Fewer than four decades ago, in the late 1970s, these fields were the site of an extermination camp in a campaign of genocide by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime. About 20,000 people were tortured and murdered here.

There are approximately 300 killing fields in Cambodia, and Choeung Ek is the most well known. It’s estimated that 1.7 million people (about 21%) of the Cambodian population were murdered in the killing fields around the country.

The crimes of those who were put to death? Being educated. Suspected of being supportive of the former government. Belonging to modern society rather than the illiterate peasant class. Wearing spectacles. The victims were loaded into trucks and taken here to be eliminated so that Cambodian society could go back to Year Zero and Pol Pot’s communistic vision of an idyllic peasant lifestyle. More people arrived than could be killed in any one day, so they were imprisoned and tortured until it was their turn to be murdered.

The would-be visitor has mixed feelings. A kind of horrified fascination. How can such a place be a big tourist attraction? I don’t like the idea of going to gawk at the aftermath of such horrors. I feel uneasy about being a rubber-necked tourist at a place of so many brutal deaths. I’ve heard that it’s not a place for the squeamish or the faint-hearted.

But I go anyway, I suppose just to see what it’s like, and because I have a sense it’s necessary to go to better understand what really happened.

We hired a moto (a passenger carriage towed by a scooter) to take us there. Our driver, Peter, knew the way (it’s clearly signposted anyway) and thoughtfully stopped off en route to buy us cloth face masks to cover our noses and mouths. We wondered why at first, but after experiencing the onslaught of dust on the road churned up by the lorries and other traffic on the road, we quickly got the idea and donned the masks. The journey took almost an hour. Of course we could have got there faster, but we weren’t in any hurry. (It’s only about 15 km from the city centre.)

On arrival at Choeung Ek, we each paid our $3 entry fee and an additional $2 for the hire of the audio tour equipment. I had asked Jim at the California 2 if we should hire a guide and he’d advised that the audio tour would be fine. As it turned out, the audio tour was excellent, very informative and professionally presented, and we saw some people with guides who simply told them a sentence or two before moving on to the next stop. If you go, then definitely hire the audio player. You can stop, start, pause, replay, and do as you wish with it.

We were given a leaflet with a map of the area and an audio tour “stop list”. This enabled us to walk around the site in a logical progression and listen to the history of each location we visited. It was a beautiful sunny day and the place was so peaceful, yet as the details unfolded one could feel the “ghosts” of the people who had once passed through this extermination camp. I don’t really mean ghosts, it was just that the place had an atmosphere – a presence.

Most of what was there has now gone, except for the mass graves, some of which have been exhumed. The buildings were demolished and plundered by people full of fear and hatred after they discovered the true nature of the place. Now there are signs in Khmer and English where the buildings once stood. This was the chemical storage room. Here is where they stored the weapons – or the killing tools, as they chillingly describe them.

Chemicals were used both to disguise the smell of decomposing bodies and to kill off those who had been inadvertently buried alive.

People were usually bludgeoned to death. Bullets were expensive so it was much cheaper to use axes, knives, and even bamboo sticks to kill them.

Children were easier to deal with. They were simply battered to death by swinging them against a tree. I wondered why they would kill and torture children. I thought perhaps they were used to force their parents to “confess” or something. Apparently they were killed so they wouldn’t grow up hating the Khmer Rouge for what they had done to their parents and possibly seeking revenge.

There is a big old beautiful tree there which was regularly used for this purpose. It’s now called the Killing Tree.

Another tree nearby has been named the Magic Tree. There isn’t anything magical about it. It was used to hang loudspeakers on, blasting out Khmer Rouge songs so that anyone nearby might think it was just a party meeting going on. The songs drowned out the screams of those being tortured and murdered. The audio guide informed us that a diesel generator would have been running to provide the electricity for the loudspeakers, and that the blaring propaganda songs and the constant chugging of the generator would have been the last sounds the victims heard as they were being hacked and bludgeoned to death.

Many of the graves have been exhumed and some still remain as they were. Sometimes after heavy rain, bits of clothing, teeth or bones rise to the surface. These are collected by the site officials. You can wander around at your own pace and see all the sunken areas which were previously mass graves.

There is also a small museum on-site. There is no additional charge to go in and have a look around. I had a quick look but the some of the exhibits were so awful, I couldn’t stand it for very long. It’s not that I’m squeamish. But it’s hard not to cry when you see the results and tools of such brutality – bashed-in skulls, weapons that were used, etc.

The centrepiece, and the first and last thing you see, is the memorial stupa. There are about 8,000 skulls in there, recovered from the exhumed graves. They hold a memorial service every year to remember and pay respect to the dead. It’s a beautiful yet macabre monument. I declined to go inside and gawp at the skulls. I’d already got the message of what had gone on here.

