Siem Reap and Not Phnom Penh

Just a short note to clarify that we went to Siem Reap because the Angkor ruins are there. Our guide gave us so much information and after the first misunderstanding that he was actually our guide, he told us so much about the history and especially the people of Cambodia and what they have gone through. No trip to Cambodia would be complete without a trip to a museum or to where the "killing fields" were. Joe was 14 in 1975 when the Pol Pot took over and gave the order to send everyone out of Phnom Penh. Without notice or time to pack up, the soldiers swarmed the town and told everyone to start walking toward Siem Reap, a distance of over 100 miles. Joe told us he was with his family walking on the road to Siem Reap and no one had food or water and the soldiers were relentless and would kill anyone who said anything to them or anyone who asked questions. The soldiers told the group of hundreds of thousands that they would meet US soldiers in Siem Reap who were moving them to Viet Nam. Everyone was afraid and did as told. When they got to the field where the helicopters were to land and take them away, the soldiers started shooting. Over a period of time it is estimated that 1 million Cambodians were shot and killed. Joe managed to get his sister and run away. They hid in trees, bushes and any place they could find. But they lost everyone, their whole family and friends and neighbors. Joe joined the military to fight the Khmer Rouge but it is clear that everyone who survived the time period of 1975-1979 is marked by the tragedy of the killing fields. There are memorials throughout Cambodia, in every city and village, so the people will never forget the killing fields. Joe also took us to a museum with tanks, a helicopter, a jet and mostly Russian war equipment along with many pictures and caches of mines and hidden bombs. We were shown how the mines worked and how they would put a mine on top of a huge ditch of bombs and wait for a person to walk that way. The mine would explode and then blow up the bombs and enough power would kills 50+ people. I have to say that I couldn't look at any more pictures of bodies, skulls, or blood. But the evidence is there and we wondered why the children are sheltered from the horrors and stories of the killing fields. I am not sure how much they should know but something so horrible should be a part of everyone's thought's in Cambodia.