Jeff and Mark Loved Kep and Bokor
After a day of touring in southern Cambodia, my partner and I were sound asleep
in Kep when a thunderstorm came through. We were awakened by peals of thunder
and flashes of lightning which seemed to turn night into day. With each rumble
and crash the windows rattled.
While waiting for the storm to pass and sleep to return, I couldn’t help but
reflect that very similar sensations could have signaled far more grave
occurrences in this very area less than 20 years ago.
In the 1990s, when Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge were writing one of the most
savage chapters in Cambodia’s history, Kep and nearby Bokor bore the brunt of
much warfare and destruction. Both areas have been referred to as “ghost cities”
due to the loss of human life and the stark architectural remains of these
events.
Mark and I had spent the preceding day touring Bokor and Kep on our vacation
with Purple Dragon. We were fortunate to have our own personal guide; we were
not relegated to a bus of noisy tourists or to a typical package tour. We had
the opportunity to learn about the places and their history while seeing the
ghostly remains of once luxurious and vibrant areas. Perhaps most importantly,
we were able to absorb and reflect on all of this at our own pace.
We
walked through the Bokor Palace, in its day the finest hotel and casino in the
region, and marveled at the bright orange lichens covering the walls where once
beautiful finishes provided a backdrop for the high life. As wind moved through
the broken windows, doorways and around gracefully curved staircases, the din of
the roulette wheels, card dealers and chatter of privileged guests whispered to
us. The light fog which crept through ruined rooms recalled the heady atmosphere
of fine cigars and French perfume. Sunlight flickered through bullet and grenade
holes in the walls, suggesting firelight dancing from the grand fireplace on
chilly Bokor evenings. Piles of sand on the balconies and terraces suggested
more recent events. Sandbags once surrounded gun emplacements used by the
Vietnamese as they occupied the building and fired at the Khmer Rouge in a
nearby Catholic church, also now in ruins. Eventually, from the vantage point of
the Bokor Palace, the Khmer Rouge were driven into the jungles, signaling the
near end of their death grasp on the country.
Kep, a mid-century seaside resort for elite Cambodians and wealthy foreigners,
was also reduced to near rubble during these terrible times. Mansions and royal
palaces once lined the coast. Now the remaining high walls and gates enclose
nearly unrecognizable fragments of these opulent homes. Some stand as skeletal
reminders of their past grandeur, some have been swallowed by the mango trees
and exotic landscaping that once framed them. Still others live only in memories
and old photographs.
There is a strange and fragile beauty in all of this. Not only are the images
arresting, but the immediacy of their history is alarming. Missing is the
intellectual comfort that comes with understanding events of centuries past.
Most of us can remember what was going on in our own lives while Cambodians were
living this nightmare. Beauty can also be found in the people of Cambodia, who
will always bear witness to these tragedies. Despite their recent past, when the
material destruction paled in comparison to the cultural and human destruction,
they graciously welcome visitors, share their history, and look to a more
positive future.
The future, with renewed prosperity and tourism, does indeed look positive for
Cambodia. The beginnings of that future can be seen everywhere. There is a huge
new road being built to Bokor delivering tourists to a mega hotel complex
currently under construction there. This new building will dwarf the nearby
Bokor Palace. The effects of large numbers of tourists will irrevocably change
the sights that we saw. Kep’s devastated mansions of the 1960s are being
rehabilitated or replaced to once again welcome wealthy visitors; soon their
ruined visages will be gone.
While these changes will have beneficial economic effects, I am glad that Mark
and I got to see this area, take in its beauty, and ponder its lessons while its
past is there to be appreciated. If you are thinking of traveling to this part
of Cambodia, and want to appreciate the raw history and atmosphere of these
places, you may want to consider a visit sooner rather than later. With time and
progress, the whispers of these ghost cities will certainly grow faint.
Jeff Wood, San Francisco, CA
March, 2010