i've always been interested in history. though i'm not good in memorizing, in remembering most of the details, when the topic of interest shifts to history, i'm all ears. i've always wanted to see old places - old houses (not exactly live in them though), relics and the lot. i'm forever fascinated with the places where Christ has walked on (jerusalem), the mystery of greece, the stonehedge, angkor wat, old buddhist temples and our very own vigan. whenever i travel - more than the experience of shopping and living the culture of the place, i look forward to the history aspect of my travel. i actually went to thailand this past few days (and that's another story) and enjoyed my ayutthaya trip so much. but i digress. what has history got to do with the title of my post? it's ANGKOR WAT.

this year, my boss has planned to go to angkor wat. a few weeks ago, i visited a friend's multiply site and stumbled upon his entry and pictures of the angkor wat. a few days ago, my sister announced she will be going to ANGKOR WAT! and so when she came back it was really a day full of stories of angkor wat and cambodia.

angkor wat is really beautiful, and i really really would be planning a trip there soon. hopefully i'll save up til next year to go. but more than the breathtaking pictures and the beautiful tales and discoveries of angkor wat, my heart tugged at the history of cambodia during pol pot's regime. my sister went on the tell the history of what happened in phnom penh, the s-21 (tuol sleng center) which was a former school turned into a confession and

torture camp. she told of tales on how people were tortured (taking out fingernails, slicing off nipples, electric shocks and babies being thrown on trees to save on bullets a few of them), on how "education" was deceived for people to send their sons and daughters to this camp and for no apparent reason, millions of cambodians was tortured and killed during pol pot's regime of four years (1975-1979). after hearing the shocking tales of torture, i couldn't keep my mind off pol pot and the history there so i searched the net and stumbled upon stories that my human mind and heart cannot really swallow. those images formed from my reading the stories painted a very horrific and unhuman picture and i am sure that what my mind can conceive is even far worse than what actually happened. my heart goes for them at this moment. no matter how hard and how sad our country's state seem to be in, i feel that cambodia, at this moment, even needs more attention and more prayers from people who can. i cannot believe that such inhumane acts actually happened in the late '70s. this was actually a wake-up call for me. no wonder angelina jolie (after tomb raider) became so passionate about land mines and working with the refugees there. cambodia has changed its impression on me. no longer is it a just a location in the map, a country where i could visit angkor wat... but cambodia has arrested my heart and will be included in my prayers from now on...