Sadly, almost the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they hear “Cambodia” is tragedy. Things are looking up for this country that still has its problems, yet failing to explore the events that have put Cambodia where it is today would leave the visitor without a complete picture.

Tourist to the Macabre

Genocide is the manifestation of the darkest side of humanity, and its horrific legacy has been unearthed and preserved in Cambodia for all to see. Visiting these sites on a tourist schedule creates complex emotions that magnify the impact of the history itself. I never got used to moto and tuk-tuk drivers coming up and saying, “You wanna go to killing fields?” with an expectant smile on their faces, knowing that’s where all the tourists will inevitably go and hoping for business. It’s even more jarring when they include it in a laundry list of popular places: “You wanna go to Russian Market, lakeside, killing fields, national museum, S21…”

More Terrifying Than Fiction - S21

The first stop on the Khmer Rouge history of genocide tour is the prison known as S21. It is here that the alleged enemies of the revolution were sent for imprisonment and torture. The prison has been preserved almost exactly as it was found by Vietnamese liberators when they reached the city. Several of the torture rooms were left just as they were found, a single black and white picture of the grotesque handiwork left behind to complete the chilling picture.

The most startling aspect of S21 is the sense of normalcy you get when walking around the place. It was a converted school, right in the middle of the city. Val and I were struck by how similar the layout was to the Japanese schools we taught English in for two years. The similarity rammed home the twisted conversion of classrooms into torture chambers.

The most emotional part of the trip is walking through the picture galleries of those imprisoned there. Virtually everyone pictured was later executed. The faces present a cross-section of humanity: old and young, male and female. The expressions on the faces of the condemned speak volumes about the turmoil and uncertainty of life during the Khmer Rouge. Some are sad, others visibly terrified. Some are defiant, resigned, broken, proud, shocked. A few of the younger boys are even smiling, possibly an automatic response to having their picture taken. Knowing that for many pictured their crime was simply having an education, or even wearing glasses, or not caring about the revolution enough, reinforces the madness of it all.

Life goes on in Phnom Penh, and the former school turned hell on earth is quiet and still. This is the sound of the courtyard, a place for contemplation after witnessing the legacy of such a horrible place. Notice the everyday sounds of a bustling neighborhood in the city, sounds that surely continued even as the prisoners languished within.

The Killing Fields

After being tortured and condemned to death at S21, prisoners were sent 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh to the infamous killing fields. It is here that they were executed, often by being bludgeoned to death, and then thrown unceremoniously into mass graves. Almost 9,000 people were executed and buried here, including men, women and children.

There is a pagoda in the center of the area that houses the skulls of the victims. The platforms holding the skulls lift to the sky in seventeen levels. The fields are peaceful and quiet now, still despite the events that transpired here thirty years ago.