Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey takes me to the Tuol Sleng genocide centre and to the killing fields in the morning to see relics of Cambodia's dark past. We return into the city where I explore the national museum, and the palace, before getting a cyclo ride around the city and heading out onto the Mekong River on a boat to watch a magnificent sunset.
Today's Journey
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Early morning on the banks of the Mekong River in the middle of the city. Locals fish in amongst the reeds for their breakfast. |
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From the city we head out to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, set in an old school which was quickly turned into a concentration camp to interrogate, torture and kill many of Phnom Penh's citizens in the late 1970s. |
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A couple of the old classrooms is now a gallery displaying the photos of all the 20,000 prisoners imprisoned here between 1976 and 1979. Only 6 survived. |
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Heading about half an hour south by van, we reach the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, where several mass graves such as this are filled with the bones of many people killed here. |
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A monument in the middle of the killing fields houses the skulls of many of the people killed here. |
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Returning to the middle of Phnom Penh where derelict apartment blocks rise above the streets. |
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From the city centre I climb Wat Phnom (mountain pagoda) to the Buddhist temple at its summit. This temple was originally built around 1396 AD during the founding of what is now the country's capital city. It has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1926. |
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A beggar hides behind a statue near the bottom of Wat Phnom. He lost his legs when stepping on a landmine. |
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The National Museum of Cambodia viewed from its courtyard, This is the most beautiful building I have ever seen. |
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The Royal Palace built in 1866. Inside is the throne upon which the king sits, being the ruler of Cambodia and also the head of the Buddhist faith in Cambodia. |
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