The Killing Fields

Cambodia experienced decades of wars, both from external forces and from internal conflicts. The history is quite sad, and relics of these wars still exist all over the country. There are still millions of live land mines throughout the country, causing dozens of people to be maimed or killed every year. The Cambodian population has one of the highest percentage of amputees in the world.

Most recently, the people of Cambodia were under decades of tyrannical rule by the sociopath Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime. The torture, killings and genocide that they endured for years left hundreds of mass graves throughout the country, commonly called The Killing Fields.  

The Cambodian people have erected memorial sites at the Killing Fields and we visited one in Siem Reap. It was so incredibly sad. I had to leave the little museum a couple of times because I couldn't stand to see the pictures and stories of the horrific acts of torture inflicted upon these people for no reason.  War is really, really fucked up.

The Killing Field and torture prison in Siem Reap was actually at the site of an old Buddhist monastery. It's kinda cool that they have now built this little monument and museum at the site, but also converted the temple back to its original purpose. Today it is once again an active Buddhist monastery, and they have planted a bodhi tree right next to the piles of skulls (Buddha was believed to have been born beneath a bodhi tree).