Image of The Week: Cambodia Landmine Museum – The Remnants of War

This weeks image was captured at the Cambodia Landmine Museum that is situated on the outskirts of Siem Reap. The museum is interdependently run and was a great place to break up the day in between visiting the the magnificent temples of Angkor. The museum was founded by Aki Ra, an inspirational fellow who was a former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge.

Aki was employed as a de-miner and removed landmines for the UN, but after the UN left in 1994 Aki continued to remove live landmines from the fields. At first Aki used some basic huts to store the  remnants of old landmines and other munitions, and by the year 2000 the museum had become quite popular with locals and tourists alike. In 2007 the landmine museum had been completely re-built. If your in Siem Reap and want a rest from the crowds of the Angkor Wat temple complex, then an afternoon at the museum is well worth the effort.

Three Hand Greanade on A Wire

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DigiDrift – This Image by Jason Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

The Cambodia Landmine Museum Is Found At The Following Location

 

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Jason has traveled the world extensively during the last 20 years, with overland journeys on six continents and across over 90 countries. This site serves as a chronicle of the images and tales from these journeys, as well as offering advice and general information for other like minded travelers.

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  • http://twitter.com/TLWH Dave from TLWH

    The fact they are hanging on a wire makes it even more terrifying. I’ve heard of Aki Ra, some people said some good things, whilst many NGO’s seem to think it’s bad to show off ordnance like this.

    Personally I think it’s good. Whatever many NGO’s are going over the past decade has not prevented people from using landmines etc. Perhaps more in your face displays like this will make more of an impact.

  • http://www.digid-rift.com Jason

    Hey Dave, Your right and I do like the effect of then grenades on the wire. I tried to capture some images of the land mines as well but it was the middle of the day and the sun was beaming down, which made it difficult. These three grenades were in a dark shady corner, and framed well.

    It’s interesting in what you say about Aki Ra, and how some NGO’s believe it to be a bad thing to display such things. I’m with you and think it’s a good thing, and a bit of a wake up call to those who view them, but I can see both sides of the coin. Maybe a bit of bad press was spread about Aki by the ex military commander who opened up another museum in competition to him. Thanks for stopping by.

  • Anonymous

    What a powerful image. Crazy that they are just hanging there on the wire, and terrifying too. I imagine very interesting to experience this museum. I really want to learn a lot more about the past conflicts and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia as one day I know I will be here. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://twitter.com/skinnybackpackr Dustin Main

    Great image, I like what you did with the shadow. The image really pops in B&W.

    I had the same problem @ the museum there. Midday light is unforgiving. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to play around too much as the girl I was with that day wasn’t nearly as interested as I was so I had to bail sooner than I would have liked.

  • http://www.digid-rift.com Jason

    Hey Peter, Yeah it was an interesting but sometimes somber place to visit. I would like to see what it’s like now, having been fully re-built. When we visited it was more of a series of wooden huts. What took place in Cambodia was truly horrific. Sometimes when reading about things that have taken place in the world from afar, just don’t have the same impact as when you’re in the place where it actually took place. Our time in Cambodia was great, lots to see and do and the people are very warm and friendly.

  • http://www.digid-rift.com Jason

    Hey Dustin, Thanks for the input mate. I am a Black and White lover as well as vivid colors. This image was just asking to be published in B&W. Yeah, that bloody beaming sun makes it hard, and I sympathize with you when your with someone who wants to go. Getting interesting images takes time and patience (and a bit of luck sometimes as well). Appreciate your input mate, thanks for stopping by.

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