Two days in Phnom Penh (part 1)

So, early Monday morning I flew from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital and largest city. Phnom Penh is a city that is very much shaped by its relatively recent history. There is a lot of great architecture, with French colonial influence and traditional Buddhist palaces, and the people were very warm, but it is still recovering (along with the whole country) from the brutal policies of the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia for four years starting in 1975.

In April of 1975, Communist Party leader Pol Pot implemented a radical scheme to turn the country into an agrarian collective, leaving the cities mostly empty from forced relocations, imprisonment, and executions. The entire population of Phnom Penh was ordered to leave the city and take on new lives as working peasants in the countryside. Under Pol Pot's directive, the Khmer Rouge tortured and executed nearly all educated people, including teachers, doctors, writers, and their entire families. Many more Cambodians died due to malnutrition or starvation. By the end of the Khmer Rouge's four-year rule, between two and four million Cambodians lost their lives.
I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school that was used as a Khmer Rouge prison. It is quite a heavy place, as you can imagine; it still houses torture devices and extensive blood stains remain all over the place. Room after room of photos depict victims before and after their torture and death. There are mugshots of each victim that were taken before (or sometimes after) their execution: men, women with their babies in their arms, young children.
I didn't have time to go out to the killing fields, but saw a video and many photos of the mass graves, skulls, and a memorial monument. It is really a horrific and terribly sad place. You can feel the weight of what took place as you walk through the buildings. It's a sobering way to spend an afternoon, but I think it's important; there are so many things that we hear little about in the west because it doesn't affect us financially. Yet you can't be in Cambodia without facing the reality of what took place - it affects every level of society.

I didn't particularly enjoy my time in Phnom Penh. I don't think it was Phnom Penh's fault; traveling alone finally got to me, I think. I saw what I wanted to see, but I didn't feel 100% comfortable being there on my own. Also, it could have been the heaviness and overall feel of the city. Anyway, I was sure glad when that taxi came to take me to the airport, kind of...