Although this is my third visit to Kampot, there is still so much to discover and learn.

We took a break in the CLS traffic over the weekend to do a couple of day trips out of town, and on Saturday made the trek up Bokor Mountain, which overlooks Kampot and the Kampong Cham region.

The journey up the mountain takes about an hour and a half on a motorbike – and anyone familiar with my usual disdain for the things will know this is no mean feat.

But road up into Bokor National Park is very good now , thanks to the Chinese-built monstrosity that now sits atop the mountain in the form of a giant “resort” hotel and casino complex.  It was built with the intention of drawing hoards of international visitors and the money that’s been invested into the place is eye-popping.  However it’s populated almost entirely by hundreds of Khmer staff – which is good for employment – but very few visitors.  In fact, it’s so deserted, it’s borderline creepy.  I’m sure I heard the strains of “Hotel California” playing as we walked through the massive front doors.

But that meant loads of customer service when we sat down for lunch at the 100m buffet – groaning with enough food to sustain the entire community of Kampot for a week – but apart from a portly German gentleman who tucked in like a human hoover and wouldn’t meet our eyes – we were the only “guests”.   And I couldn’t help but note the obscenity of such waste in a country so poor.  I’d like to think the leftovers went to the staff, but I won’t be holding my breath.

Atop this misty mountain, we also found some remarkable remnants from the past.  There is an abandoned Catholic Church – built as part of a colonial French settlement.   We were greeted by a sign warning we should not sleep there overnight.  Not a chance in hell of that anyway, sporto – the place was eerie enough in daylight.  At night, I’ll wager it would scare the bejeezus out of Stephen King.

It’s become something of a dumping ground for the flotsam and jetsam of visiting kids – littered with Anchor Beer cans and the detritus of some serious partying.  Look past the rubbish and the graffiti and it’s actually quite beautiful – somehow made moreso by the ravages of a century’s merciless weather.

The older buildings up on Bokor have been cloaked in a quite unusual moss/lichen that glows brilliant orange.  At first I thought it was orange paint, but it feels like velvet and gives a quite extraordinary hue to the whole place.

The little Buddhist wat (temple)  that sits incongruously behind the monstrosity that is the casino – is breathtaking.  Perched right at the edge of a cliff, it is a working wat with monks coming and going, it was very beautiful with the mist rolling around the mountain – a noticeable drop in the temperature made the experience all the more noteworthy!

Also atop Bokor Mountain is an imposing building with a sinister history that paints the place as grey as its facade.  Originally built (or almost built – it was never finished) as a casino and hotel, this abandoned building was used as a stronghold for the Khmer Rouge during their murderous reign in the 70s.  It’s a veritable fortress – again, perched right at the edge of a cliff, with 360 degree views.  It would be quite breathtaking as a hotel but equally effective as a stockade.  Recent work on the place has covered up all the bullet holes, apparently, but just knowing its history makes it a sombre place indeed.