26 July 2016, Tuesday. At the recommendation from an anonymous Pulsarian, I headed to the Bokor Mountain in Kampot this morning. I left early, really early, as the plan was to head back into the town of Kampot before travelling back to Phnom Penh today. Because the only route to Siem Reap – my next destination – was really through Phnom Penh.
Bokor Mountain in Kampot is somewhat out of the way. That’s why some travellers may choose to bypass it and head straight to the more famous cities of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Arriving Bokor Mountain Resort entrance before 7am. Entrance fee for motorcycles is 2,000 Riels, or about USD50cents.
The roads leading up to Bokor Mountain was excellent! Smooth rubberised asphalt with clear road markings. No potholes, no gravel, no sand, no mud. Pure pleasure! At about 1,000m above sea level, the air up in Bokor Mountain was refreshingly cool!
Beautiful roads up to Bokor Mountain.As Cambodia is geographically very flat with few highlands, I think I can almost see the whole of Cambodia from up here! Oh, and for the first time in quite a while, I saw the sea!Abandoned dilapidated buildings like this pepper Bokor Mountains. They are not cordoned off and visitors are free to roam inside.This one looks like it was once a hut.I’m not sure if the buildings here were uncompleted, previously plundered, or just plain old. The walls looked like there was something on it previously and was simply torn down / apart.Abandoned buildings + free to roam = perfect canvass for the graffiti artists!…and some of the more amateurish works of graffiti art.This one looked like it’s got some interesting carvings on it’s roof.I’m not sure if this is a statue of Buddha. If so, it must be one of the most cartoonish depictions of him. I like the colours though!Bokor Highland Resort and the casino just beside it. At approximately 1,000m above sea level, this place is sometimes cloud covered and foggy. Kinda reminds me of Genting Highlands Resort in Malaysia.More ruins in Bokor Mountain. I suspect this one used to be a nice toilet or bath shed in its heyday.An old catholic church sits on the hilltop. The cloud was coming in and it was turning foggy. I didn’t get very good pictures.The old catholic church of Bokor Mountain.Unsurprisingly, like many seemingly-abandoned places of worship, the inside of the catholic church is still being minimally maintained.The abandoned old French casino. I walked in and it was eerie. In fact, the whole place in Bokor Mountain has an eerie chill to it and makes for the perfect site to shoot a horror film.An old colonial building. I actually turned around and came back here to take this shot. When I first arrived, it was so foggy that I couldn’t see 50m ahead of me. Thankfully, the fog cleared after awhile.The stream leading to Popokvil waterfall in Bokor Mountain. I’ve heard that this stream dries up during the dryer months.Me and the Popokvil stream. Interestingly, the waters here have a dark brown tint to it. I also noticed some foaming in the waters. I suspect it’s human activity contamination, and not naturally occurring.Popokvil waterfall in Bokor Mountain. Notice the water’s brown tint?Unlike many waterfalls I’ve visited with pathways that lead to the bottom of the fall, this one’s at the top of the fall. Careful, do not fall.Some interesting rock formations by the side of the road. They looked chiseled and very “modular” – Mother Nature’s lego blocks.
I headed back to Phnom Penh in the afternoon, and rode through a section of super duper heavy downpour. It wasn’t just the rain, but the crosswinds were so strong, I was almost sideswiped. So I took cover in a nearby gas station and waited for the rain to pass.
While waiting at the gas station, I was phone-surfing and learnt that my travel story has been published on one of Cambodia’s leading online news portal, Sabay.com! Here’s the link:
Got back into Phnom Penh and went to the Bajaj dealership. A plastic faceplate on my Pulsar 200NS was lightly scratched and I wanted it replaced. I would have either done it in Singapore or here. Knowing that I would have to return to Phnom Penh anyway, I ordered the part from them the day before and they had to bring it in from their warehouse. Coincidentally, some Bajaj corporate guys from HQ happen to be visiting Phnom Penh’s dealership outlet. I had a real good chat with Parth, the head of sales (and I think general manager) of the Phnom Penh’s Bajaj dealership – basically, the Big Boss there.
The Bajaj HQ India team in Phnom Penh!
Curiously, a Malaysian-Cambodian contacted me when he read about my travels on Cambodia’s news portal Sabay.com. He works for an NGO in Cambodia and helps the villagers in the poorer regions out by building water wells. I’ve learnt that each village well costs somewhere in the region of USD2,500 to USD3,000 to build, and provides clean drinking water to the underprivileged areas. As the Cambodian government has very limited funding, the NGO’s are always looking for sponsors to help lift the rural regions. So if you’re keen to contribute, you can contact Amir here.
Meeting with Amir who works for an NGO in Phnom Penh.
After some serious travelling so far, I went for a nice massage in the evening. Sorry. No pics. =P
