Through the haze and mental distortion that 20 or so drinks can make, the journey out onto the streets of Phnom Penh was one that I wanted to enjoy more than I did at that point. It was too bright, I was feeling extremely pasty and none too inspired but that was by my own doing, who was I to complain ?
Tuk Tuk access is pretty damn easy anywhere in Vietnam and Cambodia, take 10 steps and inevitably you'll have someone asking whether you need a tuk tuk, a joint, 'boom boom', a 'gun' (literally) and really, anything else you can imagine. My request was fairly simple, 'to the killing fields my fine fellow' - well, it wasn't all that chirpy, more of a solemn request. As a side point, one thing you'll notice in Cambodia, right off the bat is that there aren't too many 'older' people around. I'm talking people older than 40-50, and with that, when I say 'not too many', I really mean that you don't notice them at all. I've read a few books where the demographic specifics have quotes that somewhere near 50% of the Cambodian population is under 15yrs of age ! Along with that, estimates places the number of people that died during Pol Pot's torturous reign at anywhere between 1.5-2 million (bloody hell !)
Tuk Tuk access is pretty damn easy anywhere in Vietnam and Cambodia, take 10 steps and inevitably you'll have someone asking whether you need a tuk tuk, a joint, 'boom boom', a 'gun' (literally) and really, anything else you can imagine. My request was fairly simple, 'to the killing fields my fine fellow' - well, it wasn't all that chirpy, more of a solemn request. As a side point, one thing you'll notice in Cambodia, right off the bat is that there aren't too many 'older' people around. I'm talking people older than 40-50, and with that, when I say 'not too many', I really mean that you don't notice them at all. I've read a few books where the demographic specifics have quotes that somewhere near 50% of the Cambodian population is under 15yrs of age ! Along with that, estimates places the number of people that died during Pol Pot's torturous reign at anywhere between 1.5-2 million (bloody hell !)
The high school that became the notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Some of the poor victims of the Khmer Rouge, taken during their four year reign of terror (1975-79).
Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
So, armed with these facts I travelled the 15kms out of Phnom Penh, and tried to imagine what it may have been like for the 20,000 people that travelled the same route from Tuol Seng prison to their final, albeit extremely unforunate, resting place. Of course, the concept of feeling or really imagining the scenario is pointless. I can only put it down in words in order to paint some type of picture of the horror that these people experienced. So, more often than not, early in the morning, prisoners were taken from their holding cells, blindfolded, perhaps chained and placed into the back of a truck for the journey. Many had already been tortured extensively, some for days. At the end of that road however, each and everyone met their death. Mostly clubbed to death, the occasional person shot and all the while on the loudspeakers, music blaring so as to cover the noise made by those in their final moments of anguish. To imagine something so horrific is beyond my comprehension and I guess in some strange way, that's the aspect that fascinates me. Due to the fact that it doesn't make sense, that I can't understand what type of collective hysteria triggers people to act in such a dark and sinister way, is the reason why I need to find out more and is the reason why, this place has always been something I had wanted to see and experience.
The morbid 'Security regulations' of Tuol Sleng
Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
There's a tower memorial that stands in the middle of the Killing Fields, filled with the skulls of the poor unfortunate souls that were taken maliciously and annoymously in this corner of the world. It stands starkly against the quite unextraordinary landscape of the area. Some people may think that it's quite heinous and disrespectful to display the skulls of the deceased in such a manner but I thought the memorial to be quite appropriate. Standing almost defiantly as a sign to all those that see it of what must never ever happen again not just in this place but anywhere else on the globe. It's almost as if the people that died here have voices and they're screaming their message in the only way that they'e able.
Tower memorial - Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
It's tough to comprehend the abhorrant recklessnes and the total disregard that the Khmer Rouge had for the pain and suffering they inflicted. It also makes you wonder as to how random it was that these people, being born in this country and out of this extrordinary circumstances should meet their final fate in this fashion, in this hell of a place. As I said, completely random and completely fucked!
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Looking around this area it's hard to put your headspace into a zone of imagination that could give you an understanding of what may have been, or what may have happened in this space. Maybe that's a good thing. It's not a large area, maybe 100 metres wide, and these days people of all nations pass through it transiently, stopping, taking photos and wondering, just like I was doing on this day. I don't know, part of me expected to feel something specific or perhaps peculiar when I was here but that wasn't the case. I didn't feel anything and to tell you the truth, a very large part of me feels sorry for that.
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