Another Postcard from Thailand: Tuol Sleng

Somewhat of a culture day, today, in two very, very different parts. Another early start this morning after another tyical CavTours food and drink extravaganza along the Tonle Sap River the night before. The first tour was to the Royal Palace. First established in 1866 and developed to its present size by 1920, the site serves as the residence for the king and main cultural symbol for the kingdom. Well manicured grounds surround royal buildings such as the one pictured. It is also the site for the Silver Pagoda, so named for its silver tiled floor (although the uncarpeted bit we saw was looking a bit frayed). It also serves as a museum for priceless Buddist and historical objects and Linda assures me that her book tells her that it is öne of the thousand places you must see before you die. For me, one of the surprisingly pleasant things about the place was the little toothless old man and his two sons who played on a wooden xylophone, musical bells and drum respectively near the exit. They generated such an engaging rhythm I could have sat there all morning. We all met up at the Foregn Correspndents Club, another place on Linda's list, for fruit juices at lunch time.

My afternoon trip was a totally different affair. Linda would not go with me. Having experienced all the pleasurable aspects that Cambodia had to offer thus far it was time to bite the bullet and engage with the more unsavoury side of its recent history. Tuol Sleng is Phnom Penh's Genocide Museum. It is located on the actual site of Security Office 21 (S21) of the former "Democratic Kampuchea"; created by Pol Pot for the systematic interrogation, torture and murder of its citizens. The place itself used to be a high school but the Khmer Rouge turned the four, three-storey concrete Blocks into cells and torture chambers. Visitors can visit the cells, see the rusty metal beds and the shackles and devices that held the prisoners, see the barbed wire that surrounded the outside of the Blocks to stop would-be suicides, and look at the grainy enlarged black and white photos of all the people who were about to be killed. It hit me hard as I was walking past wall after wall of these doomed "mug shots" when I realised I was looking at pictures of little asian children. Steve: you remember the impact of the Jersey underground war museum all those years ago? This is worse. I've been wandering the streets for an hour prior to finding this internet cafe: I do not and cannot understand this! I was considering visiting one of the more infamous "killíng fields" about 15 klicks outside PP but I can't face any more. The human species in the 20th century has a lot to answer for.