After short stopover in Bangkok I hit the road again. Coming to Cambodia I expected little difference to Thailand but Cambodia proved so much more welcoming. Even though it is still poor it is developing fast and counting on tourism to be one of its main industries.
And Phnom Penh felt so much more relaxing, intense but peaceful. But visiting the city it is hard to escape its tragic past. It was at the centre of one of the biggest man planned and executed torture and mass killings in human history. During four years 1975-79 of the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot's dictatorship almost 2 millions of Cambodians (1/4th of the country's population) died as a result of organized genocide or starvation.
Driven by outrageous ideas of agrarian communism, the city of 2 millions inhabitants in just a year became a mere village of 32 thousands. An operation of this size hinged on ruthlessness of the regime's security apparatus and Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) had the worst reputation. Now as museum the prison is sober, silent and grey but still causes chills to go down your spine. Shockingly despite all that mounting evidence it took almost 30 years to get only few of the perpetrators to answer for their crimes. Pol Pot, French educated math teacher, died untroubled in house arrest in 1997. And many of his victims still remain unidentified...
And Phnom Penh felt so much more relaxing, intense but peaceful. But visiting the city it is hard to escape its tragic past. It was at the centre of one of the biggest man planned and executed torture and mass killings in human history. During four years 1975-79 of the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot's dictatorship almost 2 millions of Cambodians (1/4th of the country's population) died as a result of organized genocide or starvation.
Driven by outrageous ideas of agrarian communism, the city of 2 millions inhabitants in just a year became a mere village of 32 thousands. An operation of this size hinged on ruthlessness of the regime's security apparatus and Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) had the worst reputation. Now as museum the prison is sober, silent and grey but still causes chills to go down your spine. Shockingly despite all that mounting evidence it took almost 30 years to get only few of the perpetrators to answer for their crimes. Pol Pot, French educated math teacher, died untroubled in house arrest in 1997. And many of his victims still remain unidentified...
Cambodia siedzi we mnie i czesto wspominam.
ReplyDeleteCiekawa jestem Twoich opinii nt. ludzi - w calej Azji glosno, klotnie, krzyki, a tu .... cisza, bez podniesionych glosow .... historia robi swoje zapewne. .... Przygoda powinna byc trasa ladowa z Kambodzy do Tajlandii ... bo przelocik za 50USD to z pewnoscia utrata niezapomnianych wrazen ....... Osobiscie czekam na post z Angkor ;-) Asia