Things to do in Bokor National Park
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Bokor Hill Station
The eerie ruins of the old French hill station of Bokor, high atop Phnom Bokor (1080m), are known for their cool - even chilly - mountain climate and dramatic vistas of the coastal plain, one vertical kilometre below.
The road up to Bokor was built from 1917 to 1921 by Cambodian indentured labourers, many of whom perished. By the early 1920s a French holiday settlement had been established and a grand hotel-casino, the Bokor Palace, was inaugurated in 1925.
The hill station was twice abandoned: first when Vietnamese and Khmer Issarak (Free Khmer) forces overran it in the late 1940s while fighting for independence from France, and again in 1972 when the Lon Nol regime left …
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Bokor National Park
Bokor's moist evergreen forests - with dry dipterocarp and mixed deciduous forests in the north - shelter a wide variety of rare and threatened animals, including the Indian elephant, leopard, Asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, pileated gibbon, pig-tailed macaque, slow loris, red muntjac deer, lesser mouse deer, pangolin , yellow-throated martin, small Asian mongoose and various species of civet, porcupine, squirrel and bat.
Over 300 species of bird, including several types of hornbill, also live here. Don't expect to see much wildlife, though - most of the animals are nocturnal and survive by staying in more remote parts of the park.Long kept off the tourist map due t…
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group tour
One of the most popular ways to visit Bokor is with a group tour, organised through one of the guesthouses in Kampot. Many concentrate on the old French hill station, so if you'd like to spend the day hiking through the rainforest make sure the itinerary is clear ahead of time.
In Kampot, Sok Lim Tours is a reliable outfit whose Bokor excursions (around US$10 plus park fee) include a sunset river cruise on the way back. The company also offers two-day jungle treks (around US$50 per person). Wild Orchid Adventure Tours, based at the Orchid Guesthouse, and Long Villa Tours (012 626698), based at Long Villa Guesthouse, are also good bets. Now that Sokimex has started buildin…
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Popokvil Falls
This two-tiered waterfall is a fine place to bathe on a sunny day. The upper falls, the best place to swim, are 14m high. The lower falls, 18m high, can be reached by a path and a wooden stairway. The name translates as 'Swirling Clouds' and much of the time mists do indeed whorl just above the falls.
A shady, 11km trail links Wat Sampeau Moi Roi with Popokvil Falls. This route, which takes four or five hours, should not be undertaken without a guide, as there's always the possibility of an unexpected encounter with a three-legged female tiger nicknamed Tripod, who has been known to roam the ridge along here.
From the hill station, the falls are about 15 minutes by road. A…
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Bokor Palace
The highlight of a visit to the hills station is the shell of the Bokor Palace , which has been stripped of everything of value. You can explore all four levels and the rooftop terrace, from which there's a magnificent view over dense jungles that stretch almost to the sea.
It's possible to wander up and down the corridors, around the kitchens and through the ballroom to the suites above, past variegated ceramic floors, tiled bathrooms and a giant fireplace where cocksure colonial French and wealthy Khmers could warm up on a nippy night.On cold, foggy days it can get pretty creepy up here as mists drop visibility to nothing and the wind howls through the building.
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Wat Sampeau Moi Roi
About 250m northwest of the church, a road leads through a three-towered gate to lichen-caked Wat Sampeau Moi Roi, known as Five Boats Wat because some say the five oddly-sculpted rocks nearby resemble boats (although what they were smoking at the time is up for debate). Built in 1924, it affords tremendous views over the jungle to the coastline below, including Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island. Four cement supports that once anchored a Khmer Rouge radar station still stand just outside.
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Catholic church
The old Catholic church at Bokor Hill Station looks like the priest locked it up only yesterday. Inside, bits of glass still cling to the corners of the windows and the altar remains intact; drawings of what appear to be Khmer Rouge fighters adorn the walls. Near the kitchen, one window holds the rusty outline of a cross. A bit up the hill, past the rusted green base of some Khmer Rouge military hardware, a sheer drop overlooks virgin rainforest.
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Black Palace
As you drive up from Kampot, the first buildings you come to atop Phnom Bokor are Sihanouk's villa complex, known as the Black Palace. Inside the blotchy, windowless villas, you can still find rooms with elegant marble floors and bathrooms partly tiled in mid-century shades of pink and brown.
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Hiking
Hiking has a lot of potential at Bokor but as yet there is little in the way of organised trekking. The park charges around US$20 for the services of a ranger who will be experienced but won't necessarily speak English.
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