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June 12, 2006
Kratie -> Pnom Penh -> The Killing Fields
Leaving Kompong Cham, our next destination was Kratie. The main attraction here is to see the critically endangered Mekong Irrawady Dolphins, currently only about 100 left in the world. This time our boat pulled over next to one of the many island in the Mekong River and all except 2 people brave the dirty water of the Mekong and spent a few hours swimming in the river.
We stayed in Kratie for 1 day before leaving for Pnom Penh. Pnom Penh reminds me a lot to Surabaya, but a lot less developed. There is not a single high rise building here, although the night live along the Mekong is vibrant and there are loads of tourists to be found.
This morning we visited Cheung Ak Genocide Memorial (the Killing Fields) where the exhumed over 8000 bodies so far. This experience was so powerful and just by being there I could not hold my tears. There's not much in Cheung Ak, just a bunch of holes where the mass graves are and in the middle they erected a stupa to hold all the bones of the victims, but by God that was such an experience. It is estimated that 3.5 - 4 million Cambodian died during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Our Intrepid tour guide father was killed by the Khmer Rouge (he was a teacher) and our guide in Cheung Ak was one of the first people who came to Cheung Ak to exhumed the bodies. He is only 49, considered very old by Cambodian standard. Most of the adult has been wiped out by the Khmer Rouge.
Next stop was the S21 Prison which has been convereted into a museum in Pnom Penh, again just like Cheung Ak this was a very moving experience. You'll see rows and rows of photographs of the prisoners in S21. Here they were tortured to extract confessions and then sent to the Killing Fields to be executed. From the estimated 20,000 people who were intered in S21 prison only 7 survied. We saw the photo of the 7 survivor, one which would be the very first curator of this museum.
I have to be quick here as our transport to Ta Keo is arriving, but once again I have to say if you come to Pnom Penh do not miss both the Killing Fields and S21 prison. They are an absolute must.
Posted by vhadiant at June 12, 2006 12:01 PM
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