Located at
Phnom Sruoch district in the province of Kampong Speu, Kirirom
National Park is established on a seven hundred meters hill covering
an area of over thirty five thousand hectares in the Elephant
Mountains. The name 'Kirirom' meaning Mountain of Joy was given to
it by the King of Cambodia. Kirirom National Park, a high altitude
plateau, is known for its unique high elevation pine forest, which
forms the headwaters for numerous streams feeding Kampong Speu Town.
This park
is part of the 'Southwest Cluster Protected Areas' which include
Phnom Bokor, Preah Sihanouk and Kep National Parks.
Attractions
at this hill station of Kirirom are its spectacular scenery and its
astonishing waterfalls. This park is also the home to many
endangered species of animals such as pleated gibbon, sun bear and
tiger . You can take a ride in the traditional ox-cart ride or trek
along the walking trails among the pine trees. Since this natural
resort is located one hundred and twenty kilometers to the west of
Phnom Penh, visitors can hire taxis to get here. Traveling along
National Road No. 4 will also get you here.
The Kirirom National Park, whose
official name is Preah Suramarith Kossmak, is about 80,000 acres of
forested land on a rare plateau in southwestern Cambodia. The
elevation is about 2,200 feet, high enough to support a large pine
forest quite distinct from most of the country's tropical jungle.
Our last stop in the park was a newly renovated visitor’s center
which was small but quite impressive.
The visitor’s center has some really
attractive displays although there are too many for such a small
space. Still it was refreshing to see such high standards applied to
the center.
Especially rewarding was meeting the
woman in the picture, the manager of the center, who obviously was
proud of her country, her park, and her job representing it to the
public. Next to the visitor’s center are the ruins of a large old
mansion. Pictured here is a tall, multi-part chimney on a foundation
surrounded by a wooden deck that is falling dangerously apart. The
house was a hot-season estate of Cambodia's King Sihanouk but it was
destroyed by the Khmer Rouge who was not finally driven out of this
area until 1992.
Accommodations
