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Published: November 24th 2011
Ok, so the blogs stopped for awhile, and its taken me some time to get back into even being motivated. After believing I had found the love of my life in Ben, I came home to heartbreak, which doesn't need to be aired on here, but lets just say its knocked the wind out of me and knocked me off my feet, and while I am still healing, I am ready to start writing again... I apologise in advance that the blogs may not be as funny, exciting or detailed like normal.. but its been awhile since I experienced the adventure and with the wind knocked out of me the world doesnt seem so bright.. but lets give this a go!
Bokor Hill Station
Up bright and early, we were picked up for a tour of Bokor Hill Station. What is Bokor Hill Station you ask? A little history lesson for you right here:
Based in the Bokor National Park, at the top of a very high hill are the ‘eerie’ ruins of the old French Hill Station. In the 1920’s a French holiday settlement was established along with a grand hotel/casino called the Bokor Palace.
The place
was twice abandoned, first when it was overrun by Vietnamese and Khmer Issarak forces in the 1940’s while fighting for independence from France; and again in 1972 when the Long Nol regime left it to the Khmer Rouge forces that were taking over the countryside. It has been uninhabited ever since, except for the presence of Vietnamese troops and Khmer Rouge guerrillas during the 80’s and 90’s. Interestingly the place has now been bought by the Sokimex Group. For those of you not up on the politics of Cambodia, The Sokimex Group is a petroleum company owned by the Chinese. It is very rich and very intent on buying anything of value in Cambodia for its greedy self.
Its most famous and I believe most controversial purchase is unbelievably Angkor Wat.. yep that’s right, one of the 7 wonders of the world and the most important part of Cambodia’s history is now owned by China. They bought a 99 year lease for $100 Million, most of which is believed to now be lining the pockets of Government officials. That means that every $20 entry fee obtained from the millions of tourists that flock to see these temples leaves Cambodia
for offshore investors… From what I have heard on the ground in Cambodia, minimal money is going towards restoration and protection of this important icon of Cambodia, and sadly what could have been a great money making machine for the Government to get this country back on its feet is now lining the pockets of offshore investors instead.Think of how much money this place turns over and what it could do for the future of this Country! Nothing now…
They have also managed to secure the purchase of two of the best and most beautiful beaches in Sihanoukville… yep privately owned and home to Sokimex’s resort.. They also dabble in Casino’s and they have a casino in Sihanoukville with more planned for other areas..
In 2007 rumours surfaced that they were trying to buy Bokor Hill Station…. And despite the advice and consultation with conservationists and the locals, this place is not being protected, nor are any of their projects they have planned for the top of this National park eco-friendly or good for the history of this important icon. Nope, they are in the process of restoring the old buildings and building big ugly eyesores – including
a massive hotel and Casino. All pleas for eco-friendly options have been ignored. A very sad situation. The Park Manager told them that a golf course is useless at the top of the hill, as the fog is always rolling in and conditions are not ideal... do you think they listened?
There are now rumours that plans are in place to purchase Rabbit Island, just off Kep. A beautiful untouched island that they are planning to build a bridge to, and lump a big Casino on it along with another expensive resort! Seriously, it is heartbreaking, but a sad indication of where Cambodia is. Anyway that is enough of a history of Bokor Hill and the greedy Sokimex Company...
Back to the Bokor Hill Tour
After being picked up for our tour, we were driven halfway up Bokor Hill. The mini bus stopped alongside another mini bus and we were given a briefing by Tree (Our Guide) before starting a hike to the top. We were excited about having to hike to the top but were expecting yet another small hike that you normally encounter on these types of tours... Little did we know what we had
signed up for! LOL... there was nothing tame about this hike.. it was STRAIGHT UP the side of the hill, and the trail.. well it wasnt really a trail.. it was a kind of trail.. As soon as we started the thought of leeches crossed my mind, and then I heard Tree say something about 'watching out for leeches'. OMG... My worse nightmare.. I hate leeches... it takes me back to an incident when I was a child where I got 3 massive leeches on my legs while swimming in a river... I freaked out completely and have been terrified of those little suckers ever since... What made it worse was that I not only had short shorts on and slip on joggers with no socks, but that our trail was tiny and mainly consisted of squeezing through wet leaves!
