Painting

On the next day of arrival, we decided to have a ride around the city, As most of the tourists here do, we took the tuk-tuk to go here and there, which was full of fun, though sometimes dangerous. The drivers knew where to go as they spoke good English (which confirmed the information from Lonely Planet), and we did not need to get worried for losing our way.

Easy ride the day it looked, we did not feel the same. It was cloudy that day, our hearts shrunken, for the city of this country had a sorrowful history -- Forty years ago, it was where the killing started and it was where people lost their homes, lives and relatives.

The city looked peaceful, despite the chaotic traffics which was largely attributed to the lack of public transport and tuk-tuks. The residential areas remained a low density, where people would sit out and talk to their neighbors about the livings. I know, they would try to talk about something happy, notwithstanding the tough conditions nowadays with the financial tsunami and the political turbulence. We all only have tomorrow to live on. We are have.

It took us a few minutes to go to the S-21 Museum, where the agents of Pol Pot hold the so-called anti-revolutionatories. It was a school before Rouge Khmer, which was used as a killing place that time. The classrooms were made as places of interrogation. The fate of the majority there was either admitting themselves the criminals to the authority and then killed, or directly killed. Only the minority could escape.

Outside the classrooms, the wind blew and the leaves of the trees crackled fiercely and the rain came suddenly. Inside the classrooms, photos of the victims and the illustrations of killing were shown, on the floor the equipment was placed. We were horrified.

In the end of the corridor of the last building, there was a corner full of paintings by the students from the local and the Japan, which also suffered a lot from WWII. What I could see was the picture I saw in the city: the busy streets, the living areas, the big park and the walking people drawn using simple color pencils.

This was what the Cambodians dreamed of: we don't need any luxurious living, but please, keep the country peaceful and lives enjoyable. The kids here probably understand more life than most people in the world.