Matt and I were very moved by our time in Phnom Penh.  We visited Tuol Sleng, a genocide museum and the location where victims of the Pol Pot genocide were held, tortured or killed.  Their photos are on display (taken just before they were murdered - looking at them was HEART-WRENCHING).  Over 10,000 ordinary, innocent people were killed by this "secret" S-21 prison/extermination system, headquartered at this location.  We also walked through the Killing Fields, "Choeung Ek Gennocidal Center and Memorial".  They have not yet unearthed all of the dead here, yet there is a mountains of skulls in the memorial tower, and pieces of clothing can be seen in the churned up soil where they uncovered so many mass graves.  I will not bring you down with more details... but if you are interested I can recommend many books to read... or people to meet in this incredibly injured country.

Steph says, "I support the KR trials, and I condemn the UN for not doing more to help the Cambodian people, who's lives and families have been mercilessly torn apart."

We are all well-aware of the horrors of Hitler and the holocaust. But why is it that we were not taught or well-informed of the atrocities Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge caused the Cambodian people? Not only in 1975 through 1979, when 1/3 of the Cambodian population was killed (estimates range from 1 to 3 million victims). In 1997. Yes, 1997, the Khmer Rouge took to the lake in Phnom Penh and opened fire on every civilian they saw. How many were killed? I don't know. Our friend Borith was on the lake when it happenned, but LUCKILY drinking in a nightclub. When he came outside with his friends tanks lined the streets, many roads were blocked by the government's army. He had to take a long detour home, and his wife was so thankful when he arrived... you can imagine what she was fearing when the explosions began.  After all they have already been through!

Borith's life story is daunting. It hurts to think about it. He is a kind and gentle man. Relaxed, funny, well-read, and incredibly appreciative. He was 13 years old when Pol Pot's regime began their tortuous rein. His family was living in a village in the north of Cambodia, his father was a high school teacher. He remembers the days when his parents would wake up early, to work the rice fields in the morning, before American and Vietnamese troops would begin fighting around them. One morning, as Borith's parents tended to their fields, B-52 bomber mistook them for Khmer soldiers...  the family ran from the gunfire - from their farm yard to the main road.  Only because the Americans knew the Khmer would run for cover, NOT for the main road, they retreated.  And Borith's family's lives were saved. 

Later on in this harsh time, after Pol Pot's regime had forced Cambodia's rural population into work-camps, Borith was walking home from working the fields. He was so very hungry (maybe they got one or two spoonfuls of watery rice each day). As he passed a farm, he picked a watermelon to ease his hunger pangs. Not much further down the road, some Khmer guards told him they saw him steal and he was taken to prison. He spent three months there, his feet shackled to a bar with 10 other male prisoners. One day the ten other men were taken away to be killed. He waited his turn to die. But a prison “boss” liked him, believed him when he said he only stole the watermelon because he was so hungry, and so he set him free. Borith walked back to his village. It took 2 months to walk. When he arrived he discovered his entire family had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. He was lucky to be brought to an orphanage, where he was given food and shelter and education. He later joined the army, and battled the Khmer Rouge. He recalls stories of hiding in trenches, shooting AK-47s and seeing many of his friends die. His eyes were permanently damaged by the gun powder.  This is just part of one man's story...

As I post this information for you now, I am sitting with Matt at a French bistro/Khmer restaurant with free wi-fi on "Pub Street" in Siem Reap.  It is just amazing how tourist-friendly this country is... compared to what we were prepared for.  Kind and welcoming people... most deserving of our tourism... and we benefit from all that can be discovered here!  More to come...