Thursday, 27 December 2007
One of the biggest casualties of this area was the failure to upkeep the road. The Khmer Rouge weren't too interested in its upkeep (they actually mined it to prevent anyone from bothering them) and the government since has not bothered due to lack of funds. While it is only a few miles off the beaten path it is the worst road we have ever seen in our lives. A bone-jarring, 2-hour ride to the top of the mountain -- but very picturesque. Since we had booked a tour so late we were lucky enough to sit in the 4-wheel drive cab while the chumps who booked early were stuck in the uncomfortable bench seats of the truck bed!
Our drive up to the casino was preceded by a stop at one building looking out over an amazing view of the Gulf of Thailand, an old French Cathedral, and our tour guide giving us some history about the area, including describing how the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese armies fought up on Bokor Mountain, shelling each other from the Casino to the Cathedral in the late '70s.
The Casino itself is an amazing shell of a building that still looks very solid and could possibly be easily restored someday.
We kept thinking the building had been painted red but when you're up close you realize it's covered with lichen. The building is a maze of rooms, stairways, windowless window frames, and balconies with breathtaking views. There is still some of the original tile on the floors and bathroom walls, and the ballroom and grand entrance offers you a glimpse at its past grandeur. Unfortunately for us, while this was the main attraction on Bokor we were only given 45 minutes to explore this enormous building. DAMN. We spent the last few minutes running around the place, trying to film and videotape as much as possible, and, as usual, being the last 
ones to get back on the truck (our fellow travellers were surprisingly understanding about having to wait for us!) In retrospect, we should have paid an extra $20 or so for a custom-tour of the place, or maybe just had someone drop us off and wait around until we were done. In Kampot, you can pretty much hire people to do anything you want. (We told this to Tony, an Orchid house resident who got a room the day after we did and luckily he followed our advice!) We can now see why some people camp out over night or pay $5.00 to stay at the Ranger's station. The photo from the top of the blog is from an excellent South Korean horror film entitled "R-Point" which was filmed
exclusively in and around the Casino. The story is set in Vietnam, 1972, when a South Korean squad is sent to the area to uncover the fate of their predecessors. The eerily deserted casino is a perfect setting for the film and according to the actors (from the DVD "extras") they couldn't wait til their characters died so they could go home. They were totally spooked and we could easily imagine why, with its labyrinthine corridors and empty rooms. Another entertaining film, "City of Ghosts" starring and directed by Matt Dillon used this casino as a central point in the story. Alas, we had to leave...
We began the drive back down the bumpy road to Kampot. About halfway there, however, we stopped for a half hour trek (much to our surprise), but it gave us an opportunity to talk to some of the others traveling with us. We met a very nice French woman from Orleans who had lived and worked in Cambodia for 6 months as a physical therapist. She was celebrating the holidays with her parents in Cambodia. She was quite pleased to hear that we had gone on our honeymoon
to France and asked us about our travels there. When we told her and her parents we had gone to Nuits St. Georges near Dijon (wine country), she and her parents all sighed with pleasure. But back to the jungle trek--we felt like Indiana Jones dodging vines, thorny trees, and slippery rocks. Laura almost busted her a#$ on a rock which prompted her to stop conversing with the French woman and focus on hiking. At one point we thought we might need a machete!
We ended our journey with a glorious boat ride down the river back to "downtown" Kampot. The sun was setting and the houses and buildings on the river were picturesque indeed (and we were glad to sit down on a seat that wasn't shaking like an earthquake every 2 seconds). This respite also allowed for more opportunities to converse with our pleasant fellow travelers (none of them Americans which was
just as well!) Charles spoke with a shy but friendly Dutch couple who gave good advice regarding getting a decent, cheap guest house in Saigon! So far none of the people we've spoken to, including the ex-pats have much kind words to say about the Vietnamese. Charles of course, believes that with his French background and the fact that he had a former relative who lived in Hanoi (not one French person we've told this fact to seems the slightest bit intrigued by this) that we will be treated with open arms and given keys to the various cities we visit (yeah, right!)
At the end of our tour we were reminded of the gruesome past that some Cambodians have survived through and how it continues to touch their lives today. Our main tour guide was a very cool, small framed guy who spoke pretty decent English. We drove back with him in the tour truck to our guesthouse, and we discovered while talking to him that he had been born in Phnom Penh in 1973 (only 2 years younger than Laura), but had moved to Kampot with his o
lder sister when he was 2 years old, after the rest of his family had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. He said he was so small (he's about 5" tall and very thin) because of the lack of nourishment he received when he was a child.
