cambodia
phnom penh
I flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Bangkok on January 6th, 2005. The only thing I knew about the country at the time, was that there was a temple called Angkor Wat and there was a river somewhere called the Mekong. I arrived too late to exchange any money and ended up sharing a cab downtown with a Canadian guy I met on the plane. The next morning I found all kinds of fake Lonely Planet guides at a book shop, picked up one for Cambodia and one for Laos, only $2 each, and I was in the know.
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French colonial architecture in Phnom Penh.
Two young girls playing near the riverfront.
Two monks buying food from a street vendor.
A Phnom Penh street.
The ziggurat-shaped dome of the Central Market.
A crumbling French colonial home.
The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek
During the 1970's, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers executed over 1.7 million Cambodians in a genocidal 'ethinc-cleansing'. Almost 4500 men, women and children were executed and buried here in mass graves, 14.5 km outside of central Phnom Penh at Choeung Ek. Many of the skulls found in the mass graves showed evidence of execution by machete; the soldiers refused to "waste precious bullets." Many of the younger children were just smacked against trees until they died. There was a very sombre feeling about the whole place. I remembered how eerie it was, that these terrible things had happened here just 30 years ago.
Skulls removed from the mass graves and stored in the memorial monument, bloody clothing and other items found were also displayed.
The memorial monument at Choeung Ek.
Excavated mass graves.
A long, hard, thirty minute ride over dirt roads to the Fields left me covered in red dust from head to toe.
Two young girls on their way home from school.
The Independence Monument built to commemorate Cambodia's independence from the French in 1953.
The Japanese-Cambodian Friendship Bridge that crosses the Tonle Sap River. Basically, the Japanese paid for it and the Cambodians use it.
Wat Phnom
The largest and most important temple in Phnom Penh located on a hill overlooking the city.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Tuol Sleng was originally a high-school that was used by the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot to detain, torture and execute Cambodian people who they believed were against them. The classrooms were used as torture cells and in the larger rooms, of wood and brick were used to separate tiny cells. A sheet of barbed wire mesh was hung over the highest balconies to prevent suicides. The bloodstains are still visible on the haunting yellow and red checkered tile floors and the cell numbers are still scratched on the walls in chalk. As the Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records, hundreds of 'mugshot'-like photos of the prisoners exist,some as young as 6 months old. Just babies, in prison outfits. Strangely, there was a very serene atmosphere around the school now, palm trees blowing in the wind and freshly cut grass, despite the horrors of its past.
One of the former classrooms, turned torture chamber. There were graphic photos on the wall taken by the torturers, showing victims dying on the very same bed frame and in ther very same room.
A makeshift doorway between former classrooms turned prison cells. Notice the Roman numeral cell block designations above.
The Royal Palace
The Palace was very beautful with its ornate Khmer style rooves and lots of gold. The grounds also contained the 'Silver Pagonda' which is named because of the hundreds of sterling silver tiles that cover its floor. There was also this strange building on right, above, made of cast iron. The small grey house was actually a gift from french Emporer Napolean III to his wife, who later had it dismantled and re-gifted it to the King of Cambodia.
A beautiful hammered bronze sculpture on a doorway.
The interior of the palace has many lively, but fading murals depicting Khmer culture and life.
A Buddha statue in typical Khmer style, within a small secluded garden on the palace grounds.
One of several, large and ornate chedis scattered around the 'Silver Pagoda'.