Take a sobering step back in time with a visit to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Cheung Ek Killing Fields.
Tuol Sleng was a school in central Phnom Penh that served as S-21 during the Khmer Rouge reign. It operated as a detention and torture centre. Out of an estimated 20,000 prisoners, only seven survived. The rest were tortured and killed or sent to their death at Choeung Ek – the nearby killing field site. Much of the centre has been left as it was discovered in 1979. Many of the torture tools remain, shocking boards of photographs taken of victims as they enter stand in blood-splattered rooms, and tiny brick cells used to house prisoners remain intact.
Followed by a museum visit, you´ll drive to the outskirts of the city to Choeung Ek, where almost 9 000 bodies were discovered at the mass graves, more commonly known as the Killing Fields. The chilling site now stands as a memorial and features a Buddhist stupa filled with human skulls retrieved from the fields.
Please note that visitors to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum are required to keep their knees and shoulders covered.
