Disturbing Tour

During the past day and a half we have visited some areas of Phnom Penh that no one should have to see....places where a nation's leader destroyed and murdered his own countrymen.

Yesterday we went to see the Genocide Museum and I came away shocked. This high school was turned into a torture site to which the people of Cambodia were taken for various reasons. Reasons such as wearing glasses, speaking a second language or even having an education....all were cause to be imprisoned.

Of the thousands taken and tortured, only a few survived. Some say that number is seven while others say a little higher. Regardless, if you were taken to the prison you couldn't expect to get out.

Today we went to the Killing Fields to see where the tortured victims were sent. The Killing Fields were used for one thing only and that was for execution. 

Pol Pot would not let his guards waste bullets in the executions so the deaths were brutal and barbaric. It is a disturbing place to visit because as you are walking through the complex you see bones and clothes of the victims that have been exposed by rains. The government has left some of the mass graves alone and this will never change, according to our guide.

We must keep in mind that the Killing Field is only one of many execution sites across Cambodia.

I find it hard to believe that this brutal genocide occurred between 1975 to 1979....not so very long ago. The estimate is that 1.7 million died from torturous treatment and execution and 1.3 million people died from starvation.

It is no wonder that only 4% of Cambodia's population is over the age of 65. It is now a very young country with the median age of 21 years.