Tuol Sleng & Chueng Ek Tour, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Phnom Penh and The South

This half day tour tackles difficult areas of Cambodias recent history. Whilst not enjoyable, it provides a greater understanding of what happened in Cambodia during the barbaric and genocidal Khmer Rouge era. This era shaped Cambodia and understanding its past, and what its people went through, provides a better appreciation of the vibrant and lively country that we see today.

When the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, they converted a high-school in the centre of Phnom Penh into a detention and torture centre, known as Tuol Sleng or S-21. The building has been turned into a museum and still looks as it did when the Khmer Rouge lost control of Phnom Penh in 1979.

Chueng Ek is the mass grave site outside Phnom Penh where many of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were buried. Known locally as the killing fields, it is now a memorial centre to those who lost their lives.

The museum and the killing fields can be a very distressing experience, but an essential part of understanding Cambodias tragic past and its great hope for the future.