Phnom Penh

On Thursday we hired a tuk tuk driver for the day to take us to lunch, The Killing Fields, and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Musuem.

From 1975-1979, the mass genocide of the Khmer people occurred during Pol Pot's reign of the Khmer Rouge. At least a quarter of the population (2 million people) died from execution, torture, or disease.

We walked the grounds of The Killing Fields while listening to an audio tour on headsets. It was quite chilling listening to the stories and learning about the history as we walked along the mass graves. We even saw scraps of clothing embedded in the ground. It's pretty disturbing, but I recommend you read more about about this on your own as it is something that should be known and remembered quite like The Holocaust. 

The Killing Tree where babies where thrown against and then discarded into the ground.

Stupa erected as a memorial and filled with the skulls of victims. 

After our visit to The Killing Fields we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school turned into a prison (known as Security Prison S-21) during the Khmer Rouge rule. Here an estimated of 17,000 people accused of treason were tortured and killed. The museum detailed the treatment of prisoners and included stories from the survivors (there were only seven). It was quite eerie walking through the cells and looking at the pictures/mugshots of all the prisoners. 

Despite the somber day, we had a great experience with our tuk tuk driver. It's crazy the way people drive here. Several times during our trip we had cars, motorbikes or trucks facing us in all different directions. A lot of times drivers don't obey red lights and drive right through the intersection. Surprisingly though, I never felt like we were in danger and despite the dust, it was actually a fun ride.

Our driver Sopya (I am probably mis-spelling his name) drove us to each location and waited for
us outside. When we were finished at each spot, he would pop his head up and smile and wave, and then we were on our way.

I'm still trying to capture a photo of a family of five! 

To be honest, Cambodian food isn't our favorite...And after seeing live pigs miserably stuffed on a truck and dead chickens hanging from the back of a motorbike, I think I've become a vegetarian again...

After the meal on the right I came down with some nasty food poisoning. Fortunately it only lasted from about midnight until 6am, but then I spent all of yesterday in bed recovering. Kiel got an awesome $5 haircut and reported back on more of the subpar food he had throughout the day.

Today (Saturday) we took advantage of the hotel's free breakfast. I was feeling somewhat normal but decided to go with some plain toast and banana, just to be safe. We hung out by the pool for a few hours only to later discover Kiel ended up getting a sunburn.

By lunch I felt like I had more of an appetite. By the time lunch was over, Kiel and I were both running to the bathroom. And that's Phnom Penh for ya!

Coconut water from a coconut bigger than Kiel's head.