Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum — Attraction in Khan Boeng Keng Kang

For all of it's grim appearance and history, this is still one of the most compelling things to do whilst visiting Phnom Penh. Set in an old school building this museum was the actual site of a notorious secret prison and torture centre. Many died here, everyone here was tortured and thousands were taken from here to kling fields which can also be visited separately.

You will probably already know that the barbaric instruments of torture, the pens and cells with stained floors and the very graphic photographs and stories, combine to make this a powerful history lesson in human brutality. If you bring younger children you might get plenty of difficult questions and it could be impossible to shield them from the graphic photos of dead victims and paintings of torture in progress.

I would certainly recommend opting for the audio tour as there isn't a huge amount of written display material and some of the areas will look repetitive without the additional explanation. You also get a useful amount of background context as well as some first hand accounts from survivors.

As you move between the four main buildings there is ample opportunity to take a break outside or just listen to the audio without having to look at the displays. The audio lets you repeat or move ahead at your own pace and it is clear and well read.

Towards the conclusion of the tour there is material on the audio that brings you up to speed on the present day genocide and war crimes trials of some of the Khmer Rouge leadership. Shockingly, this is still going on today, has cost hundreds of millions of dollars and only prosecuted about 3 people.

More poignantly, as you leave, there is a chance to meet two of the survivors, both of whom have books to sell about their time in S 21 prison. It's a powerful visit if you take the time to absorb the stories and one that will stay with you longer after your...

Sure thing! Picture this: I found myself in Cambodia, and curiosity led me to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Now, let me tell you, this place wasn't your run-of-the-mill tourist spot. It was a haunting reminder of Cambodia's dark past, and my visit was an experience I won't soon forget.

So, I stroll into this museum, right? The air is heavy with history, and the silence is almost deafening. You can feel it – the weight of all those stories waiting to be told, etched into the very walls. This place used to be a school, but during the Khmer Rouge regime, it turned into a house of horrors.

As I wander through the museum, I come across these exhibits that hit you right in the gut. There are these photographs, real black and white snapshots of people who lived through hell. Their eyes, man, their eyes tell a thousand stories – fear, pain, resilience.

Then there are these personal belongings, like they just froze in time. You see a child's shoe, a piece of clothing, and it hits you – these were real people with real lives, abruptly interrupted. It's like a punch to the gut, let me tell you.

But here's the kicker. Amidst all this darkness, you find stories of sheer grit and survival. People who went through hell and back, yet somehow found the strength to rebuild. It's a testament to the human spirit, the kind that gives you chills down your spine.

By the time I left that place, I was filled with a mix of emotions – sadness, reflection, but also hope. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum isn't just a museum; it's a living, breathing reminder of Cambodia's past. It's a place that makes you think, makes you remember, and makes you appreciate the resilience of the human spirit.

In the end, it's a place that reminds you that even in the darkest of times, there's a glimmer of light. And that, my friends, is a story...

I'll be honest - it's not an easy visit, but it's one of those places that really makes you think about history in a way that textbooks just can't.

This place used to be a regular high school until the Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison called S-21 between 1975 and 1979. Walking through those old classrooms that became cells is pretty intense. You can still see the original conditions, which really drives home what happened here to around 14,000 people.

What hits you most are all the black-and-white photos covering the walls - faces of people who were imprisoned here. It's not just numbers in a history book anymore when you're looking at actual faces. The whole place feels heavy with that history.

Definitely grab the audio guide if you go. It does a great job explaining the bigger picture of what the Khmer Rouge was trying to do and how Pol Pot's vision of turning Cambodia into some kind of farming paradise went so horribly wrong. There are also stories from survivors like Bou Meng, who worked as a guard there, which really personalizes everything.

Look, it's not a fun day out, but places like this matter. They show you how quickly normal places can become something terrible and why we need to remember these things happened. It's heavy stuff, but it's the kind of experience that sticks with you and makes you appreciate how important it is to learn from the past. If you want to understand modern Cambodia, this museum is pretty much essential.

Visiting a place like Tuol Sleng might prompt you to think about other situations where people are being harmed. When we witness evidence of human suffering, it's natural for our minds to connect it to contemporary situations...