Bokor Hill Station: Getting There

Bokor Hill Station: Getting there (in one piece)

There are a few options available,

1. Find a moto driver insane enough to take you up the hill
2. Bike up, which involves in the first place getting a good off road bike (hard) and gear (hard)
3. Taking a monster truck up (highly recommended)
4. Taking a pickup

The last 2 options can be easily arranged at most, if not all guesthouses in Kampot, costing around 6-8 USD if u share with other travellers. Add to the cost the 5 dollars you have to pay for entry into Bokor National Park. You don't actually have to find travel companions, the GHs in Kampot seem to have wonderful organisational skills in that they have several trucks going up each day that makes stops at the various GHs dotted around town to pickup passengers. Try to get a ride on a monster truck up, if you can, and just for your information the road up Bokor is known very affectionately by local guides as "number 1 road in Kampot".

On whichever mode of transport you chose its long winding "roads" up to Bokor. Roads, as you can see is used in inverted commas, due to the fact it is under extensive reclamation (by the vegetation), which can whip passengers in the cargo bed rather mercilessly as your truck ploughs up the (non-existent) roads. And try not to laugh at people being smacked in the face by vines and creepers. Karma, baby. The same species of vine that caught me across the face decided moments later to whip my obviously humoured friend. But still, the solidarity of the poor 8 (plus big backpacks) crammed into the rear of the truck in wincing together as we (again) bump over another humongous pothole (crater size is the rule) and try to avoid being whipped by stray vegetation was a fun (if painful) experience.

Sitting in the cargo bed (I got the last seat) you also have to somehow get used to getting covered in dust and breathing black fumes belches from the exhaust as the truck struggles over yet another boulder in its path, stopping more than occassionally. Upon which the guide goes down, takes a look, kicks the tyres, and voila, we were good to go. Speaking of the guide, we had a great time talking to him - "charming boy", so he says is his name, spoke great English and regaled us with tales of Bokor and his life. Apparently, they used to have wild, and i mean wild New Year's eve parties at the Bokor Hill Station (we were there on the 2nd of Jan i think), but not anymore after last year some drunk soldier took out his gun and started a war between the police and the army, with some fatalities.

The first stop on the road up was the Black Palace. Not much of a palace actually, don't know where it got its name from. More like a small house with a rather nice balcony that had amazing views of the Cambodian and Vietnamese coast - You could make out Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam clearly in the distance. Then its a 45 minute trek through the forest before we hit the main road and were picked up by the truck, then ferried to the Hill Station itself, where we were served lunch of rice, some curry and the obligatory baguette.

The hill station itself, deserves a few hours of exploration, try getting on the roof for great views of the cliffs and the surrounding structures. Sleeping at the hill itself is an option - there is the Ranger Station, extremely clean and well kept place, where a bed will cost you 10 USD. Didn't sleep over as i was headed for Sihanoukville the next day but I must think exploring Bokor at night must be some kind of an experience, something you'd want to tell your grandchildren about. Going down the hill later we picked up two Canadians who spent the night, and they had nice things to say about it, the solitude and all, feeling, under the starry firmament that you are the only person on earth.... So yea, thoroughly recommended. Bring a torch though. Kind of regret not staying over.

Other places to see on Bokor include the Catholic church, old French barracks and the casinos. Yes, you got me right. An Integrated Resort right smack on top of Bokor hill. Built by the French colonialists and then used by the Khmer government after independence. Quite a sad tale, i was told, being abandoned after many people lost too much money and jumped off the cliffs (just 20 yards away). In fact, if i get my facts right i think there were 2 casinos on Bokor itself, the newer one built further away from the cliffs after the first was abandoned. Don't quite know what happened to the newer one, but it soon became part of the surreal ghost town of Bokor too.

Made our way down by truck at around 5 o clock. Same routine - Bouncing up and down over rough terrain and potholes, dodging (unsuccessfully) vines and stray branches, holding on to the rail trying not to fall off the truck, enjoying the now familiar scent of diesel fumes, and soon (3 hours later) we were back on normal roads. They had a bit of a surprise in store for us though - we were dropped off at the coast, where we were taken by boat down the Kampot River, with Bokor and the setting sun in the horizon, me singing sunset sailing on april skies in my head, while the two sweet kids with the couple from Australia (?) fell asleep immediately, Jake looking melancholic peering out at the darkening sky. That moment, looking out at the darkening sky, seeing Bokor in the horizon, fringed by trees, listening to the whirr of the boat's motor, the smell of the engine oil was one i probably won't ever forget.

We soon rendezvoused up with our truck, which sent us back to our respective places of lodging. Had dinner with Jake that night at Mealy Chenda's as we discussed travel plans (going to Sihanoukville) and our future. Surprisingly we had a lot in common - both fresh out of high school, just did A levels and thinking of going to college. We were to meet alot again in Cambodia, every single time by coincidence, which mostly involved me walking down the street and him strolling down from the other direction.