To stand in an area no larger than a football field and be told that at this site over 20,000 people were brutally executed and dumped into 129 mass graves, stacked in layers, simply defies the imagination. But the shards of bone, crushed skulls and teeth that, to this day, continue to rise to the surface at your feet, scream otherwise. You then grapple with the one question that impresses on the minds of all that visit this place – why? And as you desperately try to find the answer in the walls of photos representing just a fraction of those that perished here, you come to realise there is no possible answer. For how can you ever rationalise telling a 7 year old peasant girl, already tortured half out her mind, to kneel at the edge of a mass grave and have her executed with a pick axe. How is it conceivable to view this, or any other such child, as a potential ‘enemy of the state’?
And the knowledge that this was not an isolated incident, but one that repeated itself many times over during the near four year rule of the Khmer Rouge regime, wrenches the heart. And when you discover that this heinous crime extended across all 243 Killing Fields located throughout Cambodia, which collectively hold the remains of over 2 million innocent people, bludgeoned to death for lack of bullets, you struggle hard to keep hold of your senses. To attempt any rational explanation requires starring into the darkest recesses of the soul, where lurks in all of us a seemingly insatiable appetite for committing egregious acts of inhumanity towards others. Few dare to take that journey, and thankfully fewer still act on what they discover.
Still grappling with our feelings after leaving Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, very few words were exchanged on route back to the Hotel. After packing our belongings we then headed for Security Prison 21, S-21, the high school that on the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge was converted into THE most frightening place on Earth, a place where unspeakable torture was inflicted on all those that passed through its gates, and from which only 17 from the 17000+ detainees emerged to tell the world of the horrors commited here. Still reeling from the morning visit to Choeung Ek, this place served only to add to the revulsion for Pol Pot and his henchmen.
Our sombre mood was slowly soothed by visits to the exquisite Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, which dominates the riverfront where the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers meet. It is a remarkable structure, whose classic Khmer roofs and ornate gilding give it a striking resemblance to its counterpart in Bangkok, Thailand. Hidden behind protective walls and beneath shadows of ceremonial buildings, it’s an oasis of calm. The Silver Pagoda is so named because it is constructed with 5000 silver tiles, weighing 1 kg each.
We then headed for the airport for the short 45 minute internal flight to Siem Reap up the Tonle Sap river and across the Tonle Sap lake. This unique lake expands to 5 times its size and 70 times its volume each year, acting as the world’s largest natural flood barrier. On arrival in Siem Reep, we were meet by our guide, and found ourselves escorted once more into luxury at the Raffles Grand Hotel of Angkor by 17:30hrs. After a brief swim in the Olympic-sized pool we all convened in the Elephant Bar at 19:00hrs, where we met Andy and Kathy Vigor, and of course Sue; all having arrived from Perth earlier in the day. It soon became evident that they had not lost any time in gaining intimate familiarity with Singapore Slings and Gin Fizz.
.
And the knowledge that this was not an isolated incident, but one that repeated itself many times over during the near four year rule of the Khmer Rouge regime, wrenches the heart. And when you discover that this heinous crime extended across all 243 Killing Fields located throughout Cambodia, which collectively hold the remains of over 2 million innocent people, bludgeoned to death for lack of bullets, you struggle hard to keep hold of your senses. To attempt any rational explanation requires starring into the darkest recesses of the soul, where lurks in all of us a seemingly insatiable appetite for committing egregious acts of inhumanity towards others. Few dare to take that journey, and thankfully fewer still act on what they discover.
Still grappling with our feelings after leaving Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, very few words were exchanged on route back to the Hotel. After packing our belongings we then headed for Security Prison 21, S-21, the high school that on the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge was converted into THE most frightening place on Earth, a place where unspeakable torture was inflicted on all those that passed through its gates, and from which only 17 from the 17000+ detainees emerged to tell the world of the horrors commited here. Still reeling from the morning visit to Choeung Ek, this place served only to add to the revulsion for Pol Pot and his henchmen.
Our sombre mood was slowly soothed by visits to the exquisite Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, which dominates the riverfront where the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers meet. It is a remarkable structure, whose classic Khmer roofs and ornate gilding give it a striking resemblance to its counterpart in Bangkok, Thailand. Hidden behind protective walls and beneath shadows of ceremonial buildings, it’s an oasis of calm. The Silver Pagoda is so named because it is constructed with 5000 silver tiles, weighing 1 kg each.We then headed for the airport for the short 45 minute internal flight to Siem Reap up the Tonle Sap river and across the Tonle Sap lake. This unique lake expands to 5 times its size and 70 times its volume each year, acting as the world’s largest natural flood barrier. On arrival in Siem Reep, we were meet by our guide, and found ourselves escorted once more into luxury at the Raffles Grand Hotel of Angkor by 17:30hrs. After a brief swim in the Olympic-sized pool we all convened in the Elephant Bar at 19:00hrs, where we met Andy and Kathy Vigor, and of course Sue; all having arrived from Perth earlier in the day. It soon became evident that they had not lost any time in gaining intimate familiarity with Singapore Slings and Gin Fizz.
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At 20:00hrs we finally departed for our evening meal at the Cafe IndoChine, a ‘Last Supper’ before Simon’s 50th Birthday. Banter was once again light hearted, with Simon rightly being the focus of conversation.
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