Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek

Two sites connected to the events of the 1970s are preserved as memorials and open to visitors. Tuol Sleng, in the middle of Phnom Penh, occupies a former secondary school and keeps its classrooms, records and photographic archive largely as they were found; it has been a museum since 1980. Choeung Ek lies about fifteen kilometres south, a quiet field of hollows with a memorial stupa at its centre, built in 1988. Both are visited with an audio guide, and both are managed as places of record rather than as attractions.

What you actually see

• Tuol Sleng - preserved classrooms, the photographic archive and the documentation rooms.
• Choeung Ek - the field, the marked hollows and the memorial stupa.
• The audio guide - the narrated route used at both sites, in several languages.
• The memorial grounds - trees, ponds and marked paths kept as they are.

When to go

November to February for dry, cooler weather; both are open year-round. Go early - Choeung Ek is exposed with almost no shade, and by midday the heat makes the walk hard. Half a day covers both with the tuk-tuk ride between them. Allow silence at Choeung Ek; the audio guide runs about ninety minutes.

Honest expectations

The subject is what it is, and neither site softens it - this is not a stop to fit between other sights, and most people are finished with sightseeing for the day afterwards. Both publish rules on conduct and photography; follow them. Not suitable for children. Tuk-tuk drivers wait outside and the return trip is worth agreeing in advance. There is little shade and no proper cafe at Choeung Ek.

Nearby

The Royal Palace and the riverside are in central Phnom Penh, near Tuol Sleng.