Bokor Birthday

Sunset later on.
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Wednesday morning. Our bus from Phnom Penh bounces and shudders its way past palm trees, paddy fields and wooded hills on the four hour trip to Kampot. A brief breakdown, ten minutes outside Kep. We all pile out to see what's happening while a wedding gets under way in a colourful marquee a few meters away. After ten minutes the bus driver emerges from under the belly of the bus, with grease covered hands and the engine starts up again.

Kampot is a small town on the edge of the Teuk Chhou River, where it meets the sea. The couple of guesthouses and restaurants there are, are along the picturesque river front.

Breezy in the back of the pick-up to Bokor.
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We arrive at our guesthouse, a plusher than normal place that Ben has booked for my birthday and are immediately ushered up the stairs by the girl that greets us, to join in the "good luck" ceremony being given by some local monks. The ceremony is already well under way, monks chanting and beating bongos while hotel staff (and now we) sit on the floor, hands clasped before faces. A few times I'm encouraged by the girl next to me to place hands on the floor three times in a row when the monks chant a particular refrain. The whole thing over and the only other Westerners introduce themselves as the hotel owners and tell us that we just happened to arrive at the time of the bi-annual blessing. Will let you know if it works!

... I don't believe you.
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Hire a moped that afternoon and head down a bumpy track up river to a disused railway bridge. It was on the railway in Kampot where in the mid nineties three western tourists were captured and subsequently killed by the Khmer Rouge. Can't have done much for tourism in the town.

Sitting watching the sunset on the embankment two boys come up and ask if they can sit with us to practise their English. One is very shy and his mate, who needs less practice, does all the talking. They're really intrigued as to why we should possibly want to come to Cambodia. The unique and idyllic situation at that moment provides the perfect answer. Talkative boy talks about how Cambodia is trying to lift itself out of poverty, he's not sure how much tourism helps (Kampot doesn't really get that many tourists). He's never even been to Angkor Wat, but hopes to one day go to Phnom Penh and work for his uncle there. Talks in less than glowing terms about the recent Thai claim over Preah Vihear temple in the north of Cambodia.

Sunset.
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Day two in Kampot is my birthday. Ben gives me a card made out of elephant dung, no longer smelly. Great breakfast at guesthouse before we head up on our trip to the Bokor National Park. Squasing into the back of a pickup with five French guys and a German couple for the bumpy ride up to the 1100 meter summit.

We stop at Prince Sihanouk's deserted summer palace on the way up to an abandoned luxury resort, with a casino and church nearby, for rich tourists of the 1930-60s. Funny being able to explore an overgrown old hotel. You can still climb all the stairs and imagine the rooms as they might have been.

At lunch our guide explains that during the 70s this was used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge. The whole national park around us, he explains, has recently been sold by the Government to a private developer who will knock down these pieces of history. The guide's info session quickly degenerates into government bashing as he explains how the Government and Prime Minister, both unchanged in thirty years, are massively corrupt and selling off large chunks of Cambodia to private developers to fill their own pockets. He even gets quite emotional, describing how corruption is rife everywhere, even in school, where you can pay a teacher to get good marks, or so he says. The views from the hill are breathtaking over jungle, where there are still elephants and tigers, to the sea below. The day ends back at the Teuk Chhou river on a long boat and we cruise a few miles downstream back to Kampot, as the sun sets over Bokor hill above. Perfect!