Bokor Mountain | Kampot Cambodia
Despite a little accident on my motorbike (I hit a pothole on an unpaved road), I decided to continue with my plans to rent a motorbike and check out Bokor Mountain, the main attraction of Kampot. All I knew is from research was that were about to tear down some eerie historic buildings and replace them with a massive casino resort on top of this mountain in this small Cambodian town, and I had to see it for myself.
Apparently prior to 2011, the top of Bokor Muntain was only accessible by jeep. But because of the casino project, travelers can now blaze up world-class roads – which I did again the next day with my friend Steve on a real motorcycle…the one I rented did move me up very fast!
At the top of the mountain, there are 3 main historic sites: an abandoned hill station, an eerie, burned-out palace hotel and casino, and a catholic church which can only be described as creepy (I will share pictures of the creepy church in my next entry). Interesting fact: all of these sites were the setting for the 2002 Matt Dillon movie, “City of Ghosts.” I really wanted to walk through the old casino, since it is set to be torn down. The construction of the new resort and casino (called the Thansur Bokor Highland Resort) is well underway, and there is even a stop mid way up the mountain where you can see a small scale model of the entire project. I was in total disbelief, I just keep looking at it and thinking “what the hell?!”
Along the route, road workers were working brick by brick, bucket by bucket to finish this new road. There were hundreds of workers along the 20 mile stretch installing lamp posts and guard rails under the hot Cambodian sun. I took my time winding up the mountain, stopping to chat with the workers and take some portraits of them. Some were eager to smile for the camera, others were confused, wondering why I would want to photograph them. I chatted with them as best I could given the language barrier and tried to understand how they felt about this new casino on top of their town’s historic mountaintop. Most seem pleased, as it would provide many with jobs, but a few expressed concern, speaking about the natural landscape and history of the mountain top.
Bokor Mountain was named one of the top ten haunted places in the world by Travelihub. I wouldn’t disagree. There’s just something about being up there… it just gives you a strange feeling. I can see why this town attracts travelers, it’s an interesting stop if you’re traveling through Cambodia and have time to explore beyond Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
