My Journal

Travelling has been an eye-opening experience, sometimes its just too much to bare. In Cambodia, we visited the school and the killing fields under the former Khmere Rhouge regime. This had been an upsetting experience. Cambodia is very much under-developed and the school itself, which was turned into a torture chamber and prison, had all the marks and the reminders of the senseless act which was to reduce the entire population of Cambodia to zero. This was very much a heartfelt moment of my travels and what I was about to experience was ever more heartbreaking...

Below is an extract from an email I sent to my friends on the 21st November 2004.

"Hello from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, today as we were on the motorbike to the killing fields, we went pass a large truck which was stopped by large groups of people, it ran down a lady on a motorbike and the young 15-16 year old driver tried to escape. Worst still is that the driver of my motorbike drove up to where the accident had happened and there I witnessed a young lifeless woman lying partially covered on the floor. I am very shocked and sad, I saw alot of blood, people, children were gathering around her, people crying. I can't believe I seen this. My thoughts go to her family. We continued our journey making my motorbike experience less fun and safe. The motorbike is the fastest and most popular way to travel here. The roads, however, are very dangerous, needing lots of repair. We visited the killing fields where over 8000 people were buried from the genocide by the Khmere Rhouge between 1975-79. Later we visited the school which was turned into a prison that time. Alot of people were locked up here and tortured severely. These two places have not changed at all, what you see is what actually was there at that time. It leaves you feeling very humble at the end of the day. Certainly been a tough day to withstand."

Many innocent lives are being lost. And its a shame that in this day in age, the problem continues to exist.