We spent the morning going to the Choeung Ek Execution Area, and the Tuol Sleng Museum. At the Execution Area we were allowed to walk around the pits which were once mass graves. And from time to time we would bump into some human teeth and scraps of clothing. Our tour guide lived through the Khmer rouge period in the 70s. And he had his own personal stories to share. 3 million out of 7 million of the country were killed in the war. There was a display of the skulls dug up from the mass grave during an excavation in the 80’s. And almost every skull had a hole in the back, the deadly wound caused by the strike of a hammer, sending the victims down the pit during their execution. The Tuol Sleng Museum was actually a prison/torture center. Much of the artifacts (minus the blood) remained intact. The museum was filled with photographs of tortured victims and illustrations by eye witnesses. We were surprised to see the level of ingenuity that human beings had put into torturing their own kind.
The depressing morning ended early, and we set out for lunch. It was Chinese food again. And others in the group started to complain. But it looked like the tour company already made deals with these restaurants and its unlikely they could change the restaurants.
We left Phnom Penh and headed out to Siem Reap. It would be a 5 hour ride. We slept through it most of the time, but some of the sceneries along the road, the tall palm trees above boundless grass green fields was simply picture-perfect. We stopped by a market which sold deep fried spiders , worms and rats. And we were approached by locals asking us to buy from them. There kids who spoke Vietnamese, English, Chinese and French. It is a testimony of the cultural influence that this country has experienced in its recent history.
We left Phnom Penh and headed out to Siem Reap. It would be a 5 hour ride. We slept through it most of the time, but some of the sceneries along the road, the tall palm trees above boundless grass green fields was simply picture-perfect. We stopped by a market which sold deep fried spiders , worms and rats. And we were approached by locals asking us to buy from them. There kids who spoke Vietnamese, English, Chinese and French. It is a testimony of the cultural influence that this country has experienced in its recent history.
We finally worked out a work-around for our mistake with the flight booking. It was nothing more than an extra $45 USD for one more night at Siem Reap Hotel. We were glad it worked out this way because we were interested to see the old Market (Phsa Chas), which was not part of the tour.
It was 8pm at Siem Reap when we arrived at our hotel. We were to set out at 6am the next morning to the Angkor area. It will be another long day tomorrow.
It was 8pm at Siem Reap when we arrived at our hotel. We were to set out at 6am the next morning to the Angkor area. It will be another long day tomorrow.
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