War Museum in Siem Reap

A trip to Cambodia is not fulfill unless you go through the whole war stories the land is hiding; and the best way to get a hand on is to visit the Civil War Museum in Siem Reap. After a long ride with our bikes we finally saw the museum, which is a complex of few barracks, nothing extraordinary. But it definitely offers an insightful view of the terror Cambodia faced through the last 3 decades.

Once you get in you’ll notice few soldiers sitting on a bench waiting for the tourists to show them around. If you’re lucky as we were, you’ll end up traveling through the war with the guy who runs the museum; once forced Khmer Rouge trainee, who was saved by the Vietnamese-installed government in 1985. He was trained to make and lay landmines, and now he’s helping the government to clear them. He speaks fluent English and is always in a mood for entertaining.

He has a unique collection of weapons, and playing with them was not a problem; we got in a Tomb Rider mood and started taking photos. I’m talking about Kalashnikov, m16, Browning automatic rifle and a rocket launcher. There are tanks, helicopter and lots of pictures too, and the guide is not missing a thing when explaining.

If you’re interested in the war stories, it’s always a good idea to move to Phnom Phen where you’ll find out more about it in Choeung Ek (Killing Fields) and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

We couldn’t resist.

We spent the last day in the silk and carving factory in the city where we enjoyed the hand carved souvenirs with gold paint, the steady hands of the artists making beauty, and after we had a nice dinner thinking of our plan to move to Phnom Phen.

Lets see !