October 30th.
We started the day at Tuol Sleng Museum.  In 1975 the Tuol Savy Prey high school was taken by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). This soon became the largest detention and torture in the country.  brick walls subdivided school rooms into small cells, a cloth door covering the entrance. the Khmer Rouge, comprised of young teenagers brainwashed for the cause, photographed each prisoner, before and sometimes after they were tortured and dead, some of these pictures hang in the museum; signs remind visitors crying is not permitted as is writing on the pictures. Intellects were taken to larger cells, a metal bed, a ammunition box for a toilet which was emptied 2x a week, shackled.  they were fed soupy rice which may have as much as two grains of rice; although the store room contained ample supply. when the Vietnamese Army liberated Phnom Penh in 1979, the last prison guard was provided  14 bullets to kill the remaining 21 prisoners, only 7 survived of which two were on site the day we visited.  Our group was noticeably quite, wanting to ask questions but not wanting to hear the answer.  normally I an emotional wreck visiting sites such as this but today just somber;  Megan put it out to the universe for the group to be touched emotionally but not cry, this was so greatly appreciated. It's beyond comprehension how man can have such disregard for life and how a sick mind can come to power.  the Khmer Rouge platform was to set the clock at year zero and  transform Cambodia into a peasant dominated agrarian cooperative selling rice to the outside world for profit.   currency was abolished, postal service halted, the country cut off from the world.  Educated people were suspect, tortured and executed. People were forced to work in rice fields 12 to 14 hours per day and expected to produce unreasonable quantities from the land. It is estimated upwards of 3 million died from starvation, torture and execution.
Next we visited Choeung Ek, what the western world coined "The Killing Fields".  15kms outside of Phnom Pehn, prisoners from S-21 were trucked here in the early evening, still in shackles and blind folded, again processed before taken to a mass grave.  as this was surrounded by working rice fields, a loud speaker was used  to drown out noise of the killings as the soldiers beat their victims to death,  bullets were spared, chemicals poured on the bodies to kill those still alive and to accelerate the decomposition of the bodies. children had their heads smashed as the soldiers swung their little bodies against the Children's tree, sometimes the parents watched in horror before they met their fate. women, men and children were always kept separate. today, visitors can walk the grounds and see the mass shallow graves which mostly been excavated; it's not uncommon to see bone & clothing fragments, teeth and bullet casings. Its a peaceful site, a monument with skulls stands near the entrance as a reminder of the atrocity and for local and foreigners to pay their respects. the grounds are nicely kept with a little museum on site.
the afternoon ended on a lighter note.  Megan, Michael, Laurie and I visited the Museum which housed Angkorian statues, lingas and other artifacts.  we lunched at "Friends", a restaurant that helps kids get off the street.  the food was really good, not traditional cambodian- I had a melon and passion fruit slushy made with pure, clean water, Megan and I shared eggplant dip with baguette, roasted eggplant, pepper, onion veggies and fresh spring roles made with roasted veggies, topped with a latte then off to the Royal Palace while the boys not wanting to change to long pants went their separate way.