As a destination, Kirirom is a bit off the tourist track and can be difficult to navigate without a motorbike or chartered taxi, both of which are easy to arrange from Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville. There is an uncommercial and small 'resort' with some rooms and a restaurant near the top of the mountain, but it is often booked on weekends. The staff are not the most warm-hearted, but you can tolerate them for the view and easy access to surrounding forest.

At the bottom of the mountain, you can find somewhat upscale accommodations and a restaurant at the Kirirom Hillside Resort. It is a beautiful place, with well-tended gardens, tennis courts, very nice cottages with air con and cable TV, horseback riding, and a playground for children. It's very nice, but clashes terribly with the living standards of the people living outside the compound (but not as bad as the luxury hotels in Siem Reap!). That said, it's often the only place with available rooms anywhere near the park. There is a waterfall and community-based ecotourism project about 10-15km down the road. A visit here might assuage the guilt of spending $100 per night at a resort, but it shouldn't!

I should also add that a visit could easily be arranged as a day trip diversion while in transit between the capital and the coast. As someone who has lived and worked in this province for about a year and a half, I hope that smart, sustainable tourism to Kirirom will help convince the government that forests are more valuable when they are left standing. The potential for unbridled development of this area is a distant prospect, but a prospect nonetheless. I hope that an increase in visits to this very accessible park will help promote awareness on the part of the government, convincing them to protect other forested areas in more remote parts of the country. Enjoy your travels!

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Kirirom is a national park on the road between Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, on route for anyone coming to Cambodia from Thailand at the Koh Kong crossing. In a country devastated by massive ecological destruction in the 80s and 90s, a visit to Kirirom will give the visitor an idea of what much of the country must have been like before it spiralled into social and political freefall.

It was Sihanouk's personal forest preserve for many years, and later used as a refuge for Khmer Rouge guerillas. These two factors help explain why the forest has emerged more or less unscathed. A paved road brings you into the park proper, leading to a series of dirt roads and walking paths that take you into beautiful deciduous and tropical coniferous forests with minimal undergrowth.

A buddhist monastery and crystal clear ponds can be found at the top of the mountain. Beyond Kirirom, the forest becomes inaccessible and is home to much of the country's remaining population of large fauna, including elephants and tigers. Don't count on seeing any animals, they have learned to avoid human poachers and it is nearly impossible to penetrate deep into the park. Nonetheless, temperatures here are relatively cool all year and the air is fresh and clean.

Some of the waterfalls near the paved road are frequented by Cambodians on weekend visits. Unfortunately, many of these Lexus SUV-borne day visitors have not learned the virtues of bringing out their garbage when they leave. If you avoid these obvious spots, you can find beautiful settings and relatively pristine nature.

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