The Phnom Penh Visitors Guide 62nd

Museums

Cambodian Living Arts stages Traditional Cambodian Performances in the garden of the National Museum on Monday - Saturday at 7:00PM. See page 15 for details. Multi-lingual tour guides are available. Souvenirs and books available including guidebook. Photography is limited. www.cambodiamuseum.info Map Area H-11

the horrific remnants of the regime can be seen at the Choeung Ek Memorial (the ‘Killing Fields’) and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. Prior to 1975, Toul Sleng was a high school - a set of classroom buildings in a walled compound. When the Khmer Rouge came to power they converted into the S-21 prison and interrogation facility, administered by Kaing Guek Eav, a.k.a. ‘Duch.’ Inmates at the prison were held in tiny brick cubicles and systematically tortured, sometimes over a period of months, to extract the desired ‘confessions,’ after which the victim was almost invariably executed at the killing field of Choeung Ek just outside the city. S-21 processed over 17,000 people. The Toul Sleng compound now serves as a museum, a memorial and a testament to the madness of the regime. Much has been left in the state it was in when the Khmer Rouge abandoned it in January 1979. The prison kept extensive records, leaving thousands of photos of their Paintings of torture at the prison by Vann Nath, a survivor of Toul Sleng, are also exhibited. Map Area L-8

Wat Phnom វត្ភ្នំ (Wat Phnom) North end of Norodom Blvd Hours: 7:00AM-6:00PM Admission: $1.00/person

This small hillock, the only one in the city, is crowned by an active Buddhist wat and marks the legendary founding place of Phnom Penh. The hill is the site of constant activity with a steady stream of the faithful trekking to the pagoda, shrines and fortune tellers at the top. The legend of the founding of Wat Phnom is tied to the birth of the city itself. Story has it that in 1372 Lady Penh (Yea Penh) fished a floating Koki tree out of the river. Inside the tree were four Buddha statues. To house the Buddhas, she built a hill (‘phnom’ means ‘hill’) and a small temple (wat) at this site. Later, the surrounding area became known after the hill (Phnom) and its creator (Penh), hence the name of the city ‘Phnom Penh.’ The current temple was last rebuilt in 1926. The towering stupa contains the remains of King Ponhea Yat (1405- 1467) who moved the Khmer capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh the early 15th century. Look for the altar of Lady Penh between the great stupa and the main temple. She is said to be of particular help to women.

Choeung ek Memorial (‘The Killing Field’) 15 km southwest of Phnom Penh - Take Monireth 8.5 km past the bridge at Street 271 (30 minutes from town center) Hours: 7:30AM - 5:30PM Admission: $10 Many of those who perished under the Khmer Rouge regime ended up in one of

the dozens of ‘killing fields’ that can be found scattered across the country. The ‘killing fields’ were ad hoc places of execution and dumping grounds for bodies. After the fall of the regime memorials were set up at many of the sites, some containing the bones and remnants of victims gathered from the area. Prior to 1975, Choeung Ek near Phnom Penh was a orchard and a Chinese cemetery. But under the Khmer Rouge the area became one of the infamous killing fields. This particular killing field is the site of the brutal executions of approximately 17,000 men, women and children, most of whom had first suffered through interrogation, torture and deprivation in the S-21 Prison (now the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum) in Phnom Penh. The Choeung Ek Memorial is now a group of mass graves, killing areas and a memorial stupa containing thousands of human skulls and bones. The memorial is about a 30-45 minute drive from the center of Phnom Penh. For sake of historical context, combine your visit to Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. See David Chandler’s book, ‘Voices of S-21’ for the most systematic and complete account to date of the history and operation of the S-21 Prison.

Map Area E-9/10

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum North end of Norodom Blvd Hours: 7:00AM-6:00PM Admission: $10 /person From April 17, 1975 until January 7, 1979, the brutal, Khmer Rouge (KR) regime controlled Cambodia, then known as 'Democratic Kampuchea.' The Khmer Rouge was headed by

Saloth Sar, whose nom de guerre was Pol Pot. During their short reign between one and two and a half million Cambodians perished, some killed outright, others dying from disease, malnutrition and mistreatment. Some of

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