As you arrive at Choam border village, look for a sign for Pol Pot's cremation site on the east side of NH67 (it's 50m south of and opposite the Sangam Casino entrance). His ashes lie under a rusted roof surrounded by rows of partly buried glass bottles. The Khmer Rouge leader was hastily burned here in 1998 on a pile of rubbish and old tyres – a fittingly inglorious end, some say, given the suffering he inflicted on millions of Cambodians.
Bizarre as it may sound, Pol Pot is remembered with affection by some locals, and people sometimes stop by to light incense. According to neighbours, every last bone fragment has been snatched from the ashes by visitors in search of good-luck charms. Pol Pot's spirit, like that of his deputy Ta Mok, is said to give out winning lottery numbers.
