Chanty and I going up against each other.

The director was away today and Emma is still in Siem Reap. The kids of course were mucking up a lot because Borin was not there, so after an hour of trying and failing to get the concept of adjectives in their heads we played games for the next hour and they were more than okay with this. Here is a game called ” Steal the base” or something along those lines, two teams on either side and when your number is called you have to get the branch without being tapped by the other team. It was a vicious and heated competition.

A busy, bustling place filled to the brim with motorbikes, tuk tuks and very little road rules, a place I haven’t taken a big liking too but duty called and I had to return to collect my passport which I’d sent away for my Cambodian visa extension (cause I’m staying for longer than a month) and my Vietnamese visa. After what turned into being a three day battle of a painfully upset stomach, and also warnings of protests, I made the call to get the Phenom Penh before the protest start, despite my state. After siting on a bus next to an old woman who seemed to sit with the largest leg spread, cramming me into the window, I was almost thankful to arrive in the city. Shortly after, I realised I had left my bank card back in Pursat so I set off to do the worlds best budgeted weekend. I met up with two other volunteers, Elena and I were staying at a rather funky hostel with a cool bar and pool, only down side was our rooms were on top of the bar and the music blasted till 12am and then again from 8am. Caitlin is placed in Phenom Penh and is staying with a family here so we met up with her too. After our visa errands were out of the way, we made the drive to the beautiful, yet horrible depressing Killing Fields to complement the S-21 museum tour we did earlier in the program. We all left not knowing what to say or how to respond, but just totally mind blown by the events. Caitlin and i filled our bellies with some sugar in an attempt to cheer ourselves up and planned a jungle trek which we will do together in 2 weekends time,It started to pour and so we made way for the poolside bar and pool tables, though being up at 5:30 three morning in a row got the better if me, and so did my wallet. I budgeted my weekend so well I had exactly 1 dollar left for the tuk tuk ride home from the bus station to Mr. And Mrs. Leng’s.

Inside the commemorative stupa lay the bones arranged in age and type, 17 levels high as a memorial and place to pray for the people who were victims of the Khmer Rouge.

The tree in which speakers were hung, and loud music was played so as for it to sound as if it were a big meeting or event going on in the fields…when in actual facts the ladies voice was covering the heart wrenching screams of the victims.

The people that maintain this land have the job of collecting any clothes, cloth, bones or parts that surface every 2-3 months, and here is a collection of the things they still keep unravelling.

The children and women section was the hardest thing to listen too. Babies heads were beaten up against this tree, until they were dead and then thrown int the pit. They generally would kill entire families so there was no one to seek revenge or to rat this place and themselves out.

This was a really intense section of the audio guide, where all the survivors told their stories of the Khmer Rouge and trying to take in the entire Khmer Rouge ordeal, Cambodian’s killing Cambodia’s to have a “pure” society. And the horrific extent these people went to. (And then my camera died…so the next photos above are not mine)