Hello Readers! This is Ashlyn and Rebecca reflecting on our packed day yesterday. After watching the beautiful sunrise from the rooftop of our hotel, we gathered in the meeting room to listen to a short but interesting history lesson from our guides, Moni and Silong. They allowed us to make educated guesses on the timeline of Cambodia's history, where we worked together to explore the series of events that led to the Genocide. 

Our group then made our way to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the real site of S-21 imprisonment camp during the 1970's. As you walk into the museum, you are greeted and then given headphones and an audio player filled with recordings and explanations of what we were about to witness. The Plumeria Alba trees surround a series of courtyards and tall, beige buildings. The audio tour begins in the first courtyard that holds the graves of the 14 bodies that remained after the Imprisonment camp closed; however, the gravestones remain as a reminder of the 18,000+ victims whose bodies weren't revealed. As we listened to witness stories, survivor testimony, and even music created by those who were killed, we were able to truly immerse ourselves in the evidence and open our eyes to a new perspective. 

 Hearing the variety of stories was truly heartbreaking, including the hundreds of children, doctors, intellectuals, musicians, and artists that were brutally tortured, contained, and ultimately killed. One thing that truly stuck out to us was that there were only 12 survivors our of the almost 19,000 prisoners of S-21. Below is the surfeit of pictures that were taken by the Khmer Rouge in order to keep precise record of victims that were taken into the camp.

Walking through the rooms that once held thousands of victims truly opened our eyes to the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia. Although horrific and shocking, we are grateful for the once in a lifetime experience; an opportunity for our group to connect and reflect on a new level. 

After the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, our group was introduced to world renowned  Camboidan composer of opera, Him Sophy, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge. He brought us to his Opera School in Phnom Penh where we watched a beautifully constructed Opera film in which he strived to include other forms of art as well, such as rock. The performance, entitled Where Elephants Weep, was written in both English and Khmer and was about the desire for love between a monk and a princess. 

    

Once we concluded with the film, we made our way to a port where we boarded a ferry to go on a cruise to watch the sunset. Enjoying each others company, we listened to music, took pictures, and talked about our day as we sailed the Mekong river. 

    

After an amazing day full of activities, we finished it off and were surprised by our guides with a more comforting meal...PIZZA! 

Thank you for reading about our day!

Becca and Ashlyn