Some of the victims remains at the Phnom Pros genocide memorial
The newly-erected genocide memorial stupa at Phnom Pros
One of the larger burial pits at Phnom Pros, now full of water and
Phnom Srei are extremely popular sites just a few kilometres west of Kompong Cham city. The two hills house a number of reasons to attract visitors, mostly Khmer of course, but of interest to foreigners too. Aside from the boisterous monkeys and the pagodas on each hill - coupled with the legend of how the hills were constructed and how the women outwitted the men blah, blah, blah - there is also a newly constructed genocide memorial one hundred metres from Phnom Pros, a series of colourful Buddhist statues and a library topped off by the giant faces often seen at pagodas across the country. Phnom Pros - the man pagoda - is the easier of the two pagodas to visit, whilst Phnom Srei has better views though has many more steps to climb. The genocide memorial at the site was constructed with donations from wealthy Khmers including the Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was born in the province, and contains skulls and bones of some of the 10,000 people believed to have been killed at the prison site and buried in fifty large and many more smaller burial pits nearby. Some remains were transferred to Wat Nokor, on the outskirts of the city, whilst the rest were kept in a kitchen used by the monks before the current stupa was erected. Witnesses tell of trees near the burial pits where babies were smashed against the tree trunk, whilst many others suffered lethal injections at the makeshift hospital there. At Wat Phnom Pros there are a couple of original sandstone lions with erect torso and stunted hindquarters, some seima stones and a large stupa, recently painted, that dates from the early part of the last century.
Wat Phnom Pros attracts a lot of visitors. The newly painted stupa on the left is the oldest part of the pagoda
2 original sandstone lions from Angkorean times in situ at Wat Phnom Pros
This serene Buddha face sits atop the library at Wat Phnom Pros
Some of the victims remains at the Phnom Pros genocide memorial
The newly-erected genocide memorial stupa at Phnom Pros
One of the larger burial pits at Phnom Pros, now full of water
Wat Phnom Pros attracts a lot of visitors. The newly painted stupa on the left is the oldest part of the pagoda
2 original sandstone lions from Angkorean times in situ at Wat Phnom Pros
This serene Buddha face sits atop the library at Wat Phnom Pros
3 Comments:
I accidentally deleted a comment regarding the use of the term 'attractions' to describe the genocide memorial, etc. Sorry to whoever it was. However, its a good point and as my post says there are diverse attractions and interests for both local and international visitors. Whatever your view, that such killing fields' sites are macabre or whatever term you wish to use, memorials such as Phnom Pros and Choeung Ek have been seen by tens of thousands of visitors, who, for their own reasons, find interest in visiting these sites. I won't go into the whys and wherefores now, and of course, domestic visitors and international visitors may visit for very different reasons, its entirely up to them, but the sites continue to attract visitors so in my defense, I have called them attractions. However all feedback is welcome.
Nice see u back from the storm, Andy. Will u stay for the monsoon season as well? Most people just leave when the rains draw near, but I suppose Cambodia must be an entirely different country by then - perhaps, more closed upon itself, not so easily yielding its secrets... Hope you'll remain and report throughout. What I have objected to when I disputed the use of the term 'attractions' was properly to form, lattu sensu. Though I had not planned to visit former prisons and genocide memorials when I traveled to Cambodia, once there, I felt myself compelled to do so, out of respect for the dead, solidarity with the Cambodian people and interest in their history. But when I saw that to sign up to tour Choeung Ek you were required to put down your name under the heading "Killing Fields", I hired a motodop and went there all by myself. --- Hari
I will be here for the duration, perhaps for the rest of my life...Cambodia is now my home so I hope to carry on reporting on my various travels and tribulations for a long time to come.
regards, Andy
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