Who Is Lok Yeay Mao? The Spirit That Watches Over Kampot
Who is Lok Yeay Mao? Discover the guardian spirit of Kampot, her legends, shrines, and why she still watches over travellers today.
Bokor Mountain
A grand French hill station inaugurated on Valentine's Day 1925, once the playground of colonial officials and Cambodian royalty, now a plateau of ruins above the Gulf of Thailand.
Full-dayNatureCultureAttraction
View on Map Bokor sits at just over 1,000 metres above Kampot, cool, often cloud-wrapped, and built at a cost the French administration preferred not to advertise. The road up the mountain was cut by prisoners in two years. The Palace Hotel opened on Valentine’s Day 1925 before 120 guests, promoted as a Côte d’Azur in the jungle. The management company folded within five years. King Monivong kept a royal residence on the plateau, commissioned a monastery and stupa-tomb there, and died on the mountain in 1941. Sihanouk revived the station in 1962, opened a casino for foreigners, and shot a film called Rose of Bokor on location. The Khmer Rouge seized it in 1972 and held the church as a military stronghold until the early 1990s. What remains is the shell of all of that: the old hotel, the clifftop church, the Black Palace, and the monastery, pressed together on a plateau that never quite became what anyone intended.Getting there
The entrance to Bokor National Park is 9km from downtown Kampot. From the gate, the road climbs another 30km to the summit through dense jungle on a well-paved road. The mountain is easiest by motorbike, but a tuk-tuk or guide makes the day quicker, smoother, and more informative.
Places to visit
Places to visit
Le Bokor Palace Hotel was inaugurated on Valentine’s Day 1925. It hosted colonial officials, Cambodian royalty, and later a casino under Sihanouk. It’s a working hotel again now, though what happened in between is its own story.
The statue of Lok Yeay Mao stands at the plateau’s edge looking out over the Gulf of Thailand. She is the spirit guardian of the mountain and the surrounding region.
The Black Palace was Sihanouk’s private retreat during the 1960s revival of the mountain.
Wat Sampov Pram Monastery was commissioned by King Monivong, who is buried on the plateau. The stupas were ransacked by the Khmer Rouge.
The ruined church sits on the cliff edge. During the war it was held as a Khmer Rouge stronghold for months.
Popokvil Waterfall is on the plateau, and at its best in the wet season.
Further reading
Things Worth Knowing
Are monks vegetarian?
Not in the Theravada tradition. Buddha was asked if monks should be vegetarian and he said no, it's not required. A monk should not eat meat if they have seen, heard, or suspect the animal was killed specifically for them. But monks have to beg for their food so, if someone shares their food, a monk may not refuse it, even if there is meat in it.