Information

27-Aug-2005
Last Edited

Independence Monument - (Vimean Ekareach) at the intersections of Norodom and Sihanouk was inaugurated in 1958 to celebrate Cambodia's independence from foreign rule.  It now also services as a monument to Cambodia's war dead and at night is illuminated by red, white and blue floodlights - the colors of the Cambodian flag (as well as Thailand's and the USA).  It is the site of celebrations and services on holidays such as Independence Day and Constitution Day as well as a notorious police trap for foreigners on Motorcycles who don't understand that this sign means "No Motorcycles Allowed" (A $5 fine by Phnom Penh's finest!)

Choeung Ek Memorial - (The Killing Fields is located 15 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh and is 8.5 km past the bridge at Street 271.) - From 1975-1979 the ultra-Communist Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot controlled Cambodia and during this short reign managed to eliminate 2.5 million Cambodians.  Many of the dead ended up in "killing fields" that can be found across the country.  The memorial at Choeung Ek just outside the capital of Phnom Penh was an orchard and a Chinese cemetery prior to 1975.  During the Khmer Rouge regime it became one of the killing fields - the site of the brutal executions of more than 17,000 individuals, most of whom first suffered through torture and deprivation in Toul Sleng Prison.  Choeung Ek is now a group of mass graves and a memorial stupa containing 1000s of skulls.

Olympic Stadium and its history - "The stadium's history is a grand one. It opened in 1964, inaugurated by then-prince Norodom Sihanouk as a symbol of the self-sufficiency and neutrality of post-colonial Cambodia." - Read more

..More to Come!