Phnom Penh - S-21 and the Killing Fields

We took a tour to S-21, a school which was converted into a prison for Pol Pot's government. He had educated people sent there (doctors, lawyers, teachers etc) along with foreigners (all of whom deemed CIA agents), his own soldiers and anyone who disagreed with his ideas.



Of the thousands sent to S-21, seven survived. All of the others were tortured to give details of any other educated people they knew. They were then killed. The seven were in prison when the government fell, and stayed alive by hiding until the guards and army had fled.



We then went to the killing fields, where the mass graves for the prisoners were. The paths had bones and clothes from the executed ground into them, and thousands of skulls were in a huge glass memorial.



The afternoon was spent in the National Museum, home to many sculptures from Angkor Wat, at the Royal Palace which hosts dozens of huge ornate buildings, temples and residences for the Royal Family and associated paraphernalia, and finally Wat Phnom, a temple on top of a grassy hill in the middle of the city. Watching the monkeys there be fed and play on the trees helped take the edge of the morning's sightseing.



In the evening, we went out for drinks, and a bit of wandering found me and three of the girls enjoying a Cambodian jazz cover band, which was excellent. At four shiny dollars a cocktail it wasn't the cheapest place in Phnom Penh, and I didn't care about that for a second.