My week in Cambodia went by quickly but i felt like I got a real feel for the place and learned a lot about the people and the history in that short period of time. Just the Killing Field and Tuong Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh alone would have made the trip worthwhile.

Tuong Sleng was a former school converted into a prison, called S21, by the Khmer Rouge where they interrogated, tortured and electricuted thousands of Cambodians during their regime from 1975 - 1978. The killing field 15km away was where they took the prisoners to kill and bury in mass graves. The prison is now a museum, unlike other museums, this one hasn't be renovated, there aren't a lot of writing and descriptions of anything, just pictures, paintings, torture equipment that were left behind. It was an eery place especially since there weren't a lot of visitors. I can't begin to describe the pictures and things i saw but I now truely understand the meaning of the saying 'a picture says a thousand words'.

I can't help but wonder how people are able to lead normal lives after such a traumatic event. Almost everyone you talk to would have lost a family member and/or suffered through the miliant rule. I encourage you to read more about the history of these events on the Landmine Museum website. I went to the this museum. It's really this guy's home. He has spent most of life as a soldier, starting at the age of 5 when the Khmer Rouge trained him to fire guns and place landmines after they killed his parents. He now devotes his life to demining his country. He does this alone and has demined over 10,000 (or probably more, i can't remember) landmines. And he took in a few children who were maimed by landmines in the country side.

It was truely an eye-opener and I kept thinking to myself how lucky we are.