For many “The Kingdom of Cambodia” means  Mekong Delta, mountains, forest,beaches and historical monuments. I was no different landed in Phnom Penh and headed straight to Street 278 that’s where most of the backpackers go, checked into Mad Monkey Hostel and after a quick nap decided to visit the Killing fields. I was not ready to miss Khmer curry and Ginger chicken, so wanted a yummy meal before heading out. Khmer curry is a traditional, creamy, highly aromatic curry which has a sweet and sour taste. I was not disappointed and got what i wanted 🙂

Got a Tuk-tuk from city and reached the Killing fields. This place showed me the real face of Cambodia. There are number of sites in Cambodia where more than a million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule from 1975 to 1979. I visited one of the site and it was very sad to see how brutally people were killed.

One can feel the sorrow around this area and many even cried while walking through these sites. Genocide museum seeing the equipment and other stuffs used to kill people cruelly was far beyond imagination. I thought that was enough and decided to return to the hostel. This made me to explore the life of locals beyond touristy stuff.

Took a stroll around street 278 and visited the local markets. I went to a monetary for the first time and everyone were meditating i sat there for few mins but then i wanted to leave.

A monk saw me come out and called me over. He asked me are you finding it difficult to meditate and I said yes then he gave me a book on how to meditate and turn your focus on one thing. It was so kind of him.

I love talking to the locals while traveling. Not many speak good English in Cambodia was lucky to find an English speaking professor in the bus who could explain and discuss on the current situation/history of Cambodia. He was victim of Khmer Rouge regime and explained about the horrors he and his family went through. His father, mother and uncle were killed by the notorious rulers. The reason being his father was a professor, mother being wife of a professor and uncle for knowing French. They wanted to wipe out all educated people, celebrities, etc and also people related to them so that no one raised their voice against their rule. He was taken to a forest to be killed along with his friends since they were studying in college but somehow they forgot to kill him in the mass killing.

This explains how much horror people of Cambodia must have gone through during this period. And Cambodia is still trying to compete with other Nations after almost a complete wipe out of cream layer of population.