Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: The World According to Pol Pot

It would be our first day in Phnom Penh so the excitement was sky-rocketing. We had arranged with the hostel to arrange a Tuk Tuk for a one day tour to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek (The Killing Field) for which we’d pay USD15.

Our Tuk Tuk driver was a stocky man probably in his late 30’s and although he didn’t speak much English, he seemed to understand every word that we said.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum that we found out wasn’t really far from the hostel. In fact, it was located very much within the city so we arrived there much sooner that we had expected. We even arrived there just in time to catch the movie show.

Oh well, it wasn’t really the kind of movie that I had expected from something like Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It was more like a love story written/narrated based on a stack of correspondent letters between a man who was sent to serve for the Pol Pot and a lady whom he left back in the village to suffer the oppression.

Of course between here and there they’d be narrated clips that showed some of the genocidal acts that happened at the then school buildings during the Pol Pot era but it was mostly on the love story. The narrative voice was the kind that lingers in your head for such a long long time.

Although I had all the pity for the man and the lady in the movie, I had to keep myself from falling asleep and made myself look disrespectful but the movie seemed to be dragging on for too long I began to feel a little bit restless and hot on my ass after awhile.

It couldn’t believe how relieved I was when the movie had finally rolled to its end and the time to check out the ‘real things’ had finally come.

Looking at those square buildings which were once parts of a school, it was hard to believe that they were made to witness one of the most horrible genocides the world has ever seen.

The fact that it happened very much recently when the world had supposedly learned a lot from its mistakes in the past was quite hard to swallow and comprehend. It makes people realize that the world has never really learned from its mistakes after all, that there was no guarantee that the world can ever be fully safe from crazy people like Pol Pot, even in this very modern era and (supposedly) civilized world.

Pol Pot had really learned a lot from China. The idea of ‘purifying’ Cambodia by ALL MEANS had first come about in his crooked head when he visited China so you know where the ideas had all come from.

It really was depressing to be in there and looking at all those pictures and paintings and knowing that they had really happened right there inside the buildings some 35 years ago.

I had the most depressing moment while looking at the mug shots of those who have been prosecuted. My travel buddy Mr. KJH describes it best, that even though they are still physically alive in those pictures, the looks on their faces show that they were already dead even before they were prosecuted.

It was like, there are alive but soulless. They don’t even look scared but more of in acceptance of the fact that they were going to die anyway and there was nothing they could do about it.

The more I looked at them, the more depressed I became. It was like being forced to witness the most horrible of cold-bloodied killings right before your eyes and you can’t even turn away. I knew I had the option of getting the hell out of there but of course I didn’t come all the way to Phnom Penh to skip over things.

Those who were prosecuted fast had been lucky to have died fast but those who were subjected to (prolonged) torture had suffered the most. The torturing techniques varied, from the more direct-forward to the most unthinkable ones. All were done to inflict fear on the people so that the slightest idea of revolting or uprising would never ever cross their minds.

Pol Pot’s super-ambitious mission of making Cambodia the most ‘communist’ country in the world had left the Cambodian people with no option. They either joined the regime to be on the killing and torturing hands or stayed back and waited until fate reached them as decided by Mr. Pol Pot.

Either way, they were not happy (of) doing, nor did they have any option. If there was somebody to be blamed, it was Pol Pot – all Pol Pot and Pol Pot alone – and probably his ‘brothers’ who had their own share of power and brutality.

I guess Pol Pot and his ‘brothers’ must have grown addicted to killing people after awhile that they’d always find an excuse to kill somebody every now and then and the worse thing is, they always got it. The killings were so rampant that they’d always be somebody (even a bunch of them) gone overnight.

It was certainly the darkest time in Cambodia and many of its people are still traumatized by it. What happened back then are still affecting their lives very much especially those whose family members had been killed or forced to kill their own people. Some people even suggested that the whole museum be burned down so that the people of Cambodia wouldn’t be reminded of their dark past.

But then, past is past. Things have already happened and nothing can be done about it now. Pol Pot has long died; probably serving his term in hell since he didn’t get any of it when he was still alive (he died a happy man with 2 wives at the age of 90). The museum is a stark reminder that a simple ambition of one man can burn down the whole country.

Apparently, the ambition of a man had started it all and it was the same ambition that killed it all. With the whole of Cambodia had their knees down on his feet, Pol Pot must have felt like God and he wanted more and more power so he launched attacks on Vietnam.

That was the beginning of his downfall.Attacking the only country in the world that has a history of defeating the Americans in a one to one war had proved to be a huge mistake that had subsequently brought Pol Pot and his regime down. The Vietnamese responded by waging a war on Pol Pot and it didn’t take them long to throw him out of the boat.

Weakened by Vietnamese interference in his power-gaining mission, groups of revolutionists began to take form in Cambodia and Pol Pot was subsequently chased out of the country and lived in exile for another 20 years before he met the real God.

Oh well, we didn’t come to the museum to just snap pictures and get the hell outta there before the next hour. Although the atmosphere was somber and it wasn’t the kind of place that you probably want to be at for too long, of course we wanted to spend a little bit of time sitting around and absorbing the moment.

That was the whole idea of being a traveler and not a tourist as opposed to our backpacking style in traveling. The Tuk Tuk driver didn’t seem to get that (idea) so when we returned to him about two and half hours later, he was all furious. His smiley face had gone, replaced by bitter and obviously upset impression. The fact that it was past lunchtime and he was hungry might have boiled up the tense inside him.

But then, I might have to tell you again that the Cambodian people are the most ‘un-intimidating’ people that you might ever see. I don’t know but there’s something about them that are so assuring, that they actually have a good heart and they wouldn’t really do you any harm. 😀

A Belgian lady who had joined us in the tour came up with an idea of giving him another 5 US Dollars because she didn’t feel comfortable riding on a Tuk Tuk driven by an unsmiling man. Oh well, the driver was lucky to be having a Belgian on board instead of an Italian. Otherwise, I don’t think he’d even get a single penny of extra. 😀

USD5 if divided by four wouldn’t really be a big deal so we agreed to it and VOILA! USD5 changed it all and the Tuk Tuk driver was back to his smiley face again.

Stopping somewhere for a sit-down lunch didn’t seem to be a good idea because we were not sure how long we were going to be at the Killing Field so we asked the driver to stop at one of the bakeries that were quite aplenty along the road.

If there was something that I could give my highest credit to Phnom Penh for, it would be their bakeries. Seriously, they really have the best bakeries with the most variety of cakes and breads you’ll be spoiled for choice. I actually asked the now smiling again Tuk Tuk driver to pick his own choice of bread so that I can buy it for him.

You should see how he refused the offer with his coy smile and ‘shy-shy cat’ facial impression. He took one when I insisted anyway but hastily ran away to his Tuk Tuk when I asked him to take another.

Having lunch on a moving vehicle might be common and nothing unusual but having it on a speeding Tuk Tuk certainly had a sense of adventure in it.

SO, Genocide Museum is the place where all the torturing and probably some of the killings had been implemented. With so many people being brought in from just about every corner of Cambodia, it wasn’t long before the merely 3-blocks prison reached its capacity so Pol Pot had to come up with an idea of getting rid of them – fast and silent. The solution came in the form of a patch of land about 17 kilometers  to the south of Phnom Penh and that was exactly where we were heading for.