After taking a quick nap and shower we went to a riverfront restaurant recommended by the ex-pats we met at our Guesthouse -- the Rusty Keyhole -- owned by another ex-pat Brit who achieved instant admiration from Charles if only for the fact that he played the Clash and Sex Pistols on his stereo! This was a nice change of pace after the previous day's bus ride from Phnom Penh where the driver put on a non-stop
succession of dreadful Cambodian pop music videos! We were so exhausted from the all-day Bokor trip that we couldn't even finish our food and went to bed at the embarrassingly early time of 9:00 pm!
(NOTE: for a really good blog that tells a similar but far more detailed version of a trip up to Bokor go here).
For our first real day in Kampot we arranged to do a tour of a place which was the prime reason for coming down here -- a day spent at the old French Casino on Bokor Mountain. The Casino was built by the French in Kampot in the early 1920s -- along with a series of other buildings, including a Catholic Church. See timeline guide I found on someone else's website (forgot the link!) for a brief overview of this amazing place. When they left in 1954-5 the buildings were 
taken over by the local government. According to our guide, since the Casino was 5-stories high many Cambodians who lost their life savings playing cards would jump off the 5th floor and kill themselves! For this reason another Casino, financed by Chinese businessmen was built -- and was only two stories high. The Cambodian Prime Minister, Sihanouk used to vacation in this area (as well as nearby Sihanoukville, of course) and directed at least one feature film in Kampot (if you google his name and Kampot you can find it available for a free download). In 1974 the Khmer Rouge attacked Kampot and the government was never able to re-take it despite severe fighting (and incompetent leadership, no doubt, on the government's part). So the Kampot and Bokor Mountain-resort-era was effectively over.
taken over by the local government. According to our guide, since the Casino was 5-stories high many Cambodians who lost their life savings playing cards would jump off the 5th floor and kill themselves! For this reason another Casino, financed by Chinese businessmen was built -- and was only two stories high. The Cambodian Prime Minister, Sihanouk used to vacation in this area (as well as nearby Sihanoukville, of course) and directed at least one feature film in Kampot (if you google his name and Kampot you can find it available for a free download). In 1974 the Khmer Rouge attacked Kampot and the government was never able to re-take it despite severe fighting (and incompetent leadership, no doubt, on the government's part). So the Kampot and Bokor Mountain-resort-era was effectively over. 
One of the biggest casualties of this area was the failure to upkeep the road. The Khmer Rouge weren't too interested in its upkeep (they actually mined it to prevent anyone from bothering them) and the government since has not bothered due to lack of funds. While it is only a few miles off the beaten path it is the worst road we have ever seen in our lives. A bone-jarring, 2-hour ride to the top of the mountain -- but very picturesque. Since we had booked a tour so late we were lucky enough to sit in the 4-wheel drive cab while the chumps who booked early were stuck in the uncomfortable bench seats of the truck bed!
Our drive up to the casino was preceded by a stop at one building looking out over an amazing view of the Gulf of Thailand, an old French Cathedral, and our tour guide giving us some history about the area, including describing how the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese armies fought up on Bokor Mountain, shelling each other from the Casino to the Cathedral in the late '70s.
The Casino itself is an amazing shell of a building that still looks very solid and could possibly be easily restored someday.
