Bokor Mountain is located in Preah Monivong Park, Kampot province Sothern of Cambodia. The Bokor Hill Station is near Kampot province was built by the French colonial in the 1920s on Damrei Mountains, about 20kms as the crow flies and 42kms by the road, west of Kampot. Bokor Hill Station was used as the location for the final showdown of the movies “City of Ghosts” during the year 2002. This location was also used as a retreat and relaxes during the vacation of foreigners, government officials or visitors from the heat, humidity and general insalubrity of Phnom Penh. The centerpiece of the resort was the grand Bokor Palace Hotel & Casino, complemented by shops, a post office (now demolished), a church and the Royal Apartments. It is also an important cultural site, showing how the colonial settlers spent their free time in Cambodia. The views along this road are beautiful Bokor Mountain is part of the larger Bokor National Park. Tigers are rare (and very shy) but are said to live on the mountain, as well as leopards, Asiatic black bears, and slow lorises and other monkeys, as well as a unique grouping of jungle birds, snakes, crawlies, and even a small population of Asian elephants.
Currently, Bokor Hill Station and its abandoned buildings have an eerie, ghost-town feel. As of October 2008, the road to Bokor hill is officially closed due to ongoing reconstruction. Independent access seems to be impossible. It has since been abandoned twice, first in the 1940s when the Japanese invaded Cambodia and again in the 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge engulfed the country. Though there are hiking tours arranged by local travel agents if you want to visit jungle to take natural photos.
Bokor Hill Satation was abandoned first by the French in late 1940s, during the First Indochina War, because of location insurrections guide by the Khmer Issarak era, and then in 1972 as Khmer Rouge took over the area and during the Vietnamese Invasion in 1979, Khmer Rouge entrenceched themselves and held on tightly for months. Early 1990, Bokor Hill Station was one of the last ostrongholds of the Khmer Rouge. The strategic importance of the location is underlined by the fact that the Cambodian authorities maintain a ranger station on the site. The only other historic building currently in use on the site is a small temple.
The road is special in its use of battered slopes and drainage systems in an attempt to prevent landslides. Construction was also well under way on a number of buildings in the hill station area, with the area being partially signed and popular with Cambodian and foreign tourists. From here reaching the top of Bokor Hill previously required a 32 km grind from sea-level to the top of the 3540 ft peak on an old road that took 1.5 hours to complete. However, as at December 2011, construction was essentially completed on the new sealed road from National Highway 3 up to the hill station. There is also a waterfall which tends to be dry in high season and in full flow during rainy season and about 10 km before on the way for Bokor Hill Station there is the Black Palace (called Veang Khmao) was a little summer palace of King Sihanouk.
However the site is owned by the government but is now under 99 – year lease to the SOKIMIC Group – Called Sokong to develop the Bokor Hill Station such as building, Shop, Hotel, Casino and resort to attract local and international tourist to visit there.
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