Cambodia - Thailand

October 14, 2010

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Hello Friends and Family,

After a few overnight buses, ferries, border crossings, etc., Adam and I have made our way to the small island of Koh Tao, Thailand.  Koh Tao, known as Turtle Island, is located on the east coast of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand.  We are not sure ho long we are planning to stay since this part of Thailand is still experiencing the rainy season (sunny or overcast for half the day, rainy the other half) yet thinking the west coast (Andaman Coast) may be calling our name.

Our travels.....

During the last few days in Phnom Penh, we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (or the Killing Fields).  Both places reflect the unique and horrific 3-4 year rule of the Khmer Rouge (or Democratic Kampuchea).  During their rule (1975-1979), the regime implemented one of the most radical and brutal restructurings of society to try transform Cambodia. 

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a former high school that was transformed into a detention center and place of persecution. Also referred to as S-21, it was predicted that over 10,000 Cambodians passed through facility and were brutally tortured by the Khmer Rouge.  The goal was to obliterate the former Khmer culture which consisted of differing beliefs, political interests and/or backgrounds.

After Tuol Sleng, we visited the Choeung Ek, also known as the Killing Fields. This facility detained over 17,000 Cambodians, some brought from Tuol Sleng (S-21) to be executed in the most horrific ways, bludgeoned and beaten (bullets were precious and not to be wasted on prisoners).  The Killing Fields is now an orchard with a memorial stupa (or Temple) in the middle that is dedicated to those killed; it displays more than 8,000 skulls of victims along with their ragged clothes.

After visitng both places, we felt drained and extreme sadness for what Cambodians had to endure during this time period; it's hard to believe that something so horrific happened only a little more than 30 years ago.  Furthermore, both places provide a memorial and reminders to the atrocities committed, and play a role in hopefully preventing something like this from ever happening anywhere in the world again.

After Phnom Penh, we headed south to some beaches in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.  We enjoyed a few days of the beach and then sadly said to goodbye to our fellow travelers (Lucia and Eddie) as they headed to some small bungalows on Bamboo Island and we headed to Siem Reap to enjoy Angkor Wat, a series temples surrounded by a moat, and the largest religious structure in the world.

More to come on Angkor Wat.....

Love and miss you all,

Cathy and Adam