Besides those funny temple things that everyone keeps jabbering about, we also took the opportunity to visit the Land Mine Museum on the edge of town. Mr. Aki Ra, a former child soldier for both the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese armies is the owner of the museum. Besides being a curator, Mr. Ra is also Cambodia's most well-known "mine-clearer." There are still millions of mines in Cambodia which continue to kill 3 and cripple numerous other people a day. So on top of educating tourists and Cambodians alike about the terrible invention called landmines (as well as other highly lethal devices and contraptions), he also risks his life every day by clearing mines in the affected areas. He does this with nothing more than a 2 mtr long wooden probing stick and a screwdriver. With these simple tools he has been able to clear more than 100 mines a day (while still keeping his limbs, eyes, and life). This of course turns the official landmine removal organizations into a mockery as they not only charge $1000 for each mine they clear but also need much more time to actually clear them.
The pictures show you some of the landmines scattered throughout the country, especially across the Thai border (where the Khmer Rouge retreated). Our guide was a young guy who lost his right leg and his brother and sister due to a landmine while working in a rice field. Now, he helps Mr. Aki Ra to clear mines and acts as a guide at the museum. He explained to us how the landmines work and what other boobytraps were used by the Khmer Rouge. Honestly, this stuff was pretty gruesome like landmines filled with tiny pieces of metal that would explode within a 10 meter radius, causing loss of limbs, eyes, and big cuts. There's more but we'd rather not go into the specific details of each device. For more information and other interesting links, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Ra. In the future, you will be able to visit his site directly under: http://www.akiramineaction.com.
From our own experience, we have seen so many Cambodian people directly and/or indirectly suffering from the terror of the landmines that it almost made us sick to our stomachs. But still, after years of unwanted fights with other nations, the Khmer Rouge's genocide, the bombings, the landmines, and corruption, the people are still trying to get the country back in shape. 75% of the population is under 25 and ready to make a difference, education opportunities are improving, as is agricultural production and trade. We hope that within the coming years the Cambodian people can realize their much-deserved comeback in SE Asia. Oh, and higher tourists numbers would not hurt either ;-) So go and visit Cambodia now!
Besides those funny temple things that everyone keeps jabbering about, we also took the opportunity to visit the Land Mine Museum on the edge of town. Mr. Aki Ra, a former child soldier for both the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese armies is the owner of the museum. Besides being a curator, Mr. Ra is also Cambodia's most well-known "mine-clearer." There are still millions of mines in Cambodia which continue to kill 3 and cripple numerous other people a day. So on top of educating tourists and Cambodians alike about the terrible invention called landmines (as well as other highly lethal devices and contraptions), he also risks his life every day by clearing mines in the affected areas. He does this with nothing more than a 2 mtr long wooden probing stick and a screwdriver. With these simple tools he has been able to clear more than 100 mines a day (while still keeping his limbs, eyes, and life). This of course turns the official landmine removal organizations into a mockery as they not only charge $1000 for each mine they clear but also need much more time to actually clear them. 
The pictures show you some of the landmines scattered throughout the country, especially across the Thai border (where the Khmer Rouge retreated). Our guide was a young guy who lost his right leg and his brother and sister due to a landmine while working in a rice field. Now, he helps Mr. Aki Ra to clear mines and acts as a guide at the museum. He explained to us how the landmines work and what other boobytraps were used by the Khmer Rouge. Honestly, this stuff was pretty gruesome like landmines filled with tiny pieces of metal that would explode within a 10 meter radius, causing loss of limbs, eyes, and big cuts. There's more but we'd rather not go into the specific details of each device. For more information and other interesting links, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Ra. In the future, you will be able to visit his site directly under: http://www.akiramineaction.com.
From our own experience, we have seen so many Cambodian people directly and/or indirectly suffering from the terror of the landmines that it almost made us sick to our stomachs. But still, after years of unwanted fights with other nations, the Khmer Rouge's genocide, the bombings, the landmines, and corruption, the people are still trying to get the country back in shape. 75% of the population is under 25 and ready to make a difference, education opportunities are improving, as is agricultural production and trade. We hope that within the coming years the Cambodian people can realize their much-deserved comeback in SE Asia. Oh, and higher tourists numbers would not hurt either ;-) So go and visit Cambodia now!
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