Bokor Hill Station is a moldering old French resort at the top of a mountain near Kampot with a reputation for spookiness. We booked a group tour, and rode large 4WD trucks over the rugged dirt roads with disintegrating pavement. Jason toughed it out in the back of the truck, and acquired a Kramer-esque look by the end of the day. I stayed inside for the sake of my contact lenses, and talked with an Australian expat named Felicia. And with the "monkey driver."
After riding in the truck for several back-breaking hours, we saw the ruins of the king's lake palace -- actually quite small. When we arrived at the mountain-top, and it was (relatively) cool and misty. The French built the station on the mountain, as this was as close as they could get to a European climate in Cambodia. We trekked through the wilderness for a while toward the hill station. And caught sight of a flying saucer water tower.
Bokor Hill Station was, indeed, eerie.
Built in the twenties, with art deco architecture, it was a popular resort. Now in ruins, the orange moss-covered bones of the building are still beautiful, and undeniably creepy. Maybe not for long though -- we hear a Korean company will be restoring it, and installing a gondola between mountains.
Inside Bokor Hill Station we could see broken glass brick windows, a dirty ballroom, and rotting tiles in the bathrooms of hotel rooms. We climbed stairways to find all the hidden rooms and balconies and imagined the station's past grandeur.
ew. this looks like the video game Silent Hill which, fyi, is now a movie coming out this summer.
Posted by: iza | January 22, 2006 at 12:35 PM