Off to the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum this morning with a local guide whose family was directly affected by the Pol Pot regime (he lost 5 brothers). It was very emotional for him and he did a great job with the history and context of the regime's rise to power etc
Our initial view of PNohm Phen was of a dirty city lacking basic infrastructure but when you hear how the country and the people were devastated by the regime in just 3 years and only 35 years ago you then understand what a massive task it is to rebuild the country - half the population went missing either killed, died of starvation etc, went missing or left the country - the population went from 7m to 3.5m in 3.5 years and a high % of the lost 3.5m were the educated people who Pol Pot sought out because he saw them as an uprising risk
At the end of the Pol Pot regime only 15% of the population were educated
At the killing fields we saw mass graves, the beating tree they used to kill babies and walked over bones etc etc
At the Genocide Museum (which was a school before the regime and used as a prison during the regime) we visited cells, torture rooms etc and met 2 survivors from the prison who survived because their skills were useful to the regime
We have been to a few similar sites such as Auschwitz, Dachau but the intensity of this regime on its own people is unparalleled
Anyhow after a very sobering morning we went for lunch at Friends restaurant (like Koto) - fusion tapas and great food for a good cause then walk to the Central Market and then a chill out afternoon at the hotel
Happy hour drinks on a hotel rooftop with great views to watch the tropical storm over the city then dinner at another "Friends" type restaurant focussing on Cambodian food
A very informative day