Cambodia - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 378

statue from the 6th century found at Phnom Da; several striking statues of Shiva from the
9th, 10th and 11th centuries; a giant pair of wrestling monkeys (Ko Ker, 10th century);
and the sublime, oft-copied statue of a seated Jayavarman VII (r 1181-1219) meditating.
No photography is allowed except in the central courtyard.

Tuol Sleng Museum
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(cnr St 113 & St 350; admission US$2, guide US$6; 7am-5.30pm) In 1975, Tuol Svay Prey High
School was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a prison known as Se-
curity Prison 21 (S-21). This soon became the largest centre of detention and torture in the
country. At the height of its activity, some 100 victims were killed every day.
The prison has been turned into the Tuol Sleng Museum, which serves as a testament to
the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge leaders were meticu-
lous in keeping records of their barbarism. Each prisoner who passed through S-21 was
photographed, sometimes before and after torture. The long corridors are hallways of
ghosts containing haunting photographs of the victims, their faces staring back eerily from
the past. Tuol Sleng is not for the squeamish.
French-Cambodian director Rithy Panh's powerful 1996 film Bophana , which tells the
true story of a beautiful young woman and a regional Khmer Rouge leader who fall in
love and are consequently executed at S-21 prison, screens here at 10am and 3pm daily.

MUSEUM

Killing Fields of Choeung Ek
(admission incl audio tour US$5; 7.30am-5.30pm) Most of the 17,000 detainees held at the
S-21 prison were exe-cuted at Choeung Ek, 14km southwest of Phnom Penh. Prisoners
were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting precious bullets.
It is hard to imagine the brutality that unfolded here when wandering through this
peaceful, shady, former longan orchard, but the memorial stupa soon brings it home, dis-
playing more than 8000 skulls of victims and their ragged clothes.
A trip out here will cost US$5 round trip on a moto (motorcycle taxi) or about US$10
by remorque (motorcycle-pulled trailer). Drivers start at US$15 to US$20.

MUSEUM

Wat Phnom
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BUDDHIST TEMPLE