Day 6: 04-July-2019
Plan is to visit Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (also called Killing fields) & Tuol Sleng Genocide museum today.
We decide to head to Killings fields first since it is outside town and takes more time for commute.
Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (also called Killing fields) Location
This area was partially a swamp and a graveyard for people of Chinese origin staying in Phnom Penh. Khmer Rouge identified this area as a killing field for their political prisoners.
Though the actual number of people killed here is not know, around 9000 bodies were recovered from this area.
People were brought in trucks in the night and killed by bludgeoning them by hammer or axe. A cost effective method in a war ravaged country where bullets were expensive.
We book an auto through Grab application. A TVS auto rickshaw is our drive there, it takes around 35 mins to reach the place.
There was a bus parked at parking lot, not sure how good their service is.
Ticket counter, do purchase entry tickets along with audio guide.
Each major area has description mentioned similarly, however audio guide is more detailed.
This place was a Chinese burial ground earlier, this was the stage which was used for ceremonies during burial.
Graves, belonging to ethnic Chinese people are visible.
The memorial structure near main gate
There is a huge stack of skulls collected from the area around here kept sorted based on age and ethnicity.
There are many unearthed bones and belongings in the mud still
Clothes and bones of victims lying around
Tree against which children were hit and killed
Location of one mass grave
There is a photo exhibition place next to the entrance
It takes us around 2 hours to see around the place. Once done, we catch another auto and head to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.