Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Sunday, May 11, 08
I love the French. Breakfast is a baguette with a filling of fried egg, and real coffee. This is going to be a very sobering day. Our first stop is Tuol Seng which was a "Re-education Center" during the years of the Pol Pot reign of terror - 1975-79. This specific spot used to be a school which was converted to hold special prisoners. These were not just killed. They were tortured and were selected for special pain. Also known as S-21, Security Office 21. The camp is a series of three story buildings. Each served a specific purpose - solitary confinement, torture and group confinement. Anyone who came in was destined to death. Of the 20,000 brought here only 7 left alive. As I walk the third floor, where masses of my fellow humans suffered horrid indignity and pain, their pictures in rows, the wind suddenly sweeps through slamming and opening, and slamming, the still hanging shutters along the back wall. I have many angry moments and pray a prayer that all those bastards associated with such atrocities burn in the hell of their own choosing. And then, I realize it is going on today wherever anyone is subjected to barbarism. Yet, it continues! The array of feelings; compassion, anger, sympathy, anger, wanting it to go away..., find me. Following the last 3 story building, I have a better sense of those who had no choice - found themselves caught up with following orders or following to their own deaths. There are old snapshots alongside current ones showing those who are presently still alive and living in the communities. They were caught up in it. And, I feel my compassion extending to them. What lives they must now be living? Both feelings are true!
Off for a walk along the Mekong River. Phnom Penh lies where the Tonle Sap and the Mekong River join forces. Lunch is a BLT in a baguette. Rain delays us from our next tour and catches us walking the river front.
On to Camp Choeung Ek, better known for its role in the movie "The Killing Fields". Only a portion of the area has been searched. Here is where the victims from S-21 and others from the country came marked for death, and found it. A grisly sight starts the walk - skulls, bones and clothing dug up and placed together in piles in a stupa. A trail walks through the killing fields. Suddenly, I realize I am walking on graves. Below my feet are bones and clothing protruding from the earth. To be IN the killing fields, actually walking where these poor souls faced their deaths, brings me to tears. A large tree is identified where babies were dashed. I touch the tree and say, "It wasn't your fault!" Before I can leave this place, I must find some beauty. I will not leave till I have found it! Looking from that spot, I see butterflies, dozens of them, fluttering, poised above and landing on the grass, rising, floating off. Dozens! The symbol of renewal is clear. We have the opportunity to change, to be transformed. Even the worst of us! In a period of several days, I have seen the highest cultural achievement of a people, and witnessed the lowest barbaric fall.
Now for a look at Phnom Penh. This is a bustling, growing, building city jumping as quickly as it can into the modern age. The Khmer people seem embarrassed by their recent past, and want to put a new face on this beautiful spot. A barber shop takes care of getting my hairs cut. In another, I find some sun block. Rows of cell phone shops line a street. Everyone is looking either for a hand out or the chance to earn some cash. The main street through town has a Vegas look with all the glittery lights. Cambodia deserves a second chance and a second look. I will return!