Today I was rudely awoken by beeping horns and noisy school children. There are always school kids everywhere here, I don’t think they even do anything at school!
This morning we went for breakfast at a coffee shop round the corner near a mall called the pencil center. We both had an egg, bacon, tomato and lettuce bagel. It was lovely. I miss bagels.
We decided to go to the genocide museum which was just over 2km away. We decided to walk. The sun was very hot as always in Cambodia. We stopped half way at the independence monument to take a couple of photos.
It took us a good half hour and the pavements (when they existed) were abysmal. I actually videos us walking to show how bad it is. However, we eventually made it.
It was $3 each to enter. There were four buildings (A B C &camp; D) facing onto a memorial monument and seven gravestones. This was the Tuol Sleng prison also known as S-21.
We started in building A. This building consisted of rooms where the Khmer Rouge would torture their prisoners. In a ground floor room, there was a metal bed with metal bars that shackled their feet.
There was also a battery on the bed, used for torturing and electrocuting them. After a couple of rooms like this, which were accompanied with pictures of the prisoners tortured or dead on the wall, I began to feel physically sick. As we explored, we found more rooms which were bigger with maybe 3 or 4 beds together for the same purpose. You could see blood stains on the floor. The heat was still intense and I began to feel quite faint.
On the third floor the rooms had boards with pictures and details of the history of S-21 and what happened here. It was so unbelievable and made us very angry and upset.
Back on the second floor a dvd presentation started at 2pm. They had fans in there so we decided to do that as I was beginning to feel unwell. We watched the dvd which was video footage by a Vietnamese journalist upon finding the prison. It showed exactly how the Khmer Rouge had left it upon hearing the Vietnamese coming just moments before. The video showed that they found cameras which the Khmer Rouge had used to take photos of their prisoners. Fourteen prisoners tied to the beds had just been murdered and the video showed them lying on the beds, blood everywhere. I was feeling more and more unwell and was thankful when the video finished. A tour guide spoke a bit about the history and I began to feel better. It was definitely the images and rooms that were making me feel so sick.
In the second building it had the pictures the Khmer Rouge took of all their victims. Some of them were just children, it was horrific. In this building there were brick cells where they would keep the prisoners. The cells were tiny and the prisoners would be chained to the floor.
The information in this building told how Sweden had visited Cambodia multiple times and returned to tell everyone the stories from refugees were lies and that these atrocities were not happening. This went on for many, many years and no one believed these stories until long after the torturing and killing had ended. After well over two million people had lost their lives. As we left we noticed three bats sleeping on the ceiling.
As we walked to the next building, here was a metal frame which was used by the school children to exercise when the grounds were the high school. But as a prison, they would hang people upside down until they went unconscious and then submerge their heads into stinking manure water until they awoke and continued to torture them this way.
We passed a man at a table who had a sign that said “come say hello, I’m a survivor!”. He was selling books and answering questions. I can’t even imagine what this poor man went through.
The third building was surrounded by barbed wire to stop the prisoners trying to escape. In this building there were more cells but this time made of wood which had wooden doors. They felt even smaller than the first.
One cell had a sign showing that this cell was one of a survivor, the man outside. I can’t believe he was tied up in here. The horrors he must have seen. In one room there were boxes filled with victims clothes. One showed a baby girls dress hanging, covered in dirt.
At the fourth building there were more photos and information. The information told us how two of the five leaders, including Pol Pott, had already died (of their own accord). The remaining 3 are being tried for their crimes which include genocide, torture, wilful killing, wilful suffering, crimes against humanity. In the next room we found torture instruments and various boxes and tables they used. One box was used to put over victims heads and fill it with scorpions. Part of the reason the world never believed the refugees stories is because of the insane and horrible ways the Khmer Rouge were torturing and killing people. They found it unbelievable. In the final room there were skulls of the victims and descriptions on how they were killed. There was also a glass box of bones.
Some of the information we read was absolutely shocking and unbelievable. If you haven’t read about this, you should. You should also read about how these five scumbags will never get what they deserve for their crimes. The world is a cruel and unjust place.
We left the museum full of emotions. It’s something we find very hard to understand.
As we walked we were hassled by the usual tuktuk drivers. Although one made us smile as he yelled “No tuk tuk, helicopter?!”. We walked to a supermarket on the Main Street and this time went a spree for food. Scott bought a pizza pastry from the bakery and noodles, and I got a bunch of bananas. We got a bag of haribo and found American Santa chocolate reduced to 50cents. A man was cooking spaghetti arrabbiata as a promotion and we got to try some in little tubs. I really wanted to buy yoghurt for my banana but felt it was too expensive. We got some water and scott got onion ring crisps for a dollar.
We continued our long walk back, my legs were aching so much. The roads were insane as it was rush hour. We’ve never seen anything like it! Motorbikes werej just driving all over the pavements and because there are few traffic lights, they instead had three policemen directing traffic (terribly). We played frogger across the main road, I think we’re becoming cross the road pros, and made it back to the hotel. I took a much needed shower while scott ate his pizza, noodles and crisps! I ended up just eating some haribo.
At half seven we decided to go to sarpinos pizzeria for a pizza. We got a medium BBQ chicken pizza and then went to kfc for a $2.80 meal with burger, fries and a Pepsi. We made our way back to the hotel and munched away. I let scott have the majority of the burger as I’m still not and never will be a fan of kfc.
We’ve since lay chilling out in the room, my legs are agony! I can’t believe we walked all that say today. My body is probably secretly thanking me.. 😉
Just as we were trying to fall asleep, the clickity clackity noise from last night came down the street again! I jumped up and ran to the balcony to see a man walking in the distance with a drum and a stick! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I couldn’t tell if he was a monk or not as he was too far away.
Also, since learning that monks are not allowed to touch female skin, every time I see one I have an unbelievable urge to run and piggy back jump on one 😂😂. Still not mature at 25 hmm….. Time to sleep!
Around the world in 190 days 