Bokor Hash

Avid readers may remember that we've already been to Bokor in February. For a quick recap - Bokor mountain sits near the sleepy town of Kampot, about 2.5 hours drive south of Phonm Penh. Atop Bokor is an abandoned French resort, complete with casino, church and other basic amenities.

Anyway, last weekend, the Hash organised a trip to Bokor. Here's the ranger station where we stayed:


Activities included

• a Full Moon Hash - a run through the villages at about 9pm at night. We woke up all the dogs and all the Cambodians came out to make sure we weren't stealing anything.
• Bokor Mountain Hash - a 6km run stopping at all the scenic sites at the top of Bokor

• Saturday night party - The organisers had arranged for us to have a party on the second floor of the old casino. It was a bit hard to see what we were eating by candle light and there were no toilet facilities (the caterers said they had organised a "toilet", only to be shown the casino's original lavatories with plumbing to goodness knows where), but it was fun if a bit spooky. It was only the smoke from the fire, where the plastic rubbish was being burnt Cambodian style, that drove me away back to base camp, where the party continued with loud cambodian pop music and dancing.

(Casino during the day)

• Recovery run - I didn't think I was going to make it but I'm glad I did. We went to this pretty pagoda

and saw a monkey which like to be patted. It was strange to touch his hands - just like people hands. Bokor is really lovely but I don't think I can handle the bone shaking ride it takes to get there again. There are road works in progress and word is that Sokimex (a petrol company) has bought the rights to redevelop the area into a soul-destroying modern day resort and casino, so it might not stay like this for much longer.