Kampot is a city in the South which is not exactly on the seaside but about ten kilometres away, on both sides of the river. A rather quiet city, frequented by many foreigners, very cosmopolitan, but which did not seem to me of great interest.
On the other hand, nearby is the Bokor National Park. It is about 800 meters above sea level and about 30 km from Kampot.
To get there you can try to take a taxi but I did not find any or rent a scooter. Finally after discussing it with the hotel receptionist, I opted for the Rickshaw, this Vespa style three-wheeler which doesn’t seem to be the ideal vehicle to take a mountain road. But the driver assured me that it would be fine if I was alone.
I don’t regret this choice even if it would have been nice to do this road by motorbike. It’s a road that is in near pristine condition, winding but wide.
Doing the 30km in a Rickshaw was a very interesting experience. The climb at 15 km per hour may seem long but the driver was really very very friendly. He stopped to buy a bunch of bananas for the monkeys. Indeed there were several tribes of monkeys on the way and each time my driver stopped so I could give them bananas and take their picture.
These monkeys move in tribes so all of a sudden you see about 20 of them coming, big males, the females with babies then for several kilometres not a single one and all of a sudden around a bend again a troop of 15 to 20 monkeys.
You have to be quite careful when driving because some of them are quietly in the middle of the road and even if they move aside when a vehicle comes, at the exit of a bend it can surprise.
After the monkey zone we end up on a plateau and there is a surprise: I wrote at the beginning of the article that we are in the national park, a normally protected area, but at 800 m altitude at the top of the park, apparently Chinese promoters are building a real city of houses and buildings. At first I thought it was a derelict building site, then I saw workers finishing some of the pavilions. It seems to be a huge project but I am not sure who the target audience is.
Surely at this altitude it’s not as hot as down there and it can be a nice place. From there to build so much housing!!!
By continuing to advance towards the top we arrive at a place where there are rather old places of worship which are exploited since a new temple is in construction, but also a huge hotel apparently in activity which is really very ugly. And there again, close to this hotel, all along the road, hundreds of houses are under construction.
My driver-guide continued the road to the casino, a large building completely closed next to which is a royal residence. Again it is an amazing site. The casino building is very large, surrounded by beautiful gardens as it completely overlooks the plain and the sea. From up there you have a magnificent view. I don’t know for what reason the casino is closed, but one can suppose that it is not closed definitively since there is a guard on the spot very attentive so that nothing is degraded. As I walked around the casino I stepped slightly off the paved path to take a photo from a better angle from the lawn. I was immediately called to order: One does not walk on the lawn which is perfectly maintained and mowed.
Also very surprising is the royal residence, on the one hand because it is a very modest building, and on the other hand because there is an old residence completely abandoned on the right of the road and a more recent residence on the left of the road but of the same size. This one, according to my driver, is still in use. Nothing to do in terms of size and luxury with the official residences of the president of the republic in France who is not supposed to be a king. 
The road ends at the king’s residence and you have to go back down the same way. There are walks to be done in this national park in particular to go up to “water falls”, waterfalls but this day following my big walk of the day before with the suitcase I had a blister on my foot which did not allow me to go there.
A very interesting site and I really liked the contact with this very pleasant and considerate taxi driver who apologised several times for not speaking English properly but with whom we managed to understand each other.
Also very nice to meet this amazing group of young monks and very young girls who insisted that we take a selfie.
Back to Kampot in the afternoon for a pleasant meal by the river and a new disorienting anecdote: while walking back to my hotel I am surprised to find that the street of the hotel as well as the adjacent street are closed to traffic in a very rudimentary way with a simple red wire across the street that we can hardly see. 
At each entrance to the street there is a guard and as I approach the hotel I notice that in front of one building there are several guards. I approach to look but they immediately call out to me. The building they are guarding is a secondary school. The guards are firm and forbid me to approach but they don’t know why; they hardly speak English. I thought that perhaps there was a visit to this establishment by an official, a minister or some other notoriety.
The hotel receptionist gave me a rather surprising explanation: it’s simply exam day today so the hotel and the area are closed!
