Day 82 - Fri Jan 21 - Choeung Ek "Killing Fields"

On Day 82 we hire a tuk tuk driver to take us out to Choeung Ek, also known as the Killing Fields.  This isn't the only place in Cambodia with this grim name - the Khmer Rouge had many locations in the country where it buried its victims in mass graves.   A place like Tuol Sleng would have taken people here for disposal.  The places were normally chosen for their remote location, usually out of the city and in the fields.

This Killing Field is now a museum.  Chickens and roosters search the ground for food by the entrance.  In the center is a memorial: 

The memorial houses a 16 level glass case of skulls unearthed in this particular field, as well as a case of clothing recovered from the excavated bodies.  We see a pile of jackets, leg shackles and soft-soled slippers.  

A stereo plays flute music.  Many of the skulls have bullet holes.  Surrounding the tower are grassy hollows marking the mass graves that have already been excavated.  

Nearby we can hear children playing, but the grounds of the killing field are quiet, except for the sound of low voices from a small tour group. There are signs posted on trees and buildings as we circle the area to orient visitors.  

#7:

Mass grave of 166 victims

without heads.

#5:

Mass grave of more than 100 victims

children and women whose

majority were naked.

Next to #5 :

Killing tree

against which

executioners

beat children.

Other signs say things like "Be quiet please!" and "Please don't walk through the mass grave!"

A group of children near the back of the fence calls to us and we go over to visit.  There are 6 of them, ages 4 to 9, and they laugh when we try to pronounce their names.  As we go to leave, their voices change pitch and they start chanting samanee samanee, which isn't a name or even a Cambodian word.  They reach their hands out, their body language shifts, they make sad faces. Some money. Some money.   We give them the fruit we have, but the biggest boy takes it for himself.  They walk along the fence to meet us again in the parking lot and their voices trail after us as our tuk tuk drives away.