Visitors to Phnom Penh can discover its tragic past and experience creativity....

Phnom Penh is a city revitalized. The skyline of Cambodia's once sleepy capital is being pierced by its first high-rise, and the red dirt roads, now sealed, swarm with SUVs and motorcycles.For a city that has endured more than its share of bloodshed and destruction, today's youthful exuberance and palpable energy are a welcomed by locals and visitors.

Yet despite the positive change being witnessed today, any time spent in Phnom Penh must still include reflective visits to the sites of the country's horrific past. Two of the most visited places in Phnom Penh are still Camp Cheoung Ek, one of many infamous Killing Fields sites, and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school that became a torture centre known as S-21.

Camp Cheoung Ek lies 15 kilometres southwest of the city and was the burial site for those tortured and killed in S-21. In 1980, 129 mass graves were found here and 8,985 corpses unearthed. Today, a large stupa contains the bones and remnants of clothing as a memorial to the victims. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is located in a suburb of Phnom Penh. The building is thought to have witnessed over 20,000 citizens pass through its doors to be tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

 On the ground floor, rooms with a single bed and leg irons where torture was carried out now envelop visitors in an eerie silence. One of the most haunting experiences, however, is looking at the thousands of black and white images of victims displayed on boards throughout the building. Like all regimes that committed genocide, the Khmer Rouge was meticulous in documenting those it killed.

Source=bangkokpost