Cambodia - The Longhan Orchard (Choeng Ek Extermination Camp)

by Nancy Hawker
(Oman)

The legacy of genocide that the Pol Pot regime left behind - their prisons, extermination camps and killing fields - have now been transformed into mass tourist attractions. One of these sites is the Choeung Ek Extermination Camp, which was first unearthed by the Vietnamese after their liberation of the Cambodians in 1979. It lies just 15 km southwest of Phnom Penh, and preserves the remains of some 9,000 victims.

Upon arriving at the longhan orchard with its green fields and silver-tipped trees blowing gently in the wind, I found it hard to believe that so many horrors could have taken place amongst
so much beauty. A dirt path winds around the site, with information about each gravesite written across crude wooden plaques. These grassy mounds, around 129 of them, have now all been excavated and marked with the numbers and the sex of those unearthed, and the condition in which they were found.

Prisoners from Tuol Sleng Detention Camp were transported to Choeng Ek by truck, and upon arrival were either detained in wooden shacks that were constructed from wood with galvanized steel roofs and darkened to prevent prisoners from seeing each other, or else immediately executed and then thrown into mass graves. Chemicals were then thrown overtop to dissolve the bodies.

Another path through the fields takes you to a large stupa, a Buddhist shrine that has been built to commemorate and hold the preserved remains of those that were killed. Beaten and misshapen skulls peer out from behind thick panes of glass, expressions of surprise and horror still etched on their frozen faces. Propped up against the inside walls of the stupa are the leg and arm bones that once belonged to them.

I was very moved by Choeung Ek Extermination Camp, and although I felt conflicted by paying to see something so tragic, it's a place that should be visited in order to remember and respect the people who suffered and died there.

Ed. Note: Nancy manages the blog Women Travelling Alone.

Comments for
Cambodia - The Longhan Orchard (Choeng Ek Extermination Camp)

Click here to add your own comments

Never forget!
by: Leyla

Nancy, thanks for this story! Like many other horrors of history, Pol Pot's regime, like the Holocaust and others before it, must be remembered so that it might never happen again.
Longhan Orchard
by: Nancy

We say that Leyla, but will we ever really change? And how much more horror has taken place in countries all over the world since then? But how about this? I recently read an article about Ghengis Khan and how his murderous slaughter of millions helped to reduce global warming, because cultivated farmland was converted back to its normal green state, thereby reducing man's 'footprint' on the earth. Talk about turning it around!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Share Your Own Story!

Still DREAMING about taking that first big trip?
What's stopping you from DOING it?

If you're nervous about setting out on your own, if you find yourself making all sorts of excuses, if there are a million reasons why right now is not the right time...

Then you really need the Art of Solo Travel ! This book is made for you. Whatever is holding you back, The Art of Solo Travel takes the obstacles away, relieves your fears and insecurities, and gets you on the road!

Find out more