Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh now holds the record for dirtiest market we’ve seen on the trip; even some friends of ours (we met through a pub trivia night in Siem Reap) who eat street food exclusively wouldn’t touch the market food here. We didn’t explore much in this capital city other than adventure out to Choeung Ek which is the largest of the Khemer Rouge killing fields.

Prior to visiting the Killing Fields we prepared ourselves on the bus ride by watching the S-21 documentary film on one of the prisons that interrogated, tortured, and finally sent prisoners to the their death. The documentary interviews and presents both the guard’s and the victim’s view of what happened. The memorials built on site commemorate all those that perished by housing skulls, bones, teeth and clothing that continue to be excavated and preserved at the site.

What makes the killing fields feel so real is how recent Cambodia’s genocide occurred. It is days like these where we get a true taste for how lucky we are to be where we are in our lives and are thankful for our families and friends. Just think that when Kevin was enjoying soft diapers on one side of the world, Pol Pot’s regime was slaughtering 1 in 5 Cambodian civilians as threats to the Rouge. In fact, just the other day we saw that one of the top news stories on Yahoo was that the trial of “Duch” (the S-21 prison chief) has just begun.