Cambodian Landmine Museum

After Banteay Srey, we went to a nearby landmine museum.  During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, soldiers laid millions of landmine to get rid if any and all opposition.  One soldier, Aki Ra, was orphaned at 10 because the Khmer Rouge killed his parents.  He joined the Rouge and as a child, began learning how to fire guns and lay landmines.  He saw many if his friends get killed, as well as other family members.  

After Vietnam invaded Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period, Aki Ra, joined the Vietnamese army and soon joined the fight to liberate Cambodia.  After many years, he began to devote his life to disarming the very landmines that he had once laid.  To this day, he has disabled over 50,000 mines personally, but there is an estimated 3 to 6 million still left.  

Along with these 30 year-old mines, missiles and other active weapons are still found in Cambodia usually by farmers and children.  Those children who have been affected by these weapons, either getting limbs blown off or becoming orphaned, get adopted by Aki Ra and his family.  He raises them, educates them, feeds and clothes them.  

The museum is his, and he has dedicated his life to make His country a weapon-free country once again.  Why he has a Japanese name is a long story apparently and wasn't explained in the museum.  I'm sure of you really want to know, a quick wikipedia search would do it. 

Right when you enter the museum, there is a smll pond and in the middle of it is a large collection of disarmed landmines, missiles, bombs, bullets, and other weapons that Aki Ra has personally disarmed.  Each room has different weaponry encased in glass for visitors to see, as well as descriptions of the differet types if weapons, the history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, Aki Ra's history, as well as Cambodia today.  The most sobering exhibition was a wall full of pictures of the different children living in the complex and a letter try have written explaining their background, what the museum has done for them, and ends with their goals and aspirations, which have all become possible because of Aki Ra's efforts.  Some if the stories almost brought tears to my eyes, while others made me laugh, but all of them were written in English by the children, which they learned at the museum.  



This is a definite must-see exhibition if your Cambodia trip brings you up here. With a $2 entrance fee that goes toward helping disarm Cambodia, I don't see why not.