subject: The Killing Fields (choeung Ek) A Moving Experience [print this page] On the outskirts of Phnom Penh is a destination that would tug your heart strings; a location that will take you back to some of the darkest years of Cambodia; a location meant to contemplate, realize and feel what the citizens of Cambodia would have felt during the painful years in its history; it is none other than the Killing fields that will take you there. As the name has it, it is a memorial for the dead; a tribute to the lives lost during the Khmer Rouge massacre.
This land was once a Chinese and an Orchard graveyard. What would have been a mere tourist attraction now stands as a painful Cambodian memory. When the Khmer Rouge began their brutal massacre, they used this very ground to put down the men, women and children which totaled to 17,000 in number. Today a large Buddhist Stupa has been set up in memory of the dead but what is even more spine chilling is that in the glass chamber located on the stupa's sides you can actually find 9000 human skulls; many of which have been drastically damaged showing the extent of the Khmer Rouge cruelty. The tour through the killing field is fully equipped with audio guides that will take you back to the genocide and will give you descriptive details of the events that took place from 1975 o 1979 . The stories you will hear although painfully tragic will give you a deep insight in to the Cambodian history. At the center of the killing fields you can also find bones and other fragments of clothes, once again preserved in the memory of the dead. Every now and then you can also see monks coming and chanting prayers for the souls of those who were brutally massacred.
The Killing Fields is by far the most painful memory of Cambodia. For lighter places of attraction, explore the city a little and lighten up your spirits. After your emotional rollercoaster in the city, come home to the Raffles Hotel Le Royal. This luxury hotel in Phnom Penh has all the popular facilities making it the most sought out Phnom Penh hotel.
