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| Killing Field |
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| Genocide Museum |
Cambodian
suffering under the Khmer Rouge Regime An attempt by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot
to form a communist peasant farming society resulted in the death of 25% of
Cambodia's population from starvation, overwork and executions. Pol Pot was
born in 1925 as So Lot Sar into a farming family in central Cambodia. In 1949
at age 24 he became interested in Marxism, and by 1953 he joined the
underground communist movement in Cambodia. By 1962 Pol Pot had become the
leader of the Cambodian Communist Party and was forced to flee into the jungle
to escape Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the then leader of Cambodia. In the jungle,
Pol Pot formed an armed resistance movement that became known as the Khmer
Rouge (Red Cambodians) and commenced guerilla warfare against Sihanouk's
government. In 1970 Sihanouk was ousted from government, not by Pol Pot, but by
a US backed right wing military coup. The US then set up a republican
government led by Con Nol. Sihanouk retaliated by joining his former enemy Pol
Pot. During the same year the US invaded Cambodia to rid the Cambodian borders
of the North Vietnamese army, instead this drove the North Vietnamese further
into Cambodia where they allied themselves with the Khmer Rouge. From 1969
until 1973 the US bombing killed upto 150,000 Cambodian peasants. As a result,
hundreds of thousands of peasants fled the countryside and settled in Phnom
Penh. These events resulted in an increased popularity for Pol Pot. By 1975 the
US had withdrawn it's troops from Vietnam, and Cambodia's government no longer
had military support. Taking advantage of this, Pol Pots Khmer Rouge army
stormed Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. He destroyed and toppled the Republican
regime and effectively seized control of Cambodia. He declared 1975 to be 'year
zero' with the intention that all capitalism, western culture, city life,
religion, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished and a form of
peasant community be favoured.
All foreigners were expelled,
embassies closed, foreign, economic and medical assistance was refused. The use
of foreign languages was banned, newspapers and television stations were shut
down, radios confiscated, and mail and telephone use were forbidden, along with
money. All businesses were shut, religion banned, and education stopped. There
was no more health care and Cambodia was essentially sealed off from the rest
of the world. Pol Pots military evicted all civilians from Phnom Penh and moved
them to the countryside on foot at gunpoint. Phnom Penh was emptied. As many as
20,000 people died along the way. Millions of Cambodians who were used to city
life were now forced into slave labour in the fields. Soon many began to die
from overwork, malnutrition and disease, from not having enough food and water
and no energy. Work in the fields was all done under the armed supervision of
young Khmer Rouge soldiers who killed anyone for the slightest violation of
rules. Sometimes men were made to prepare the fields with a plow instead of
using cows or buffalo. Starving people were not allowed to eat any of the
crops. Any stealing of food resulted in death. After harvest the Khmer Rouge
trucked all produce away. Families could not stay together. Men and women were
separated. Adult women and sometimes children were sexually abused. If anyone
protested they were murdered. Men and women older than 16 were forced to marry
unwillingly in collective ceremonies, sometimes more than 20 couples at a time.
Throughout Cambodia, killing sprees were conducted to 'eliminate the old
society'. The educated, wealthy, Buddhist Monks, police, doctors, lawyers,
teachers and former government officials were all murdered along with their
wives and children.
Anyone who was not loyal to Pol
Pot including many Khmer Rouge leaders were killed.
Upto
20,000 people were tortured into giving false statements at Tuol Sleng in Phnom
Penh, a school which had been converted to a jail. Many others were shot
without questioning.
On Dec 25, 1978, Vietnam launched
a full scale invasion of Cambodia in order to end Khmer Rouge border attacks.
On January 7, 1979 Phnom Penh was taken back and Pol Pot fled to Thailand with
what was left of his Khmer Rouge army. The Vietnamese set up a government
consisting of Khmer Rouge defectors.
Pol Pot continued to rage guerilla warfare against successive
governments for a further 17 years but finally lost all control of the Khmer
Rouge.
He died in April 1998, aged 73, before he could be brought to
trial by the International Tribunal for the events of 1975-1979.
The Khmer Rouge reign resulted in approximately 2
million deaths.
Tuol Sleng Museum and The Killing Fields are testament to this
brutal regime.
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| Silk Islands |
Silk Island offers a peaceful rural alternative to the
hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh. Travel
time is approximately 45minutes to reach the island including a short ferry across the Mekong river.
Take the opportunity to step back in time and relax in a
typical rural Cambodian village dedicated to silk weaving.
The main silk weaving centre is just 1km from the ferry.
Here you can see the whole silk production process from beginning to end. See silk worms and their cocoons, unravelling of the thread, dying of the silk and the loom weaving
process.
The silk weaving village has numerous houses where the
weavers work at their looms producing silk scarves, skirts and tableware.
You can wander around,
observe the process and take the
opportunity to purchase original handmade authentic silk products.
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| Weaving with loom skirt |
Silk Island is also home to a local farming community.
Travel through the villages and visit the local farmers. A vast variety of fruit and vegetables is
grown from mango, potato, tomato,
banana, ginger, corn,
rice, coconut and more. See it
all.
