Cambodia - Phnom Penh and The Killing Fields

Cambodia is a heavenly country which has been to hell and back. The horrors and atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime under the barbaric Maoist dictator Pol Pot are evident for all to see at The Killing Fields not far from Phnom Penh, while the former Tuol Sleng prison in the capital itself is a bleak Austwich-type reminder of the suffering of the poor Cambodian people. We are steeling ourselves for a difficult and depressing time at these poignant, but must-see sites, but look forward also to a more uplifting experience at the ancient Temples of Angkor outside Siem Reap - an hour's flight north. Plan to spend around eight days in Cambodia in total - four in Phnom Penh and four in Siem Reap, so farewell Thailand for the time being. After arriving at Phnom Penh airport from Bangkok find we must pay 25 US dollars each for visas. It's a bit chaotic and the queueing haphazard, but we get there in the end. We have booked ourselves into a smart boutique hotel called Villa Lanka and, not knowing quite what to expect in PP, have arranged for a taxi to pick us up. Ride in proves quite an eye-opener. Struck by how much poorer people appear than in Thailand. Off the main road are red dusty tracks leading to shacks and small-holdings, while the drive into the city amazes us, with cars, motorbikes and tuk-tuks coming in all directions. Lane discipline does not appear to exist. There is a vague keep to the right policy. But that's as good as it gets - people are actually driving in any direction they want and on any side of the road. Incredibly, it appears to work. There are hoots and toots galore, but no road rage. If people drove like this back home there would be fist fights at every junction. We close our eyes and hope for the best. Eventually arrive safely at hotel to find a little oasis amid the urban chaos around us. Swimming pool and garden area stunning and we have a luxurious bedroom. Take an evening stroll around a couple of streets nearby and are struck by colonial French influence of buildings. Some are Parisian in style, but wear a faded grandeur from another era. Find a nice little open-to-the-road Australian-run bar - geckos running riot on the walls around it - for a couple of beers and some food before turning in for an early night. We are bracing ourselves for The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng tomorrow. Sure you don't need a history lesson about The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek - incredibly just one of more than 300 throughout the country (estimates are that nearly four million people died between 1975-79 in what was renamed Democratic Kampuchea) - suffice to say that the place can reduce you to tears. It's where most of the 17,000 detainees - men, women and children - imprisoned and tortured at Tuol Sleng (Security Prison 21) were brought to and murdered, the majority bludgeoned to death by brainwashed children as young as 10. The fact that these atrocities were committed as recently as the mid-70s makes it all the more harrowing. The two of us wander through what was once a peaceful orchard trying to come to terms with what happened here - and the sheer scale of the genocide is quickly brought home by a memorial stupa which displays 8,000 skulls of victims and their ragged clothes. Our guide also shows us the remains of mass graves - one held more than 400 bodies, another was for women who had been raped and murdered by 'soldiers'. There was also a 'Killing Tree' where babies were literally smashed to death against it. Feeling thoroughly depressed and down, we wondered whether to leave Tuol Sleng for another day, but thought we would push on and see it - getting 'All The Evil' over with in one day. Our taxi driver Chang takes us to the former school which Pol Pot turned into a high security prison and classrooms into torture chambers. Today it a macabre museum. You are free to walk into the cell blocks and see the various instruments of torture used to inflict pain on those imprisoned there. Absolutely haunting are the rows and rows of black and white photographs of the former inmates staring back at you. They are the ghosts of Tuol Sleng. Only seven of the 17,000 prisoners survived its terrors - and we are humbled to actually meet one of them, who is selling his book of memoirs at the museum's gates. While he can speak little English, Bou Meng gives us a warm smile and we buy his translated book. He only survived S-21 because his captors were impressed by his paintings. We linger a while with Bou Meng before saying goodbye, shaking him firmly by the hand. Incredibly the 69-year-old - his wife did not survive S-21 - still has a radiancy and hope for the future that astonishes us. His book reveals that he is not seeking revenge, but justice for the victims. We are bowled over by his humanity, knowing that he had endured such torment. The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng have left us feeling numb by now and we decide to seek out the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) during the evening for some serious chill-out time. The FCC is an institution in Phnom Penh, with two great upstairs bars offering super views looking out across the Tonle Sap and Mekong River systems. It's a good place to unwind - enjoy a few beers and good food and reflect on a day that will stay in the memory for a long time to come. A raging thunderstorm outside merely adds to the old colonial atmosphere. We are expecting Ernest Hemingway or Graham Greene to walk in through the door any time. It's that sort of place. We have been on the road for around seven months now - and remarkably have stayed illness-free. But the next day Chris is struck by the dreaded lurgy big time and spends the next 24 hours in bed - there are numerous visits to the bathroom also (but you don't want to be hearing about those). Feeling a bit more chipper the following day Chris is up for a trip to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in PP. It resembles Bankok's Grand Palace in many ways, but we actually prefer it. For a start there is hardly anyone here. We have the freedom to stroll around the lovely gardens and, unlike its counterpart in Thailand, it is calm and serene. The Khmer structures and life-size gold Buddha encrusted with diamonds enthral us. Even Pol Pot, in his quest for a giant peasant-dominated co-operative, could not get his blood-stained hands on these. There are further treasures awaiting us in Cambodia - the eighth wonder of the world Angkor Wat being one of them - at Siem Reap, and that's where we are headed next. Phnom Penh and The Killing Fields we leave behind. From The Beast we go in search of The Beauty.