Choeung Ek, Killing Fields

Going to learn about the mass genocide of a nation while you are on holiday/travelling may not sound instantly appealing, but nearly everybody that goes to Choeung Ek, or the Killing Fields, walks away feeling glad they did. The museum is set on one of the many mass execution sites around Cambodia created under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. Around 9,000 bodies have been excavated at this site alone, and researchers believe the number at the site will be double that. A headphone-guide walking tour (included in the entry price and essential listening!) provides the history of what happened and various personal accounts of a period that managed to wipe out a third of the nation's population. That isn't a typo, and the audio tour helps give an understanding of how Cambodians were brought to kill so many of their own people. Virtually any Cambodian you ask over 30 years old will have a very personal story of how it directly affected them. It's a really valuable experience. We won't go into any more detail here, as it's far more interesting to hear it on the tour! Entry: $6 including the audio tour. Address: Sangkat Cheung Aek, Phnom Penh. Getting Here: Any tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh will take you here for around $10 (15km) and the trip takes about 30mins. Alternatively, hire a moto for $5.