims were treated very bad. I have no words to describe how tragic this place is. It’s just so tragic, so scary, and also spooky. I think the photos will explain this place better than words. The entrance fee for Toul Sleng Museum is US$2 per person.

Tuol Sleng Prison. It was a Junior High School

This wire has a function: to prevent the victim to jump so they couldn't suicide

Small, dark, dirty cells. I just can't imagine how they could live here.

The Victim's photos. They all were photographed. From 17000 victims here, only 7 could survive.

The victims were tortured in this room. Sometimes, they were tortured to death. But if they survived, they were sent to the Choung Ek and they were killed there.

This Illustration was made by Van Nath. He is one of seven survivor in Tuol Sleng.

After visiting those two depressing places, it’s time for us to do shopping! The driver brought us to the Russian Market. They said that the price in Russian Market is cheaper than the Central Market. FYI, the Russian Market had also appeared in Amazing Race. The market itself wasn’t really big but the atmosphere was really similar to the Chatuchak market in Bangkok. In fact, in this market I could find some souvenirs which were also sold in Bangkok. I bought many souvenirs here with a very reasonable price. Of course, you must bargain hard first to get the best price. But I must say that the goods’ price in Phnom Penh was still a little expensive compared to Bangkok or Saigon.

This is The Russian Market. Reminds me to the Chatucak Market in Bangkok

In the center of this market, we found many food hawkers and we decided to have our lunch here. I think it was our first time to have a meal in the center of the market. The place wasn’t comfortable but I felt so excited about the food that was sold there. There were so many food stalls there. Finally I ordered a pork fried rice (3000 riel). Then I found a satay seller and I ordered beef and pork satay (1000 Riel per satay). Although the place wasn’t comfortable at all, the food was really delicious. I really loved the satay, it was very delicious and the price was also cheap. I really recommend this place for you to do shopping and have your meal.

Food court inside the market. The market is really similar to the traditional market in Indonesia

Me and the pork satay

Our next destination was Cambodian Royal Palace. This place opened everyday but at 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. the gate was closed. After 2 p.m. the gate would be opened again and the visitors could enter the palace. The entrance fee for Royal Palace was quite expensive. It was 25.000 riel or US$ 6.25. For females, you weren’t allowed to use sleeveless shirts and shorts.

Near the Palace's entrance

The Complex was quite big and very beautiful. There were some spot where you weren’t allowed to take picture. The Palace itself was so grandeur and the interior was so stunning. There was also Temple of Jade Buddha, just like in Bangkok! I wonder which one is authentic, Bangkok or Phnom Penh. Overall, this place is a worth-visit place and a you must not skip this palace if you are in Phnom Penh. But having said so, I think Bangkok’s Royal Palace is still much better than Phnom Penh, at least for me.

Such a beautiful palace

The silver pagoda

One of many pavillions in Royal Palace

Another pavillion

This is the Temple of Jade Buddha, similar to the Bangkok one.

When I was in Royal Palace, I started to have fever and sore throat. Suddenly, I felt unwell and very tired. Then Christo and I went to the Sisowath Quay to have a Khmer Massage. I was hoping by having massage, I would feel a little bit better. For an hour of Khmer Massage, we had to pay US$ 7. Well apparently Khmer Massage was just like a massage I routinely had in Indonesia. Maybe I chose the wrong place because I didn’t really feel the massage.

After having a massage, I chose to go back to the guesthouse because my condition was getting worsen. I went straight to my room and took a rest. That night, I didn’t go outside but my friends did. They even found a great restaurant. So sad, I couldn’t join.

*) Story: Krishna

Photographer: Zarwindo