Travel: The Killing Fields and Genocide Museum

Visiting these two historic sites, The Killing Fields and Genocide Museum, is hard. Not only because of some of the graphic nature, but also because I’m quite ignorant to the events. Why didn’t I learn about this in school? Disappointing.

Both locations offer a guided audio tour which is the best way to enjoy the sites. You can move at your own pace, sit and listen intently or skip over stories that are too tragic for you to handle. There is a private nature to the tour which gives it more of an impact. In all honesty, I would have gotten upset had it been a guided tour with a live person and then someone in the group started talking or eating during the tour. The individual audio option simply removes all of that interaction.

We visited The Killing Fields first and were there when it opened. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day for about 15$. Our day started at 7:30am and ended around 1:30pm.

The Killing Fields

After spending about 3 hours at The Killing Fields we made our way to the Genocide Museum around 11am. This location was harder for me than the other. Perhaps because the prisoners here suffered far more or perhaps because my understanding of human beings was being shaken.

Genocide Museum

Overall, it’s not fun to visit these locations, yet I believe it’s important. Important to understand the history behind the country you’re visiting. If you’re in Phnom Penh give yourself some time to learn about the Cambodian history and visit these sites – you’ll learn a lot, trust me.

Thank you for stopping by and I wish you well. See you again soon.