Day 63, Bokor Mountain Reserve

What a great view....

We extended our stay in Kampot in order to take a tour to Bokor Mountain. I had wanted to visit this place since reading about it in the guide but had been put off by the two hour trek to the top. However, since it was a national holiday, the company who were constructing a road had opened it up for the day, making it possible to drive to the top. Nico wasn't as keen as me to see it, but he agreed to go to see the views.

In the haunted hotel...

At the top of this mist-covered peak, there is an abandoned town that was built by the French in the 1920's, including a post office, casino, hotels and a church. The French liked the climate up the mountain, but since the war the town has been deserted, except for fighting which took place there in the 1980's between the Khmer rouge and the Vietnamese army. The drive up was an adventure in itself, as the road was perfect in some places and full of potholes in others. 

The first place we stopped at was a hotel. This was fun to explore and we could see the traces of the opulence that had once existed there. However when we started to explore the town, it seemed we had picked the worst day possible to go up the mountain, visibility was zero. I still have no idea what the view of the surrounding countryside looks like, but apparently there is a lovely lake! We consoled ourselves with the thought that it would have been a crap day for cycling too.

Nico nursing his wound
by the river that we
couldn't cross

After the slightly disappointing experience of the ghost town, we walked out to a waterfall to swim. Unfortunately, we couldn't get there, as we were unable to cross the river as it had rained too much. Apparently it's a very beautiful waterfall.

The last part of our day was a sunset cruise on the river, but Nico had cut his foot on a piece of broken glass on the mountain and we wanted to get it looked at in a pharmacy and buy some dressings (he's fine by the way), so we didn't get on the boat. We've heard it's a great experience though.

All in all, a slightly underwhelming day.