A sobering day....

We had a great history-learning day. We spent the day learning about all of the Khmer Rouge history and visiting two interesting sites.
In the morning, we were picked up in a tuk tuk by a guy named Picadae (pronounced "pick-a-day"). He is someone that John and Michele knows and trusts. We took a 45 minute tuk tuk ride to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. We walked around the grounds listening to an audio recording on a headset of a man who had survived the tortures and killings of the Khmer Rouge. He talked about the grounds and what happened there for a prisoner. He explained the experience of what happened between leaving the prison and how they were executed. It was amazing to think that this all occurred about 40 years ago and that many of the higher up leaders of the Khmer Rouge weren't tried in a criminal court until 2011.
After the killing fields, we moved onto the Tuol Sleng Museum. The Tuol Sleng was once a high school for kids until the Khmer Rouge took over the grounds and used it as a prison and torture place of thousands of innocent Cambodians who were thought could be a threat to the Khmer Rouge. There was still blood stains on the walls and ceilings in many rooms. The exhibit was very interesting to walk through.
From the Museum we walked around the more touristy area of town and found some food. Our hotel is not very conveniently located in regards to eating safe food. John and Michele warned us not to eat the street food in Cambodia because everyone they know who has, has gotten sick. So being in the touristy area was nice, but food was fairly expensive. All in all, we had a great day. Below are some pictures of the day.

The road was unpaved in many sections, so Picadae stopped and got us masks.

Picadae driving

Memorial Stupa that houses all the bones and skulls that have been unearthed from the rainy seasons.

Mass grave site

People have placed these bracelets all over the posts of the grave sites. No one did tell us what it was for or meant.

Skulls in the Stupa

There are 17 shelves of skulls in the Stupa. Over 3500 people were killed at this killing field. There were over 300 killing fields throughout Cambodia during the time of Khmer.

A room at the Tuol Sleng Prison. One room would hold anywhere from 10 to 1000 people. The rooms were crowded with 20 people in them. I can't imagine 1000 people.

Building A of the Tuol Sleng complex. There are four buildings total that mirror this building. 

Independence Monument

We were looking at other travel books and stumbled across the Book of Mormon. We are fairly positive the missionaries gave it to her at one point and she has been trying to resell it ever since. She wanted $3 for it. What a rip-off! The same book is only $2.50 at the Distribution Center. Maybe someone will fall for it and take the bait.  If they do, they wont regret it.