Bokor Hill Station

Construction of the road up to Bokor began in 1917 and once completed the luxurious Bokor Palace Hotel was constructed and a small community developed there. In later years it became a Khmer Rouge stronghold thanks to its altitude at 1080m which gave it commanding views over the countryside.

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We'd paid our $10 for the excursion ($5 extra to enter the national park) and were collected at 8am. Seven of us climbed onto the back of a truck with the guide whilst two more got inside with the driver. I hardly know how to start describing just how awful the state of the road was. If any fast talking tour rep. tries telling you that their trip is any more luxurious then try to find out why because with the state of the road all journeys to Bokor must be nothing short of an ordeal.

The first 22kms to our first stop at the Black Palace was nothing but potholes making for a very bumpy ride. Also the vegetation had grown across the road so whilst being shaken all over the place you have to keep an eye out for branches waiting to whack you across the face so you spend most of your time with your head between your knees.

Shortly after the Black Palace we stopped to do a one hour jungle walk that seemed quite pointless. We weren't taken to the nearby Popokvil waterfalls as they were (apparently) dry when we visited. The truck then met us and took us the remaining 10km to the top where we had a nice lunch outside the abandoned Bokor Palace from where there are great views across to Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island.

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We then took a walk around the other abandoned buildings including a casino where drunken soldiers had fired their guns into the ceiling and a Catholic church with its altar still intact. Then we embarked on the torturous 32km return trip downhill to a boat which was supposed to get us back just in time to see the sunset from the river approaching Kampot town. Unfortunately, we arrived late and missed the sunset but the cold beer onboard was more than welcome.

With hindsight would I have done the trip? No I probably wouldn't. Personally I found the rewards of arriving at Bokor Hill Station didn't justify the journey. But that's just my opinion, others didn't seem to mind so much so give it a try and make your own mind up.