We kept thinking the building had been painted red but when you're up close you realize it's covered with lichen. The building is a maze of rooms, stairways, windowless window frames, and balconies with breathtaking views. There is still some of the original tile on the floors and bathroom walls, and the ballroom and grand entrance offers you a glimpse at its past grandeur. Unfortunately for us, while this was the main attraction on Bokor we were only given 45 minutes to explore this enormous building. DAMN. We spent the last few minutes running around the place, trying to film and videotape as much as possible, and, as usual, being the last 
ones to get back on the truck (our fellow travellers were surprisingly understanding about having to wait for us!) In retrospect, we should have paid an extra $20 or so for a custom-tour of the place, or maybe just had someone drop us off and wait around until we were done. In Kampot, you can pretty much hire people to do anything you want. (We told this to Tony, an Orchid house resident who got a room the day after we did and luckily he followed our advice!) We can now see why some people camp out over night or pay $5.00 to stay at the Ranger's station. The photo from the top of the blog is from an excellent South Korean horror film entitled "R-Point" which was filmed
exclusively in and around the Casino. The story is set in Vietnam, 1972, when a South Korean squad is sent to the area to uncover the fate of their predecessors. The eerily deserted casino is a perfect setting for the film and according to the actors (from the DVD "extras") they couldn't wait til their characters died so they could go home. They were totally spooked and we could easily imagine why, with its labyrinthine corridors and empty rooms. Another entertaining film, "City of Ghosts" starring and directed by Matt Dillon used this casino as a central point in the story. Alas, we had to leave...We began the drive back down the bumpy road to Kampot. About halfway there, however, we stopped for a half hour trek (much to our surprise), but it gave us an opportunity to talk to some of the others traveling with us. We met a very nice French woman from Orleans who had lived and worked in Cambodia for 6 months as a physical therapist. She was celebrating the holidays with her parents in Cambodia. She was quite pleased to hear that we had gone on our honeymoon
to France and asked us about our travels there. When we told her and her parents we had gone to Nuits St. Georges near Dijon (wine country), she and her parents all sighed with pleasure. But back to the jungle trek--we felt like Indiana Jones dodging vines, thorny trees, and slippery rocks. Laura almost busted her a#$ on a rock which prompted her to stop conversing with the French woman and focus on hiking. At one point we thought we might need a machete!We ended our journey with a glorious boat ride down the river back to "downtown" Kampot. The sun was setting and the houses and buildings on the river were picturesque indeed (and we were glad to sit down on a seat that wasn't shaking like an earthquake every 2 seconds). This respite also allowed for more opportunities to converse with our pleasant fellow travelers (none of them Americans which was
just as well!) Charles spoke with a shy but friendly Dutch couple who gave good advice regarding getting a decent, cheap guest house in Saigon! So far none of the people we've spoken to, including the ex-pats have much kind words to say about the Vietnamese. Charles of course, believes that with his French background and the fact that he had a former relative who lived in Hanoi (not one French person we've told this fact to seems the slightest bit intrigued by this) that we will be treated with open arms and given keys to the various cities we visit (yeah, right!)At the end of our tour we were reminded of the gruesome past that some Cambodians have survived through and how it continues to touch their lives today. Our main tour guide was a very cool, small framed guy who spoke pretty decent English. We drove back with him in the tour truck to our guesthouse, and we discovered while talking to him that he had been born in Phnom Penh in 1973 (only 2 years younger than Laura), but had moved to Kampot with his o
lder sister when he was 2 years old, after the rest of his family had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. He said he was so small (he's about 5" tall and very thin) because of the lack of nourishment he received when he was a child.After taking a quick nap and shower we went to a riverfront restaurant recommended by the ex-pats we met at our Guesthouse -- the Rusty Keyhole -- owned by another ex-pat Brit who achieved instant admiration from Charles if only for the fact that he played the Clash and Sex Pistols on his stereo! This was a nice change of pace after the previous day's bus ride from Phnom Penh where the driver put on a non-stop
succession of dreadful Cambodian pop music videos! We were so exhausted from the all-day Bokor trip that we couldn't even finish our food and went to bed at the embarrassingly early time of 9:00 pm!(NOTE: for a really good blog that tells a similar but far more detailed version of a trip up to Bokor go here).
(NOTE: 3 weeks after we left Kampot the road to Bokor Hill was closed. We had noticed surveyors on the road while we were coming down. Charles mentioned to one of the ex-pats that it looked like some company was planning on fixing the road but the guy laughed and said he'd believe it when he saw it; 
this kind of talk had been going on for years! Well, I guess he's believing it now. The same company, Sokimex, that runs Angkor Wat in the North is now building a real road and has plans to turn Bokor Hill into a high-class resort filled with hotels and a golf course! More info here.)
ADDITIONAL NOTE: If anyone knows of any way to view photos of Kampot, Bokor Resort or Kep from back in the day, (like the "old colonial days") please drop us a line! We'd love to see what this area looked like then.
this kind of talk had been going on for years! Well, I guess he's believing it now. The same company, Sokimex, that runs Angkor Wat in the North is now building a real road and has plans to turn Bokor Hill into a high-class resort filled with hotels and a golf course! More info here.)ADDITIONAL NOTE: If anyone knows of any way to view photos of Kampot, Bokor Resort or Kep from back in the day, (like the "old colonial days") please drop us a line! We'd love to see what this area looked like then.
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