History's horror in Phnom Penh

FROM CLASSROOM TO HELL: This picture shows the brick prison cells inside S-21 prison. Once a neighbourhood high school, the building was seized by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and turned into a prison. Picture by Mike Yardley

Mike Yardley embarks on a poignant voyage through Phnom Penh, where the beauty of its Buddhist heritage intertwines with the chilling shadows of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Located at the confluence of the mighty Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers, the very name Phnom Penh conjures up an image of the exotic. I recently visited Cambodia’s capital with Emerald Cruises on their magnificent week-long float from Ho Chi Minh City.

From the fluttering saffron robes of passing monks to the glimmering spires of the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh struts its Buddhist stripes at every turn. But the Cambodian capital’s shine was egregiously tarnished by the ravages of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The past bastardry is still central to the city narrative. The regime forced most of its three million residents into the countryside, as part of its grand vision for a classless agrarian society, before murdering about a quarter of the population.

My first shore excursion with Emerald Cruises was to one of Cambodia’s biggest Killing Fields, the Choeung Ek extermination camp. Prisoners would arrive blindfolded, unaware of the brutality that was about to unfold. Our guide pointed out the tree named the Killing Tree, which is where children would be beaten to death. Another tree has been named the Music Tree. The Khmer Rouge executioners would hang speakers from the tree and blast out loud music to drown out the screams of people being bludgeoned to death, so that those awaiting their fate remained oblivious to the evil about to be unleashed.

My guide soberly remarked that most people were viciously bludgeoned to death with farm implements, because the Khmer Rouge didn’t want to waste precious money on bullets.

The most sickening spectacle at this site is the shards of bones and clothing sticking up from the vast mounds of dirt that mark the mass graves. Every time it rains, the earth reveals more and more of its sinister secrets, lurking beneath the surface.

A monumental 17-storey glass stupa, built 25 years ago, rises up from the centre, filled with 8000 skulls, exhumed from the mass graves nearby. It’s a harrowing spectacle — steel yourself. Many of the skulls, which are grouped according to age and sex, bear the holes and slices from the blows that killed the people.

Back in town, we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, another horrific reminder of the cruelty humans are capable of inflicting. Once a neighbourhood high school, the building was seized by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and turned into a prison and interrogation centre, the dreaded S-21. During the prison’s four years of operation, an estimated 20,000 Cambodians were tortured here before being transferred to the Killing Fields for execution.

The regime was paranoid about educated Cambodians becoming CIA spies and went to outrageous lengths to interrogate inmates and force out confessions — many of which were false confessions.

Even a Kiwi, Kerry Hamill, was tortured in the prison, before being executed. He was imprisoned along with his friends after sailing off the coast from Thailand and inadvertently straying into Cambodian territorial waters.

Just a handful of inmates walked out of the prison alive, like survivor Chum Mey. His life was only spared because of his ability to repair sewing machines for Pol Pot’s soldiers. The 93-year-old has appeared in numerous documentaries and still greets visitors most days in the museum courtyard.

For a welcome change of scenery, we also headed to the bejewelled splendour, the Royal Palace, the official residence of current King Sihamoni. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, built from 1892 to 1902 and renovated in 1962, is one of Phnom Penh’s greatest attractions. It’s referred to as the Silver Pagoda because of the 5000 silver tiles that make up the floor in the main temple hall.

Just out of Phnom Penh, we also jaunted to Oudong, the former royal capital of Cambodia until it moved to Phnom Penh in 1886. It’s home to the burial sites of numerous Khmer kings and the Oudong monastery. It was fascinating to interact with some of the nuns who live here — many who lost their husbands during the insanity of Pol Pot’s regime.

Best of all, entering the grace and gorgeousness of the main temple, we received a traditional Buddhist blessing from a couple of resident monks.

You’ll have a world of fun taking in the trippy night lights on a remork (tuk-tuk) ride, as Phnom Penh spangles itself silly in splashy light displays. Good-cause dining is also a big deal in town, whereby numerous restaurants are run by aid organisations to help fund their social programmes and train new recruits in the hospitality trade. One of the best is Friends, on St 13, which offers former street children a head-start in the restaurant business.

Explore the wonders, horror and history of Vietnam and Cambodia on Emerald Harmony’s seven-night Majestic Mekong river cruise. It’s an enchanting way to savour a truly heady pocket of the world. Book direct at www.emeraldcruises.co.nz