MnG Gallery :: Cambodia

About this album

We spent 3 nights here in Phnom Penh at a hotel that wasn't too bad, but certainly wasn't quite what we had gotten used to on our travels.

But what was important was visiting the somewhat sombre locations used by the Khmer Rouge to carry out their mass genocide - The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum.

After crossing the Vietnam/Cambodia border, we were dropped at a nearby eatery for lunch. There was still another 4 hr ride to Phnom Penh

The very al fresco style gents ... just beyond the kitchen area

Whilst waiting for the ferry crossing over the Mekong river, street vendors with their produce milled around in the hope of making a sale

Think these are beetles and perhaps pigeon

Chooks being transported across the river en masse

The pigs had a little bit more space than the chickens

The river is used for bathing - both human and horse

Prime riverside real-estate

Series of typical Cambodian homes along the main road to Phnom Penh and after crossing the Mekong River

Most mini-buses were always filled to capacity and usually had folk sitting on the top

No such thing as wasted space here

This was an eye opener - the makeshift outdoor kitchen of a restaurant beside the hotel we were in

The 'kitchen' in full swing. Think this was for a wedding dinner

Memorial stupa to the many victims of the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek south of Phnom Penh

Victims of the Khmer Rouge

A sad reminder of what humans are capable of

Over 5,000 skulls fill the shelves in the memorial stupa

The clothes of the many victims

An owl (spotted at Choeung Ek) giving me the 'stare'

Mass graves of the many victims. Unearthed in 1980

Remains of clothes in the ground

Bits and pieces still being found till today

Bone and clothing fragments still visible

Some victims of the killing fields, including an Australian journalist

Part of a large 'water' garden of vegetables

Cambodian village life

Log transport company

At the Toul Sleng museum (or S21 as named by the Khmer Rouge). These are the graves of the last victims of the Khmer Rouge found the day the Vietnamese freed the city

Photo of one of the last victims on the torture bed

One of the several torture rooms

Photos of victims. The Khmer Rouge kept records of the millions they killed

The whole museum had rows of boards displaying photos of the many victims

Children were not spared

Schakles

Some of the very tiny cells that held the many prisoners

Some of the implements of torture - the 'box' to the right is a water boarding chamber (for simulated drowning). Note: Such implements of torture are still in use today by the Americans ... guess its harder for some to learn than others

The hall now dedicated to the stories of both victims and perpertrators

Building within the compound of the Royal Residence

Edge of the Royal Residence

Part of the residence

Example of french architecture in Phnom Penh

Fishing on the Ton Le Sap River on which Phonm Penh sits

Pavilion near the river

Not sure what temple / building this is

The National Museum

The only photo we got in the museum before being banned from taking more :-)

'Architraves' on the National Museum building

Elephant carving

Sculpture within the grounds of the museum

A pavilion in the Wat Phnom compound. Wat Phnom was formerly known as "Wat Phnom Duan Penh", from which Phnom Penh gets its name

Typical of Cambodia. We'd come up with a little ditty about 'Everything is $1 in Cambodia"

Outside the Wat Phnom temple

Inside the temple

Spice finches are released as a Buddhist custom and is considered an act of compassion that will be rewarded with good karma. But before that happens, these birds have to sit in this tiny cage.