Usually when one thinks of Cambodia, two things come to mind: the magnificent UNESCO-designated temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, and the Khmer Rouge genocide, along with its legacies of landmines and security issues. Clearly Siem Reap is an easy tourism sell, the Angkor Wat temple obviously being the heart and soul of Cambodia and truly a source of fierce national pride. Unlike the other Angkor monuments, it was never abandoned to the elements and has been in virtually continuous use since it was built. Sadly, Phnom Penh lies on the other side of the pride-shame spectrum with darker associations—some of which were perpetuated in the 1984 Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields, which, though released decades ago, continues to linger in the way Schindler's List does. Today, even though Cambodia has lots of other hidden natural treasures, many visitors come to Cambodia primarily to see these two facets of this small south east Asian country.
We had visited Siem Reap last year, and were of course greatly impressed with the magnificence of Anghor Wat as well as the highly developed tourist infrastructure surrounding Siem Reap. A few weekends ago, we decided to take a quick trip to Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, the primary purpose of our trip being to visit a new highly successful Canadian off-shore school that had recently opened in Phnom Penh. Why would two weary well-seasoned at the tail end of their careers teachers want to spend a long weekend away from school visiting some other school? A bit like why would a fireman spend his vacation time visiting fire stations and riding fire trucks? Good question. No answer for you here other than just calling it some kind of professional deformation, I suppose.
Our excursion began with a visit to the school, which was a great way to begin our weekend because of the positive vibes and optimistic momentum that one gets when immersed in a place where children thrive and grow. The two hours at the school gave us the boost of energy that would be needed to explore the other facet of Cambodia that draws tourism to this small country. We left the school pumped, naively thinking that we were ready to be viscerally confronted with the country’s most heartbreaking sites commemorating the recent painful history of Cambodia. Euh...we were not ready. Visiting the killing fields outside of Phnom Penh and the museum that occupies the former Tuol Sleng prison was, to put it mildly, mentally excruciating. Furthermore, perhaps our itinerary of visiting a vibrant and wonderful Canadian school in the morning followed by a visit to a genocide museum in the late afternoon made for some pretty heavy swaying of contradictory emotions – hope and excitement to gloom and horrific despair.
Our itinerary consisted of both the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choueng Ek, more commonly known as the killing fields. Both are stark reminders of Cambodia's tragic recent history during the Khmer Rouge reign from 1975-1979. It was during this relatively brief time a little known teacher called Pol Pot instituted a reign of terror over the country and implemented a plan to turn Cambodia into an agriculture-based society, systematically emptying the cities and forcibly moving the people onto collective farms where they performed hard labour. These two sites shed light on a nationwide genocide that killed an estimated 2-3 million people (up to 25% of the entire country’s population) in the four years that the Khmer Rouge held power. Among those targeted were capitalists and intellectuals (teachers, doctors, monks, artists) in an attempt to revert the country to an agricultural Year Zero.
Tuol Sleng, a former high school, was used by the Khmer Rouge as a security prison (S-21). From 1976 to1979, some 17,000 people were incarcerated in this school, interrogated and tortured before finally being taken away to be executed at Choueng Ek. Rows upon rows of haunting images of victims interned there, hollow, hopeless eyes looking back at you from the past. After Tuol Sleug, we proceeded to visit Cheoung Ek, an execution and mass burial site about 15 km from the city. Again, an intensely disheartening place to learn about the dangers of extremism and hate with its sobering display of 5,000 skulls and almost 9,000 bodies. Difficult to process...
Understandably, visiting these gut wrenching displays of horror and brutality and feeling the echoes of a generation lost to the evils of fellow humans takes its toll on one's psyche. It makes for an incredibly sad and difficult day and we walked away from our visits feeling emotionally drained. When one finds oneself exposed personally to the atrocities, view the unthinkable pictures, read the vicious senseless insanity of the actual progress of the events, one cannot help but be filled with a profound repugnance that reverberates to one’s very core. We had felt the same way after visiting other dark tourism destinations such as that hell on earth called Auschwitz in Poland and the most demoralizing Massacre Memorial Hall in Nanjing. We were consumed with a combination of feelings of despair, grief, and profound sadness. We failed to find the right words that describe what these sites represent. Evil? Inhumane? Maybe the absolute lack of human spirit gets close to its meaning, but it’s not even near to encapsulate it completely. Our minds were filled with a million thoughts and questions that will never find a rational answer. Why can’t we learn? How could this happen again and again? Can we not learn from the past? Attempting to intellectualize the reasoning behind this insanity, I ask myself what is the common reasoning that motivates us as humans to commit these acts? What fuels people, like myself, with such fervent righteousness to be part of what is obviously and blatantly pure evil? Is there a common thread in the beliefs that so strongly motivate a large number of citizens in a country to be convinced as to the absolute correctness of their actions?
