12th March 2016 ~ Cambodia was a country that was involved in wars in the 60's and 70's and the visit to this museum told us the stories of the misery the Cambodians had to suffer up until today. It started with the Civil War which then continued with the regime of Pol Pot effort to turn Cambodia into a communist state and finally the war against Vietnam.
The museum was an open-air premise and most of the exhibits are real war machines and weapons of the past. Do not expect to see a modern museum like the one in Ho Chi Minh city.
We were with a group of visitors and there was a guide who accompanied us throughout the visit. To be able to understand the significance of the war to the country, you had to listen attentively to the guide. All his stories were all real life experiences, including his own. 25% of Cambodian population were killed and life was really hard for the innocent people of Cambodia and some of them still have to go on with the nightmares even though the war was over a long time ago.
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| the guide but I could not remember his name |
Visiting a war museum always makes me feel thankful to have lived in a peaceful country. We are always worried about not having enough money to buy the latest handphone, or the hike in the petrol price, or canned tuna is now getting more expensive. Have we ever worried what kind of life we will live in if peace is no longer restored? Oh ok, I am getting a tad emotional here.
All in all, the museum was a small but it contained stories of the Cambodian people of the past and the present. Make sure you get a guide when visiting or else you will only be staring at old metal scraps.
"There is no path to peace.
Peace is the path."
Peace is the path."
~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
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