Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I arrived yesterday after a quick flight from Bangkok. I know I keep mentioning it, but my sinuses!! They're crazy, with 3 flights in less than 24 hours I was hurting. Especially a quick 1 hour flight, my ears were just settling and then we were starting our descent. I could hardly hear anything when I got off the plane, multiplied by the language issue I was struggling.
First impression of Cambodia... it's a different place. Firstly, they take US dollars more than their currency (riel) which I find bizarre. They'll give your change in US as well, but anything less than 1$ is in riels. Also, if there is even a tiny rip in a bill they won't take it. I've got an old, ripped 20$ bill that I can't get rid of (thanks a lot airport). But worse case I'll bring it home- I actually paid with a bill that was in 2 pieces once, we clearly don't have the same standards.
The hostel I'm staying at is pretty cool, I have air conditioning so it really can't lose! The day I got here I spent the day around town. I saw the pagodas, the palace, Wat Phnom and the central and Russian markets. I have been to a lot of Asian markets but these were for sure the most extensive ones I've ever seen! It had everything; clothes mad shoes for anyone, any size, housewares, jewelry, electronics, beauty products, bags, purses, car parts, tools, cooked food, raw groceries (meat, seafood, veg, fruit), fresh baked buns, clothes tailors, hair dressers, nail shops. It was crazy... and I didn't even buy anything haha. The other stuff was pretty standard, temples and grand places. Theyre nice, but not my favorite.
Today was Cambodian history day. I started at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum, also known as S21 jail. It was the largest jail during the Khmer Rouge rule, it was formerly a high school. You can walk through all the buildings and see the cells some of the victims were kept in. There were hundreds of pictures of the people who went through the jail, an estimated 20 000 people, most who were moved to the killing fields to be killed. There were pictures of what they found when the jail was liberated in 1979. They are very graphic, showing dead people all over the rooms. When they arrived there were 7 people remaining, most who had used their skills like painting or small machine repair, to get in good with the soldiers to have their lives spared. It's really hard to imagine this was so recent, and the trial for the leaders of the Khmer Rouge even more recent.
After S 21 I went to Choueng Ek killing fields which is 15 km outside Phnom Penh. It was formerly a Chinese cemetery before Pol Pot turned it into a massacre sight. The buildings from the original sight were torn down shortly after the liberation because the local people needed building supplies. There is an audio guide as you walk around, it was very informative and there were stories from people who had found the mass graves. All through the place there are large depressions where the mass graves were dug up. Even still after a hard rain, bones and clothes will surface from them. It was a very chilling place to know what had gone on there. In 1988 there was a large memorial built in the center of the killing fields. It's 17 levels of all the bones and clothes from the graves. So many skulls and jaw bones- you can see the damage on a lot of the skulls. The Khmer Rouge didnt want to "waste bullets" so most people died from being hit in the head with various tools.The idea of these museums is to preserve that part of history, despite how terrible it was, in hopes that it will prevent something like this again. A day I definitely won't forget.
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