After a great couple days in Siem Reap, we boarded a bus and headed down to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

I had read a bit about Cambodia's history before the trip, and so we jumped in a tuk-tuk and headed to see the Killing Fields, Choeung Ek. The killing fields is a site where the Khmer Rouge killed hundreds of citizens during their brutal reign.

For those of you that may not know much about the Khmer Rouge, let me go on a slight tangent. The Khmer are the largest ethnic group in Cambodia, and Khmer Rouge literally translates to "Red Khmer". In the 50's, a group of Cambodians (including Pol Pot) were studying in Paris, France where through various means, they became members of the Communist party. After studying in Paris, Pol Pot (and others) returned to Cambodia where he joined the fledgling Communist Party. At this point, Cambodia was still a monarchy, but in 1970 the government was overthrown in a US-backed military coup. With the Vietnam war in full-force, Cambodia was also briefly invaded/bombed by both the US and Vietnam - not very welcome by the Cambodians. Things continued to go downhill, and the Khmer Rouge quickly rose to power in the mid-70's. Backed by China, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, "Brother Number 1" (Pol Pot) began instituting his radical Communist agenda. This included:

• Establishing a class-less society ... which of course, targeted intellecutals, minority ethnic groups, etc.
• Isolating the country from foreign influence (Western medicine, religion, etc.)
• Abolishing all banking functions (including currency)
• "Evacuating" all cities, and forcing residents to the country, where they were forced to farm in hard labor camps

The results were devastating ... millions died in the labor camps due to starvation, disease and malnutrition. Furthermore, the government also tortured and executed anyone they deemed enemies of the state. This generally meant anyone they felt like, but focused on ... intellectuals, professionals, minority ethnic groups, people involved with prior governments, etc. The most well known prison, S-21 or Tuol Sleng, was a school that the Khmer Rouge turned into holding cells. They tortured thousands of people, and then dragged them a short ways to Choeng Ek, where they were killed, and dumped into mass graves. As you can see from some of my pictures, horrific war crimes were committed at Choeng Ek, including bashing babies against trees.

The Khmer Rouge was only deposed from power after Vietnam invaded in the late 70's and overthrew the government. The most revolting part of the entire thing is that the Khmer Rouge regime held their seat at the UN for the next ten years ... remaining the voice of Cambodia to the world, despite their horrific war crimes and brutal mass murdering. There has never even really been any meaningful justice or trials for members of the Khmer Rouge that I know of. Pol Pot technically died under house arrest, but from what I've read it was more of a farce that true imprisonment.

In any case, I apologize for the long tangent (I really like history). After spending two days touring Phnom Penh, we headed down to the lakefront for our last night to enjoy some drinks and watch the sunset. We ended up meeting some British backpackers, and spent our last hours drinking beer over the water and swapping travel stories.