Y U DO THIS TO ME, Phnom Penh?

After our Siem Reap sojourn, the next stop is in Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh. As it is my first time to be there, I did my homework and tried to read on the places to visit there. Honestly speaking, there is nothing much to see if you aren't a temple aficionado or a history buff. Since I'm a nerdy traveler and was told that what you learned about Ancient Cambodia would somehow coincide with the main attractions in Phnom Penh, I gave it a go.

Arrived at Phnom Penh at 3 PM, after an 8-hour bus ride from Siem Reap. The plan was to stay overnight only so roaming around the city center is the most sensible thing to do. Took a one hour break because my fat arse seemed to have developed its own pulse rate during the course of the travel. Lol. Here are some of the things that you can see during a walking tour in the city center.

Royal Palace facade

The Royal Palace was already closed when I decided to come out. Hrhr.

Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Memorial

But what struck me most about this place is the dark past of Cambodia. We all knew of the Khmer Rouge in our Asian History class in high school but I only got to understand it more fully when I visited Phnom Penh. When I first stepped into the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, the atmosphere was highly charged with sadness. The museum is the actual place wherein a lot of Cambodians were imprisoned and tortured by the Khmer Rouge. I got to read survivor accounts of the atrocities that happened there, I can't help but feel sad for the victims and mad at the Khmer Rouge for subjecting the people to these inhumane acts.

Child survivors

Looks like an ordinary edifice but this is
actually a torture device

Tuol Sleng or Station 21 (S21) used to be a school before
being turned into a prison camp

There were only twelve people who were known to have gotten out of S21 alive. I met one of the survivors, Mr. Chum Mey and he communicated with us by pointing at pictures. It was so sad that his entire family died through this. It was heart wrenching. First time kong natahimik. I wanted to cry right there and then.

What could be more depressing than visiting the Killing Fields or the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center? I opted to read the exhibits as I went along. There were also eyewitness accounts of the execution that I have read and it was so disturbing. Pol Pot, Y U SO BAD?

This stupa was built in 1988 as a memorial for all the victims.
It houses some of the victims' remains.

The Killing Tree

So what would be the take home message from this? No one deserves to die like this and that we should enjoy the current situation that we are in. As Mr Chum Mey has said, "I come every day to tell the world the truth about the Tuol Sleng prison...so that none of these crimes are ever repeated anywhere in the world"

Damn, Phnom Penh has these ninjas shooting arrows straight through the feels.