Bokor National Park

Bokor is a plateau at around a thousand metres above Kampot, and it holds the remains of a hill station built by the French in the 1920s as an escape from the coastal heat: a grand casino hotel, a church, a post office and villas, abandoned and left as concrete shells stained black with lichen, standing in cloud for much of the year. The atmosphere when the mist comes in is the reason people go. A paved road now climbs the mountain, and substantial modern development has arrived on the plateau, including a large casino resort and housing, which has changed the character considerably. The park itself covers evergreen forest with gibbons, hornbills and, in principle, larger mammals, and there are waterfalls and viewpoints over the coast.

History

The French built the Bokor hill station on the mountain in 1921 and a Catholic church nearby in 1928, and the park is named after King Sisowath Monivong, who often came here, had a Buddhist temple built in 1924 and died here in 1941. The national park was inaugurated in 1993, became an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003, and in 2010 a 29-metre statue of Lok Yeay Mao, protector of travellers, hunters and fishermen, was put up on the plateau (Wikipedia, Preah Monivong National Park).

What's there

• The old casino shell - the abandoned 1920s hotel in concrete and lichen.
• The little church - the empty stone church on the plateau.
• Cloud and mist - the weather that gives the place its atmosphere.
• Coastal viewpoints - the sea and Kampot far below on clear days.

When to go

November to March for the clearest weather; the plateau is in cloud a great deal of the time year round, which is either the point or the problem. Mornings are more likely to be clear before cloud builds.

What to expect

Modern casino and resort development on the plateau is extensive and jars badly with the ruins. The old buildings have been partly repurposed and fenced. Cloud frequently removes the views entirely. Wildlife is rarely seen. The road up is steep and the wind at the top is cold.

Nearby

Kampot lies below; Kep is east along the coast.

Key facts