Halloween in Cambodia

Because it hosts the fabled ruins of Angkor, Cambodia is one of Southeast Asia's leading travel destinations. However, when Halloween comes around, it is the legacy of the murderous Khmer Rouge that comes to the forefront.

The Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, in the wake of the Vietnam War. They quickly instituted a xenophobic and genocidal rule, closing the country to outside observation and instituting a program aimed at destroying potential enemies and remaking the country' economy. The result was widespread torture, murder and starvation. The Khmer Rouge were finally evicted by a Vietnamese invasion in 1979, but the Khmer Rouge left many profound and ghastly scars on the country.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek
Whenever someone refers to the killing fields of Cambodia, they usually have the chilling mass grave at Choeung Ek in mind, as it is one of the most ghoulish sights in the entire country. Located about 10 miles south of Phnom Penh, Choeung Ek is where most of the victims of Tuol Sleng prison were unceremoniously dumped into pits. The ground is encrusted with bones and scraps of clothing, and the Buddhist monument houses over 8,000 neatly stacked skulls. Choeung Ek is the kind of sight that draws tears and makes the skin crawl in equal measure.

The Bokor Casino
European colonies in the tropical zone often set up "hill stations" on mountain tops, to serve as retreats from the lowland heat. In Cambodia, the French built a casino hotel atop Bokor Mountain, near the sleepy pepper plantation town of Kampot, and the fun and gambling continued right up until the first Khmer Rouge fighters appeared outside its doors. Today, the casino is a cavernous concrete shell, endowed with post-apocalyptic look. Enhancing the spooky atmosphere are thick banks of fog that hang about the mountain most mornings, sometimes lasting until noon. The Bokor casino is a creepy staple for every tour that visits the thickly forested mountain.

Abandoned Villas at Kep
Before the Khmer Rouge, Kep was a seaside retreat for the well-to-do of Phnom Penh. The bloodthirsty Communist revolution ended that, and after Cambodia became safe for visitors, the focus of beach activity shifted from Kep to Sihanoukville. Today, the seafront is lined with ghostly abandoned villas, each one a testament to a family's loss of loved ones and fortune. Curious urban explorers can enter some of the ruined villas, although the open villas are often used by locals as public toilets.