Cambodia - Choeung Ek Killing Field, Phnom Penh

Assalamualaikum. Chomreabsuor.

Ni lah jawapan kepada soalan; ke mana kami selepas mencemar tapaki di perkarangan istana (here). Selama ni memang teringin sangat pi sini. Don't ask me why I was so eager to visit the place for I don't have the answer either.

For some people maybe seboleh-bolehnya akan avoid untuk datang place as such. Yalah, preferences setiap orang adalah berbeza. Aku pi bukan sebab suka-suka but more to want to see the area by myself. Tempat yang menjadi saksi utama penderitaan rakyat Kemboja akibat penyeksaan yang tidak berperikemanusiaan. As horrific as its name, this is where the massacre occurred. 

30 January 2015
Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, Phnom Penh

Journey from the Royal Palace to this killing field took merely an hour. 'Strategically' located mile away from the capital. Twenty minutes before arriving, we had to endure the dusty & gravel road. Free foundation di awal pagi. Redha lah.

# We paid USD 3 for the entrance ticket. And an extra USD 2 for the audio guide. 

# There 19 sections in this area. 

Boleh stop at each point & listened the stories from the audio guide. I must say it was a wise decision to rent the audio guide. Sangat informative! I listened to every information at each sections I stopped. 

# Trucks arrived late at night. Prisoners would think they may be heading to a new prison but they were brought here to be killed. 

# Most of the buildings in this area had been destroyed or removed, hence they built up signboard to tell the visitor what was there. 

# Chemicals used to eliminate stench from dead bodies & also to immediately kill off victims whom were buried alive. One of the utmost extreme brutal stage! 

For your information, penduduk di sekitar area ni LANGSUNG ndak tau bahawa tempat ni dijadikan kawasan pembunuhan banduan dari kem-kem tahanan. The villagers thought kawasan dusun ni cuma tempat regim Khmer Rouge berkumpul or bermesyuarat. Bijak kan? 

# One of the many mass graves & pits. 450 bodies were dumped here. Piece of clothes were found in various parts of the field.

# And according to the audio guide, most of the women were mercilessly raped before being killed or buried alive. Ugh! Those animals!

# The Killing Tree. Pokok ni bakal jadi prime witness in the Hereafter. 

Up to this moment, I still can't digest these cruelties. The Pol Pot's army took the lives hundreds of innocent souls (Read: babies / children) by slamming them into the tree trunk. Animal enough?

# Wishing hut.

# Magic Tree that didn't do any magic to those poor victims. Speakers were hung off the branches & music was played during the 'killing sessions' to disguise the screams. 

Masa dalam field ni, kami berlima berpecah & toured the area by ourselves. I covered the area in an hour. Sempat jalan sampai pi area tasik which is situated farther back of the killing field. And I believe, there are dead bodies in there too. I sat on the bench available alongside the walk to the lake; as I listened to the stories from the audio guide. 

Walking back to the stupa, I found more pits (dumping areas). And also a box filled with bones that were found after the excavation work in 1980. 

# Skulls of the victims that were found from the site.

Macam-macam kecederaan boleh nampak di tengkorak ni semua. Sangat sedih! Regim kejam ni membunuh without being too selective. Foreignes or traveller dibunuh kalau ada ndak ngam di mata diorang. Even warden penjara pun sometimes boleh bertukar jadi victim dalam sekelip mata. Having said that, diorang tetap aimed orang bijak pandai, ahli politik & journalist sebagai mangsa utama. The reason is obvious, yes? Ndak mau ada kumpulan yang menentang diorang. Kunun orang-orang macam ni adalah ancaman to their idol; Pol Pot si Bingai. 

# Pieces of clothes & tools used to kill.

# Memorial Stupa housed the skulls, tools & pieces of clothes.

To end my tour, I entered the building near the ticket counter. Pastu join visitors lain untuk tengok video dokumentari pasal pemerintahan Pol Pot ni. Memang sangat kejam! Phnom Penh hilang beribu rakyat dalam masa tiga hari selepas Khmer Roughe ambil alih bandar ni. Sampai sekarang aku masih belum dapat imagine bagaiman suatu bandar yang sibuk & sedang membangun boleh lenyap dalam tempoh yang singkat tu. Pengaruh Pol Pot must have something very extra ordinary. 

Habis tayang video, aku masuk pula dua bilik yang displayed gambar mangsa-mangsa & 'menteri-menteri berhemah' kerajaan Pol Pot. Ada catatan pengalaman dari mangsa yang terselamat juga. Pastu, ada koleksi baju-baju banduan etc etc. 

Before returning the audio guide, aku lepak di pondok near the souvenir shop. And followed by Ms C, Ms H & Ms P not long after. And of course sesi maki Pol Pot pun bermula. Tambah rancak bila Ms G datang joined. Kami lepaskan lelah dekat setengah jam before keluar dari tempat penuh kenangan tragis ni. Sempat juga ambil group photo depan entrance before making out move out of the site. 

Naik tuk-tuk, aku rasa lain macam. Kepala macam terhuyung hayang. Mata super berat! Ndak kan suddenly penangan jus USD 1 datang balik kan? Ntah lah tapi sepanjang jalan balik pi bandar, aku memang rasa ndak sedap badan. So, aku pun layan tidur. Maybe lack of sleep tu yang ting tong. 

Next, kami pi sebuah sekolah di tengah bandar Phnom Penh. Tempat di mana segala macam penyeksaan sebelum mangsa dibawa pi killing field. 

eryantierdabdulkarim