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After visiting the visiting Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 prison). We took a tuk-tuk to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. It was about a 35-minute trip outside of Phnom Penh.

Killing Fields of Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre’s opening hours were 9-5 and $6 with audio to enter.

When the prisoners in S-21 were finished with they were brought to Cheoung Ek to be executed. This is one of many killing fields established throughout the country while under Khmer Rouge rule.

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Under Khmer Rouge rule at least 20,000 Cambodians were executed here at the Killing Fields in Choeung Ek.

They were brought out in trucks, taken to pits that had been dug in the ground and as ammunition was too expensive they would bash, hack, and poison.

And mutilate they are victims with spades or sharpened bamboo sticks before being thrown into a mass grave.

Mass grave site where 450 people were buried
Mass grave site where 450 people were buried
Mass graves found
Be careful where you stand

Children and infants of adult victims were killed by having their heads bashed against the trunks of Chankiri trees and then were thrown into the pits alongside their parents.

Chankiri tree where kids and babies heads bashed against the trunk of this tree

In total 129 mass graves were found, 86 of which were excavated. 8,985 corpses were exhumed. The largest mass grave was a grave containing 450 corpses.

The memorial stupa is an astonishing sight as you enter it. 12 floors of over 5000 human skulls displayed behind the acrylic glass windows with the bottom level had blood-soaked clothes of the victims recovered from the graves and the weapons used there the victims.

killing field memorial
Memorial tower Stupa levels of human skulls
Memorial tower Stupa human skulls
Memorial tower Stupa human skulls

Wrapping Up

And that’s it for now! I’d love to know if this guide on visiting the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek has helped you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there are any more places to visit in Cambodia.

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