Bokor Palace
Colonial hotel.
Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Matnkat — CC BY 2.5 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0
A forested mountain rising more than a thousand metres above the Gulf of Thailand coast, where the French built a luxury hill station in the early 1920s to escape the heat of the plains. Abandoned for decades, its mist-wrapped ruins became one of Cambodia's most haunting sights. A paved road winds up through dense forest to the plateau, where the old colonial Bokor Palace hotel, an empty shell for decades and since restored, stands among scattered early buildings. From the rocky edges a wide view runs over the forest to the coast, the islands and Vietnam's Phu Quoc on the horizon. The mountain also has an old temple known as the Five Boats, and the two-tiered Popokvil falls, which fill in the rainy season. The air is far cooler than on the plain, and mist often wraps the summit suddenly, hiding everything before it lifts. Entry is free, and the drive takes about an hour by car or motorbike from Kampot. Bring a light jacket. Rural Cambodia still has landmine remnants, so stay on trodden roads and paths, per UK travel advice.
Colonial hotel.
To Phu Quoc.
Comes and goes.
Bokor Mountain, about 37 km west of Kampot
About an hour from Kampot by car or motorbike on a paved road; entry is free.