Returning to Mt Bokor, Cambodia

What a difference three years can make. On my last visit to Mt Bokor in 2010, there were plenty of indications that big changes lay ahead. A new casino had been announced in the middle of the National Park, and road building was on in earnest.

So on my most recent return to Kampot in May, we jumped on a motorbike and headed back up the mountain to check things out.

Mt Bokor was a French colonial hill station in the 1920s and as recently as 2010, many of the buildings from that time were still standing - or should I say crumbling.


The old casino, with sweeping views across the coast, was the centrepiece of the resort town.

The French were attracted to the spot for its cooler air and spectacular coastal views. No doubt there was also game hunting in the lush forest of what is now Bokor National Park.

The French abandoned the hill station during the Cambodian independence insurrection in the 1940s. After independence, during the 1950s and 60s, things came back to life at Bokor. Norodom Sihanouk had a lodge half way up the mountain that is in advanced state of decay today.


But the party came to an abrupt end in 1972 when the Khmer Rouge seized the area.

In 1979, after the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh and took control, Bokor became a stronghold for the Khmer Rouge insurgency. It remained so until the 1990s. There is evidence of battles between Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge soldiers in the ruins.

When Bokor finally found peace in the second half of the 1990s, the journey up the mountain was only for the most determined. The road was in terrible shape.

In 2008, the Cambodian government signed over the former hillstation to Sokimex Group - the people that have the concession at Angkor Wat, some of the best real estate in Cambodia and myriad other businesses. And surprise surprise, they opted for building a casino on the spot.


The new casino and its adjoining hotel are now open and so is a very nice paved road to the top. The new building is virtually windowless which is odd for a structure on a mountaintop in the middle of a national park. Happily it's a couple of kilometres away from the ghost town so you can explore without even seeing the new structure - for now at least. But there are plans for further new developments on the site.



Getting to the old ghost town used take 4 bone jarring hours up a dirt track. Now, the 40 kilometre journey from Kampot can be comfortably covered on a motorbike in less than 60 minutes without breaking any speed records. And the ride is beautiful and pretty safe. There isn't much traffic heading up the mountain.



Quite a few of the buildings in the ghost town have been demolished since 2010. The ruined church, which is especially atmospheric, is still standing. The original hotel and casino structure is in the middle of a major renovation.




The views from the top are another reason to visit Mt Bokor. It's one of the most spectacular coastal views in Indochina -up there with Vietnam's Hai Van Pass. They're at their best in the very early morning or before sunset.


You can see across to Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island - which is remarkably close - as well as along the Cambodian coast.

No doubt plenty of changes lie ahead for Mt Bokor and I don't expect they'll make it any more enticing. Bokor's days as a spooky relic of Cambodia's troubled past are fast passing. But take a look anyway. Whatever happens, the views will be hard to destroy.