About 5 minutes into the trek I saw the first little sucker wiggling out of the dirt, trying to get contact with my sweaty bare skin.. URGH! Not long after, we stopped for a rest (it was seriously hard going) and while Tree was giving us some history of the area, one of the guys standing next
to me noticed he had blood pouring out his sandal.... and a nice fat leech sucking between two of his toes... OMG.. I was starting to freak out by now... Tree made an executive decision to keep walking due to the leeches! Eeeeeek! I was in complete leech mode at this stage barely looking at my surroundings, too busy watching my legs.. Over the next 5 minutes I managed to flick off two leeches from my shoes and was completely paranoid by now!
About 3/4 of the way up the hill, Tree told one of the guys he was now the tour leader (even though I was at the front). He explained that I was too scared to be the leader! Tree then left us to find our way to the top as he RAN back down the hill to get the minivan and meet us at the top.. A few minutes after he left I looked down to see a god damn leech on my ankle.. wiggling about trying to get suction on my sweaty skin.... What transpired next was gold.... Imagine me SCREAMING the forest down... I was wildly flailing my arms about and absolutely
hysterical as our new 'leader' tried to flick it off... Danni said she wanted to slap me just to try calm me down (Thankyou!) ... Once leech was gone we started only for the American lady behind me to say in her Southern Belle voice "Now dont freak out but there is another leech on your leg... STAND STILL" ... I was pretty good with more of a whimper coming out of my throat at this stage... She flicked it off and away we went! 10 minutes later and a few leeches dodged later, we wound up at the top. I have never felt so relieved in my life! LOL Great trek, but stuff those damn leeches!
We piled back into the minivans and started the tour of Bokor Hill Station, visiting a church before being told we could wander around and meet up at the Palace. There was nothing too exciting about Bokor Hill Station.. A couple of good photo opportunities but evidence of alot of destruction taking place for the new hotel/casino... Seriously, they have rocks in their heads if they think that is what tourists want these days... Chinese tourists perhaps... but Western tourists...
no thanks!
After touring around we stopped at a temple that had a gorgeous view over the ocean. This is where we had lunch. Not long after arriving Tree warned us that we should not be scared but they were 'blowing stuff up with explosives nearby' and it might get noisy... a few blasts later we were all giggling and thinking how ridiculous it was! We ate lunch then sat around and listened to Tree give us more history of the area and also the story of his life.
Tree grew up in the forest as a small boy, after escaping the Khmer Rouge. He told us how his father was starving hungry so Tree stole a potato from the ground to feed his father. The Khmer Rough soldiers found out. What they did next was horrifying. They tied Tree and his family up together... They then beheaded his father, followed by his mother. They then beheaded his sister, and chopped her hand off to which Tree was tied. At this point, Tree ran for his life with his sisters hand still tied to his own... He escaped into the forest/jungle and spent the
next few years surviving on plants of the forest while hiding from the soldiers! He said that he only worked out what to eat/not eat through experimentation and many times almost died eating certain plants! Amazing man! He was very sad to see the destruction going on around Bokor Hill and frustrated that the company did not listen to Tree and others when they told them that tourists now want eco-tourism options, not big Casinos!
Next stop after lunch was a waterfall where you can normally go swimming, but the water was too murky due to recent rain. Again a big hotel was being built at the top of the waterfall... Stupid people! At the end of the tour, they held a 2 hour boat cruise up the river, but due to us having done the sunset tour the day before we decided to skip this part of the tour and head back to the hotel for sunset drinks instead.. It was a huge day and a 2 hour boat tour at the end was just too much in my opinion. It was a good tour thanks to the hiking involved and Tree as a guide. He
is known as the best guide in the area and knows that forest like the back of his own hand. My only criticisms were that it was too long a tour, the Station at the top really isnt that interesting and not enough water/snacks were supplied during the day. We only got two small bottles of water each all day.. no where near enough for hiking and walking around all day in that heat. I had a cracking headache from dehydration at the end. Apparently before the renovations/building from Sokimex started, you could wander amongst the ruins of the buildings. Now they are either under renovation or have workers living/squatting in them.
After a few drinks, I called it a night and Danni ended up staying down in the bar with a couple from NSW playing UNO late into the night. On that note, I will end this blog (small steps!!) and start a new blog (This one looks long enough!)
Love to all
Reet xxxx
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Anastasia78
Anastasia78
Keep it comin'!
Heartbreak sucks but your blogs do not! :) AND the photography is great! I especially love photos with local people in them. Great job! You write well and are fun to read. Keep up the good work. I'll be watching....