Postscript

Coincidentally, just after we’d left Phnom Penh the trials for crimes against humanity, genocide and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions began of several of the Khmer Rouge’s senior leaders – including Pol Pot’s henchman Nuon Chea (“Brother No.2″), as well as Khieu Samphan, who served as Head of State in “Democratic Kampuchea”, and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary – in a UN-supported Cambodian court. All three are in their eighties.

You can read more about the court and the trial process on the court’s website:
http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

79 Sisowath Quay
Phnom Penh
+855-77-503-144

The California had changed location and moved north along Sisowath Quay since we last stayed there in 2008, but the friendly and helpful atmosphere was the same. This is the best place to hang out in Phnom Penh if you want to meet expats and travellers and, of course, benefit from the experience and wisdom of Jim, the proprietor.

Downstairs there is a large well-stocked bar and a free pool table. It’s a spacious place so even though it can get a little busy at peak times there’s plenty of room to relax. If you sit at the bar, you can be sure of meeting some interesting characters.

Whilst not billing itself as being accessible for disabled people, it would be possible for a wheelchair user to eat, drink and go to the toilet. (So many places let you eat and drink but have completely inaccessible toilets.) In the California, there’s a small ramp up to the WC cubicles and both have extra-wide doors.

Upstairs (no lifts) consists of 10 guestrooms, all beautifully clean and nicely furnished. It’s fair to say the standard rooms are “compact” but the space has been put to good use and we were very comfortable there. We had hoped to book a deluxe room but had left it a bit late and the deluxe rooms were already fully booked. Jim therefore put us in the best standard room, which we were very happy with.

I can’t imagine finding anything better for the price. ($27-$35 per room per night.) It’s in a great location, clean and comfortable, and the bar is a lot of fun. We were a little bit surprised when we received our bill at the end of our stay. The staff member asked if we were shocked because it was so much, but that wasn’t the case at all. Quite the opposite – we had expected it to be more, so that was a nice surprise.

There’s a good menu of breakfasts (served all day), Mexican food, some Western favourites and Khmer food. The food is very reasonably priced and tasty. We ate there several times.

There is free WiFi throughout, in the bar and in the rooms. Smoking is allowed.

To sum up, the California will be our first choice of where to stay when we next visit Phnom Penh. Highly recommended!

Find out more on their website:
http://www.cafecaliforniaphnompenh.com/

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

They are particularly keen to let people know about their involvement in community projects. Of course these aren’t tourist attractions but if you are interested in donating or getting involved, visits can be arranged by appointment. We were invited to visit two projects – The Hôtel de la Paix Sewing Centre and the Sangkheum Centre for Children.

The Sewing Centre

The centre is located at Wat Damnak, which is only five minutes’ tuk-tuk drive from the hotel, across the river from the Old Market (Psar Chas). It’s overseen by local monks from the Life and Hope Association (LHA). The centre provides an opportunity for vulnerable young women who are otherwise without future prospects. Over a ten-month course, the women are taught sewing skills, English, and basic life skills including a little business training.

On completion of the course, the women are provided with a sewing machine and start-up materials so they can return to their villages and start their own business, thus ensuring a bright future and the ability to support themselves and their families. Some women are also able to set up a sewing business at the centre itself.

There are a variety of ways you can help with this excellent project, including sponsoring a student for a month, or even for the entire course, or donating a sewing machine or push bike. The women need the bikes to get to and from the centre and the house they share.

There’s more information about the sewing school on the LHA website.

The Sangkheum Centre

This centre (“sangkheum” means “hope” in Khmer) has been providing education, training, scholastic support and care to disadvantaged children since 2001. Have a look at the photos and see how well-cared for they look!

These children are either orphans, neglected or abused and might otherwise face a life on the streets. In some cases they may be there because their parents are simply unable to care for them. The project to give them hope and better prospects was established as a co-operation between Progetto Continenti (an Italian NGO) and the Khmer Angkor Development Organization (a Cambodian NGO).

Again, there are a variety of ways to donate to this wonderful project – anything from toys and school supplies to sponsoring a child is welcome. You can find out more on the Sangkheum Centre website.

The Hôtel de la Paix is also involved in several other community projects including Shinta Mani, which provides free hospitality training to young Cambodians at risk, and the Green Gecko Project, which provides care for more than 60 former street children as well as support for their parents. Through their co-operation with the LHA they also support work in various villages to alleviate poverty and provide support for their basic needs such as health, education and accommodation.

Details of all of these projects and how you can become involved are in the community section of the Hôtel de la Paix website.

