Bokor National Park, Kampot Cambodia 🇰🇭

This immense national park in Kampot Province covers an area of 1,400 km² and incorporates mountains, ruins and old French colonial settlements.

The Bokor Hill Station is one of the most talked-about places to visit in Bokor National Park. Built by French colonialists in the 1920s, Bokor Hill Station refers to a collection of buildings built by the settlers, which were designed to collectively form a luxurious mountain resort. Given the height of the location, it was particularly attractive for those who wanted to escape the heat of cities such as Phnom Penh during the hottest months of the year. There was a hotel, palace and functional buildings such as a post office, which has since been demolished. The hill station was only used for less than 30 years before it was abandoned due to the Indochina War. It was used again for a short time in the 1960s before the Khmer Rouge took over the area in the 1970s. Nowadays, many of the buildings are abandoned and accessible to view by curious visitors.

In recent times the national park has become a popular tourist destination and now includes a large luxury hotel built in 2012 as well as a casino. In 2019, the government released a huge development project that should be done by 2035. 18,987 hectares of the park will be developed for residents, tourism, and businesses.

Bokor National Park takes about an hour to reach by motorcycle. I really enjoyed the drive from Kampot and back and it was also nice visiting the abandoned buildings. However, it is sad to see this beautiful nature being destroyed for a project that, in my opinion, is not viable.


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