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| Wat Phnom temple |
Wat Phnom is the heart of Phnom Penh, and the reason why the
city is also known as Phnom Penh.The Wat was built in 1372. Standing 27 metres
high it is the tallest religious building in the area.The legend goes that
during the 14th century an older woman by the name of Penh was walking near the
Mekong river and saw a large koki tree floating on the water. She asked the local people to take a boat and
get the tree. Inside the trunk of the
tree there were 4 Buddhist figures, or
statues. In 1372 she encouraged the
people living in the area to build a small hill and construct a temple on the
top in order to keep the Buddhist statues,
and to pray. This became know as Phnom Penh, meaning hill of the Lady Penh. In 1434 the
King Ponhea Yart came to the area, and
as the city grew it became known as Phnom Penh city taking the same name as the
temple.
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| Wat Onnalom |
Wat Ounalom is the most important Wat of Phnom Penh and the centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
It was built in 1442 and is one of 5 original monasteries in Phnom Penh.
In earlier years the pagoda served as the library of the Buddhist Institute housing approximately 30,000 books and scripts.
The most important artefact related to this pagoda is a hair from Buddha's eyebrow which is currently housed in a building behind the main Wat.
Before the Khmer Rouge stormed Phnom Penh in 1975 more than 500 monks lived at the Wat. The Khmer Rouge killed a large number of monks, vandalised and ruined the buildings and their treasures including the library collection.
After the Vietnamese invasion in 1979 the Wat was restored and today again serves as the Centre of Cambodian Buddhism.
Samdech Sangha Raja Jhotanano Chuon Nath (Preah Reach Chuon Nath) 11th March 1883 - 25th Sept 1969 (86yrs)
The son of Khmer farmers, Chuon Nath grew up to become a Buddhist monk, author, composer, poet and head of a Khmer Buddhist Reformist Movement. Revered as probably the most famous and knowledgeable Monk Cambodia has ever had, he became a protector of Khmer identity, culture and history and a conservator of the Khmer language. In 1915 at the age of 32 he became a member of the committee by the Kingdoms Royal Order to compile a Khmer dictionary. The first edition being published in 1938. As a master of Khmer language his achievements included printed sacred text, replacing hand written inscribed palm leaf writings, translation of the Buddhist Pali Canon into Khmer, and introducing Monks to a greater learning in Pali and Sanskrit studies through the modernisation of Buddhist teaching methods. Other literary contributions of Chuon Nath include the founding of a series of curriculum for public schools, Nokor Reach - the Cambodian national anthem, and Savada Khmer - a Cambodian nationalist song. 2 years before his death he was awarded the rank of 'Doctor'. He died on 25th September 1969 at the age of 86 yrs with his ashes being interred at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh.
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| Oudong Mountain |
~ Oudong Mountain is northwest of the modern capital Phnom Penh.
approximately 2hours by tuk tuk and Oudong was the royal residence of
Cambodia's capital for more than 250 years from 1618 until 1866.
Take time to walk up and around the
hills where you get a beautiful view of the countryside. Relax and soak
up photo opportunities of the many pergodas dotted throughout the
hills.
The hills also have numerous stupas containing several Cambodian Kings
including King Ang Duong (1845-1859), and King Monivong (1927-1941). The
earliest structure is from the 13th century.
These hills were also the site of some of the Khmer Rouge's most
prolonged resistance against the Vietnamese army in 1979.
Several new temples and shrines have recently been built on the hill.
~ Silversmithing villages are also located at Phnom Oudong. Here you can
see local craftsmen working silver and copper by hand.
The metal is not heated and poured into moulds but rather flattened in a
machine then hammered into moulds.
Decorating the silver pieces is where the extraordinary skill comes in.
A variety of small tools are used to carve intricate designs. Some
pieces take days to finish. Once the designs are complete they are
finished off using acid solutions, silver coating and polishing.
This is a fascinating education in itself, worth a visit, and a good
place to purchase an authentic momento of your Cambodian experience.
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| Chisor Mountain |
-Phnom Chisor is an ancient Khmer temple on the top of a mountain 62kms from Phnom Penh. It was built in the 11th century, approximately 1050, during the reign of King Suryavarman1 who practised Brahmanism. It was dedicated to the Hindu Gods Shiva and Vishnu. It was built of sandstone, much of which is carved and covers an area 60m long and 50m wide. There are 2 main galleries, one each side of the main inner sanctum. At the foot of the mountain is a site now used for Buddhist worship.
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| Zoo Mountain |
-Zoo Mountain wich has 84 varieties of animals and bird. There are 150 four footed, 300 bird and 30 reptiles.
Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre (PTWRC) is a wildlife centre located roughly 25 miles (40 km) by road south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The centre was established in 1995 and with an area of over 6,000 acres of protected regenerating forest, this is the largest zoo in Cambodia. Since 2001, PTWRC has been run by the government institution of Cambodian Forestry Administration in partnership with an environmental non-profit organization called Wildlife Alliance.
Wildlife Alliance animal husbandry specialists, veterinarians, and care
takers assist in the feeding and care of animals and operations. PTWRC
currently houses over 1,200 rescued animals from 102 species including
endangered Asian elephants, tigers, Pileated gibbon, Siamese crocodile, Malayan sun bears, among many others. Many of the species are listed as Endangered or Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
