Nice to see a few photos of the old casino, Rhiekel.
Sadly all of mine disappeared in a computer crash a few years ago. I now religiously perform backups!
In 2002 or 3, I had a memorable ride to the Bokor Hill Station.
The road, long abandoned by the French and later by the Khmer Rouge, was mainly rocky rubble and not a
spot of the old tarmac to be seen. Riding a rented 250 dirt bike, I'd arrived at the base of the mountain not long
before before sunset.
I only saw one vehicle on the ride up, a Khmer on a moto carefully heading down the mountain road. In the distance
I could see a cloud, or maybe it was also fog, that was covering the mountain top. As I neared the top, visibility
became progressively worse and upon reaching the top, the cloud was so dense I couldn't see more than 10-meters!
My headlight help me see the road, but no buildings or anything else was visible.
I drove around on trails leading off the main road and finally encountered one of the old buildings. I thought I be
spending the night there, when suddenly in the distance I saw a very faint light turned on. Driving towards
the source, I found the light was from the rangers house. The ranger rented me a bed and gave me a candle
to use in the dormitory which is adjacent to the ranger's house. I was the only person on the mountain, other
than the ranger's family. The following morning, I was greeted by clear skies and bright sunshine and spent an
enjoyable day exploring the remains of what was once the resort and casino built by the French.
Upon going down the mountain, I stopped at the only building along the road, located about a third of the
way from the bottom. It was a Khmer's home with a small restaurant. The also grew pineapples there and claimed
they were the sweetest pineapples grown in Cambodia. I believe it!
I'll never take the now paved road nor see the new structures being built atop Bokor. I don't want to tarnish
my memories of Bokor as it use to be.