Siem Reap...

and the best 6 hours of cambdojan karaoke videos... ever...
;)

on the road...

faces & smiles...

how it was...

S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

"The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Tuol Sleng means "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill".

Formerly the Chao Ponhea Yat High School, named after a Royal ancestor of King Norodom Sihanouk, the five buildings of the complex were converted in August 1975, four months after the Khmer Rouge won the civil war, into a prison and interrogation center. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21) and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates: the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes.
From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (some estimates suggest a number as high as 20,000, although the real number is unknown). At any one time, the prison held between 1,000-1,500 prisoners. They were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, tortured and killed.
In 1979, the prison was uncovered by the invading Vietnamese army. In 1980, the prison was reopened by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea as a historical museum memorializing the actions of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Out of an estimated 17,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only twelve known survivors."

Text in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum

The Killing Fields...

"...were a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Vietnam War.
At least 200,000 people were executed by the Khmer Rouge. Analysis of 309 mass grave sites by the DC-Cam Mapping Program and Yale University indicate at least 1,386,734 victims. Estimates of the total number of deaths resulting from Khmer Rouge policies, including disease and starvation, range from 1.4 to 2.2 million out of a population of around 7 million. In 1979, communist Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime."

"The best known monument of the Killing Fields is Choeung Ek. Today, it is the site of a Buddhist memorial to the terror. The memorial park has been constructed around the mass graves of many thousands of victims in Choeung Ek. The utmost respect is given to the victims of the massacres through signs and tribute sections throughout the park. Many dozens of mass graves are visible above ground, several which have not been excavated as of yet. Commonly, bones and clothing surface after heavy rainfalls due to the extremely large number of bodies still buried in the area. It is not uncommon to run across the bones or teeth of the victims scattered on the surface as you tour the memorial park. If these are found, you are asked to notify a memorial park officer or guide."

Text in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Fields