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

The FCC’s website describes it as a “boutique hotel” offering “refined luxury, casual elegance”.

I’ve never been entirely sure what really defines a boutique hotel. Perhaps it’s more easily defined in terms of what it isn’t – not a chain, not uniform, not large, not cheap. On those counts, the FCC certainly qualifies. There are other FCCs, in Phnom Penh (the earliest – it was the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, hence the name) and Rangoon, but three properties hardly constitutes a chain, and they’re each distinctive. As for the size, there are just 31 rooms and suites; and the room rate is just over £110 a night. (However, we booked through Agoda, who were offering four nights for the price of three; and the room rate does include breakfast – of which more below.)

Arriving and checking in was straightforward – helped, of course, by the fact that even at the leisurely pace of Cambodian traffic the airport is only about a quarter of an hour’s drive from the town centre. After our welcome drink – a refreshing cold herbal brew – we were shown to the room.

The first impression we had of the room was how small it seemed. The total space available is 36 square metres, which is a reasonable size; but the bed seemed to fill most of the space, and the desk most of the rest of that. And there was only one chair, which meant that I had to sit on the bed over my netbook while Kay lorded it at the desk with her laptop. (WiFi is available throughout the FCC and is free.)

However, the bathroom is quite generously sized, and seems to serve as a dressing-room too (the wardrobes are in it, including the safe). The toiletries were good quality, too, although the shampoo and shower gel came in little pottery bottles that were refilled every day, rather than the small plastic bottles you can take home to decorate your own bathroom. On the downside, the shower (which was a rain shower) was in the ceiling above the bathtub rather than a separate cubicle. One curiosity was that the bath tap didn’t have a spout. Instead the water came out of a recess in the slate-tiled wall, just above the tub – at first glance, it looked like some kind of recessed soap dish, except that it sloped away from the wall. Strange!

We ate every meal at the FCC. (This was partly dictated by the fact that Kay had injured her ankle just a few hours after our arrival and was effectively confined to a wheelchair and thus to the hotel for the length of our stay – you can read more about this on our sister site, Can Do Can Go!.) Room service is available 24 hours a day and is no more expensive than ordering food at the restaurant, which is very reasonably priced itself. The quality of the food is generally very high.

Breakfast is included in the room rate and can be eaten either in your room from 04:30 to 10:30, or in the restaurant from 07:30 to 10:30. (The early start can be explained by the fact that many tourists choose to visit the Angkor complex at dawn to watch the sun rising over the temples.) The servings are generous to say the least; we were caught out by this on our first day as we’d ordered one toasted banana bread from the Continental options (for Kay) and one poached egg “Benedict” from the hot options (for me). They brought us two servings of each! Put it this way – we didn’t bother with lunch at all during our stay. Our only gripe would be that the poached eggs were sometimes too cold when delivered to the room – a great pity, as otherwise they looked as if they would have been delicious (and they certainly were when we ate them at the restaurant).

The staff were pleasant and very helpful. This proved invaluable when Kay injured her ankle – apart from kindly offering Tiger balm to try to help ease the pain (unnecessary; we’d already sourced some ice from a nearby petrol station shop), they also managed to locate a wheelchair somewhere in the city and arranged the hire for us. And when we asked for information about the organisation they’d hired it from, they immediately produced a leaflet from the NGO concerned for us to keep.

The bar and restaurant were pleasant enough places to sit and drink or eat at, with an ornamental pool separating the bar area from the restaurant’s ground floor. (I saw the upper floor briefly – it looked like a comfortable place to eat. But of course wheelchairs can’t go up stairs, and there was no lift.) Although the bar’s billed as staying open until midnight, there didn’t seem to be anything much doing after about ten o’clock, and the staff had virtually shut the place by eleven – a bit of a downer if you’re wandering in after an evening out and fancy sitting down for a pleasant drink outside.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5
It’s not particularly cheap, but it’s a nice quiet place to stay, with friendly staff and good food. We’re very likely to go back!

Author: Dave McMahon

Dave left school at the age of 30 with the odd O-level (like Ancient Icelandic) and a doctorate in something so obscure even he can't remember what it's about. He then joined the FCO. Dave has travelled to most European countries (including several that don't exist any more, though he denies responsibility), as well as Bangladesh, Barbados, Thailand, St Vincent, UAE, Laos, and many more. Having managed to escape from London in 2001, Dave's now resorted to taking unpaid leave to stave off the evil day of his return.

Well, PP certainly was bigger and busier, but not having Angkor Wat just down the road meant that although there was a larger expat community, there were comparatively fewer tourist destinations. Still, we found plenty of good things to eat and only a couple of disappointments.