Before leaving Phnom Penh, Madeleine and I, both dispirited by the the dark side of humanity that we had just witnessed, struggled to lift ourselves out of this slump of heavyheartedness. We sought out a few of the many charitable social associations that had taken root in the country. These newly formed NGO's purposes are to attempt to heal this small country and bring it back on track. We spent our last day with the fine people at the Daughters of Cambodia Centre, a non-profit organization supporting victims of sex-trafficking and sex exploitation in Cambodia, as well as Friends International, a leading social enterprise focusing on the empowerment of marginalized children and youths. We still left Cambodia with heavy hearts and lingering thoughts of despair, but armed with greater understanding of the horrors of human nature and its terrifying potential. Having met the people of Daughters and Friends, our spirits and hearts were somewhat lifted. We had spent our last hours in Cambodia with people that exuded so much joy and spirit despite the fact that they themselves had braved and survived the atrocities recently committed in their nation. We were in awe of their steadfast resolution towards the rebuilding of their country, a nation still in mourning over its recent history of brutal genocide and ensuing years of turmoil and hunger. Truly inspiring.
This was a difficult trip, but I am glad I went. I feel it is important to occasionally hear that cry of despair. Somehow I think it’s important to remind myself that, although I believe people are all basically good, there are circumstances that can change them. This is why dark tourism is important. Not only does it force me to remember the sad history that occurred not so long ago, but it also reminds me of one of the most important aspects of life, compassion. Dark tourism takes me out of my comfort zone and makes me think. I’d like to believe that it’s a type of tourism that not only makes me a better friend, family member, or passing stranger. It is above all an experience that makes me a better human being.
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| Anghor Wat - the pride of Cambodia |
We had visited Siem Reap last year, and were of course greatly impressed with the magnificence of Anghor Wat as well as the highly developed tourist infrastructure surrounding Siem Reap. A few weekends ago, we decided to take a quick trip to Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, the primary purpose of our trip being to visit a new highly successful Canadian off-shore school that had recently opened in Phnom Penh. Why would two weary well-seasoned at the tail end of their careers teachers want to spend a long weekend away from school visiting some other school? A bit like why would a fireman spend his vacation time visiting fire stations and riding fire trucks? Good question. No answer for you here other than just calling it some kind of professional deformation, I suppose.
Our excursion began with a visit to the school, which was a great way to begin our weekend because of the positive vibes and optimistic momentum that one gets when immersed in a place where children thrive and grow. The two hours at the school gave us the boost of energy that would be needed to explore the other facet of Cambodia that draws tourism to this small country. We left the school pumped, naively thinking that we were ready to be viscerally confronted with the country’s most heartbreaking sites commemorating the recent painful history of Cambodia. Euh...we were not ready. Visiting the killing fields outside of Phnom Penh and the museum that occupies the former Tuol Sleng prison was, to put it mildly, mentally excruciating. Furthermore, perhaps our itinerary of visiting a vibrant and wonderful Canadian school in the morning followed by a visit to a genocide museum in the late afternoon made for some pretty heavy swaying of contradictory emotions – hope and excitement to gloom and horrific despair.
Our itinerary consisted of both the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choueng Ek, more commonly known as the killing fields. Both are stark reminders of Cambodia's tragic recent history during the Khmer Rouge reign from 1975-1979. It was during this relatively brief time a little known teacher called Pol Pot instituted a reign of terror over the country and implemented a plan to turn Cambodia into an agriculture-based society, systematically emptying the cities and forcibly moving the people onto collective farms where they performed hard labour. These two sites shed light on a nationwide genocide that killed an estimated 2-3 million people (up to 25% of the entire country’s population) in the four years that the Khmer Rouge held power. Among those targeted were capitalists and intellectuals (teachers, doctors, monks, artists) in an attempt to revert the country to an agricultural Year Zero.
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| The remains of 8985 people were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves in this one-time longan orchard; 43 of the 129 communal graves have been left untouched. |
Tuol Sleng, a former high school, was used by the Khmer Rouge as a security prison (S-21). From 1976 to1979, some 17,000 people were incarcerated in this school, interrogated and tortured before finally being taken away to be executed at Choueng Ek. Rows upon rows of haunting images of victims interned there, hollow, hopeless eyes looking back at you from the past. After Tuol Sleug, we proceeded to visit Cheoung Ek, an execution and mass burial site about 15 km from the city. Again, an intensely disheartening place to learn about the dangers of extremism and hate with its sobering display of 5,000 skulls and almost 9,000 bodies. Difficult to process...
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| The Memorial Stupa - more than 8000 skulls, arranged by sex and age, are visible behind clear glass panels. |
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| Friends International have a restaurant and gift shop where young people are trained and given employment. All profits from these two businesses go towards their cause of empowering children and youths. |
This was a difficult trip, but I am glad I went. I feel it is important to occasionally hear that cry of despair. Somehow I think it’s important to remind myself that, although I believe people are all basically good, there are circumstances that can change them. This is why dark tourism is important. Not only does it force me to remember the sad history that occurred not so long ago, but it also reminds me of one of the most important aspects of life, compassion. Dark tourism takes me out of my comfort zone and makes me think. I’d like to believe that it’s a type of tourism that not only makes me a better friend, family member, or passing stranger. It is above all an experience that makes me a better human being.
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