Wednesday 4 January 2012

Tuk tuks and the Killing Fields

Tuk-Tuk
Lisa arranged for three of the very best tuk tuk drivers to take 10 of us on a wild ride through throbbing city streets with agenda to learn more about the Khmer rouge destruction of Cambodian society starting in April 1975. It is hard to describe the feeling of riding in this open air wagon pulled by a scooter...you experience the smells, both good and bad, the traffic chaos and the dust and pollution. You can reach out to touch the next scooter or big truck. You see families on one scooter. You see a scooter carrying many live chickens headed to their end at the market. Very real experience of life in this city. Our first stop was the Genocide museum named Tuol Sleng or S.21 (security office 21) - in reality a prison where many of the country's educated and city dwellers along with their whole family were detained and tortured from 1975-1979.. We had a very knowledgeable young tour guide who told us he would explain the facts of what happened but could not express any of his own opinions, especially about politics. These people were mainly all eventually taken to Choeungek Killing fields about one half hour away to be "destroyed". We met one of the very few survivors during this tour. He described how violent and extreme the treatment was. It was a very moving experience. Next, back on the waiting tuk tuks for the drive to one of over 340 killing field locations in Cambodia. We were given an audio guide to lead us through the site. It was an excellent description of what happened here...which was the execution of men, women and children-20000 in all...horrifying. As you walk in you encounter the memorial stupa, a huge monument that is filled with shelves of skulls and bones. You must remove your shoes and you can smell incense It appears that one evil man pol pot and his evil policies was able to destroy the cities and pull apart families and ended up killing one quarter of the countries citizens - 2 million people - in a few years. Now, this country of gentle people are trying to rebuild...against the odds. I am happy to be here with my rotary friends to help in our small way. (Posted by Linda)
Inside the Stupa at the killing fields

3 comments:

  1. Wow, it really makes what you are doing so much more important when you see the reality of it through the eyes of the people. I look forward to your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for keeping us informed, Dave and Linda. The reality of hearing the experiences of survivors and seeing the impact of what happened must bring a whole new perspective to the news reports we have seen and read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't imagine the impact this experience must have had on you. Thank you for sharing. Neil

    ReplyDelete