Kampot, Cambodia
This is a very short post as I will soon be doing an overly long post on my general impressions of Cambodia.
I am now all sunburned after a reasonably fun trip to Bokor Hill. I’m somewhat glad I decided to take a tour if only for access to a 4by4. I was somewhat disappointed by the ruined hotel and I didn’t find it that eerie despite weird exhortations to feel the energy of the place by 2 old Australian women. I did have fun traipsing around the rocks and ruins and concluding with the guide that what the travelbooks say about the military history of the place is bollocks. Bokor was a retreat for French officials who were living it up. It might have some value as a lookout but that’s it. That’s why the Khmer Rouge hid in the surrounding jungle and not in the resort itself.
The guidebooks also claim that that a battle was fought between the Khmer Rouge based in the church and Vietnamese troops in the grand palace. These two buildings are 500 yards apart and would be rubble if there had been a battle. What damage there is due to good old fashioned vandalism as the vast amount of graffiti testifies. The views offered are stunning though.
After that went for a swim to wash off the great amount of dust and spent a quiet evening anesthetising myself with beer after sorting out transport to the Thai border. Another typical day as a backpacker in Cambodia.
Take care,
Arabin
This is a very short post as I will soon be doing an overly long post on my general impressions of Cambodia.
I am now all sunburned after a reasonably fun trip to Bokor Hill. I’m somewhat glad I decided to take a tour if only for access to a 4by4. I was somewhat disappointed by the ruined hotel and I didn’t find it that eerie despite weird exhortations to feel the energy of the place by 2 old Australian women. I did have fun traipsing around the rocks and ruins and concluding with the guide that what the travelbooks say about the military history of the place is bollocks. Bokor was a retreat for French officials who were living it up. It might have some value as a lookout but that’s it. That’s why the Khmer Rouge hid in the surrounding jungle and not in the resort itself.
The guidebooks also claim that that a battle was fought between the Khmer Rouge based in the church and Vietnamese troops in the grand palace. These two buildings are 500 yards apart and would be rubble if there had been a battle. What damage there is due to good old fashioned vandalism as the vast amount of graffiti testifies. The views offered are stunning though.
After that went for a swim to wash off the great amount of dust and spent a quiet evening anesthetising myself with beer after sorting out transport to the Thai border. Another typical day as a backpacker in Cambodia.
Take care,
Arabin
posted by Arabin at 10:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home