Jungle Bar, Sisowath Quay (just south of Street 148)

Having dumped our bags at the nearby Bougainvillier Hotel, where we were booked in for four nights, we were ready for breakfast. After staying up all night (we had to leave home at 3am in order to be at the airport for 5am), we didn’t feel up to going very far. Since we didn’t like the look of the menu or the prices at the Bougainvillier, we strolled a little way along the riverfront. The first promising place we came to was the Jungle Bar. Kay’s full English breakfast was excellent – well cooked, good portions, good quality food, and friendly service (but more about the service later). It was inexpensive too, at $3.75. Even the toast was nice – good thick bread and properly toasted on both sides. Meanwhile, Dave tucked into a breakfast burrito – a tortilla filled with egg, bacon, tomato and chillies. Very tasty it was, too. We were impressed. The only downside was that there were far too many flies buzzing about and we were constantly harassed by street vendors. As far as food goes, though, for breakfast only (we didn’t try any other meals there) you couldn’t really ask for more.

However, a few days later we found ourselves back there again by default – not having found anything better – and one of the staff put her foot in it by asking whether Dave was Kay’s son. It kind of put us off ever going back there. But if you don’t mind rude comments from the staff or you’re travelling with someone exactly the same age as yourself, then chances are you’ll enjoy your breakfast at the Jungle.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 for breakfast only

FCC, Sisowath Quay/Street 178

We went to the FCC a couple of times during our stay and had mixed experiences. You can’t beat the place for ambience with its upstairs bars overlooking the Tonlé Sap river at its confluence with the Mekhong. It also has an excellent and varied menu. What they actually produce varies quite a bit, though.

On the first visit we just wanted a snack and so ordered an antipasti platter between us, which seemed like a worthwhile feed for $6.50: hummus, babaghanoush, marinated aubergine, roasted red peppers, rocket, olives, Parma ham, feta cheese and pitta bread.

Unfortunately the waitress brought us two platters. Dave pointed out that we’d only asked for one. The spare was duly taken away, but another staff member came to quibble about the order afterwards and insisted that Dave had asked for two. (We were, however, only billed for one.) The food itself was excellent, though – apart from the hummus, which was on the bland side.

On the second visit, again, it was just for a snack and we tried the tapas option of three different appetisers – salt and pepper squid with lime aioli, which was nice; crab and corn cakes with chilli jam the crab cakes were lovely but the chilli jam didn’t appear to have any chilli in it (which we rectified by adding some ourselves from the dipping sauce); and vegetable spring rolls with dipping sauce, perhaps we should’ve scoffed them up faster but by the time we got around to them, after the crab cakes, it was like trying to eat linoleum.

On our third visit, we were ravenously hungry and ordered some comfort food. Dave went for sausage and mash, Kay had the fish and chips. The food arrived in rather over-fussy style, with underplates upon which our dinner plates were then set. We think the psychology was that the dinner should appear bigger than it really was; for us it simply looked as if the restaurant was trying to disguise the smallness of the portions. Dave’s sausage and mash was really not bad. Kay’s fish and chips were rather soggy; perhaps they’d been held back for the soss and mash.

To give a fairer rating we should probably have sampled a breakfast or dinner but based on the snacks we had, it merits about 3½ for food, and higher because it’s a very pleasant place to be.

Overall rating: 3½ out of 5 for snacks only

River Street Bar, Sisowath Quay/Street 178

Once again we found ourselves strolling along the riverfront, this time looking for somewhere to have dinner. We came upon the River Street Bar (lots of bars around here are called River Front or River something, which could lead to a bit of confusion). Anyway, it had a nice corner location and we went to sit down. When we saw how grubby the chairs were it almost put us off but we thought, “What the heck,” and sat down anyway. Then we had a look at the menu, and that too was filthy – all dirty blotches and grease. If that was how things on public view were, we wondered what kind of dirt was behind the scenes in the kitchen. We left without ordering anything.

Overall rating: 0 out of 5 because the place was too dirty to eat there

La Croisette, Sisowath Quay/Street 144

This looked like a nice place – another corner location on the riverfront – so we had brunch here. We had a couple of fruit shakes to start, which were very good. Then Dave had a baguette with merguez sausage, chips and salad, which he pronounced to be very tasty with a nice, spicy sausage. Kay had a bacon sarnie. This could’ve been very good but was totally spoiled by the cheap and nasty bread used for the toast, and that wasn’t even toasted properly. It would probably have been better to order the baguette.

However, they did have a good extensive menu with something for everyone. Definitely worth a try as long as you avoid the toast.

Overall rating: 3½ out of 5