Sundays.

Today we went to visit the killing fields from the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970’s. I had just finished reading a book written by one of the surviving victims called “First they killed my father” so it was as good of time as any to plunge head first into the harsh realities of this countries past.

I definitely believe these grievances in history should not be ignored but I am normally a little more inclined not to be apart of them, learn about it, sure, but surround yourself in the negative aura not so much. I am also mindful of tourism exploitation so I had to have a long hard think before jumping on board.

For those of you who know nothing of the war I definitely recommend reading the book or stopping by one of the work camps or killing fields if you are in Cambodia. After all knowledge is power and giving a little money to such a cause isn’t really a bad thing.

It was a war of its own people. Rebels lead by Pol Pot took over their country by forcing everyone out of the main cities and into farmland to work as slaves. Families were split up, children were sent to youth soldier training camps, women and young girls were raped to death and hundreds starved to death. Anybody with an education, wealth, politics even people who wore glasses, among other things, were considered immediate traitors to the cause and were therefore executed immediately. The Khmer rouge didn’t believe in technology or any western contribution to society and so this too was banned. The war continued for three years before the people of Cambodia were able to fight back with the invasion from the Youns. In that time three million people had been murdered leaving the rest of the country homeless.

The fields we visited were one of the hundreds across Cambodia and after we visited one of the many prisons were “traitors” (people who did not abide by Pol Pots regime) were tortured to death. The walls of the prison were covered with photographs of the dead, some mug shots, some actually detailed and gruesome pictures of the victim chained to the beds that were now lying in front of us, bodies starved and mangled. Blood dying the floors red.

Apologies for the boring photos, you get an audio headset as you walk around that keeps it a little more interesting, but you get the idea…

On our ride out to the fields.

here you can just see some of the bones coming through along the path. Remains are often been uncovered especially around the wet season. It is believed that the spirits of the victims will not rest here.

The girls leaving their bracelets on a grave

This tree has been covered in bracelets in tribute to the women and children in the grave behind. Babies were thrown against this tree and biffed into the grave.