Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Tuol Sleng, meaning “Hill of the Poisonous Trees” was one of the 150 execution centers in Cambodia. It is now known as Sleng Genocide Museum. The site is a former high school and was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975.
The museum includes a display of paintings by former inmate Vann Nath and some articles used during that period. Personnel who worked to identify the victims claim that they can feel the ghosts in the room with them. These ghosts were said to be of those prisoners who were tortured in countless ways.
Stories about ghosts and spirits of the victims have been known to people visiting the place for years. At the request of the museum staff, monks held prayer ceremony twice yearly at Tuol Sleng Museum to conciliate the spirits of the victims.
Killing Fields of Choeung Ek
Killing Fields of Cheung Ek is situated 15 kilometers south-west of Phnom Penh and made famous by the film of the same name "Killing Field". It was a place where more than 17,000 civilians were killed and buried in mass graves, many of them transported here after detention and torture in Toul Sleng. This place is a chilling reminder of the brutalities of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. Both Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields exhibits may be disturbing for some and are not suitable for younger children and adults who are easily shocked.
It is one of the most prolific and historic places in Phnom Penh and stands a cruel reminder of the atrocities inflicted upon the masses of Cambodia. The place has become very popular now as it is the center of all killings which took place in the city and later got christened as the famous Killing Field. The place is really popular as tourists from all over the world.
Phnom Sampov
Phnom Sampov, 12 kilometers west of Battambang, is the locale for a Homeric Khmer legend in which the machinations of a sentient crocodile were foiled by the stroke of a maiden's hair.
Although Phnom Sampov has a tragic past, it is also a pleasant place to visit. The panoramic views from the top are truly breathtaking and there are a variety of food and drink stalls at the base of the mountain making it a great place to while away the hours. Every evening at nightfall thousands of bats make their way out of caves in the hillside to feed before returning at dawn. This natural phenomenon is really a "must see" for the visitors.
Ghost House - Kampong Chhnang
Kampong Cham’s infamous Ghost House on National Road 5 has a chilling backstory, which put it at the centre of a Khmer horror film detailing the haunted house’s history.
According to local legend, a young couple moved into the newly-built house. A ghost came to them in a dream and offered to buy the house for $3,000 worth of gold. They agreed. And in the morning, they found the gold outside their door but, despite warnings from the ghost, the couple refused to move out and woke up one day in a nearby field with their belongings around them. It has remained empty ever since, and mysteriously without any dust inside. Superstitious Cambodians will pray when they pass the house or leave offerings at the entrance.
In 2005, The Haunted House was released in cinemas, shot at the location. The cast and crew held Buddhist prayers before filming to ask any spirits to leave the house while they were there.
Bokor Hill Station
Located in Kampot, southern Cambodia, the main attraction was the Bokor Palace Hotel & Casino, along with shops, a post office and apartments. The resort was a retreat from hot, urban Phnom Penh, but by the 1940s the Europeans had left Bokor Hill Station to abandonment.
The abandoned Cambodian resort town has a dark past that matches its eerie current state. Commissioned by French colonists, it was built by indentured servants and completed in 1925. During construction, it is believed that nearly 1000 Cambodians died. In the 1950s and 1960s, the resort town was revived by wealthy Khmers, but by the 70s it was once again abandoned.
Today, the buildings stand in ghostly desertion, but are a popular attraction for tourists and photographers.