Disclaimer: All activities in the photos/videos published in this blog were performed by professional athletes at their own discretion. There is absolutely no assurance that any activity discussed in this blog is legal or safe. Participating in these extreme sports or related activities carries a significant risk of damage to property, personal injury or even death. You must exercise your own judgment as to the difficulty of these sports and assess your ability to protect yourself from the risks and dangers. If any of the aforementioned is sustained, we will not be held liable.
Longboarding in Cambodia
When you think about downhill skateboarding / longboarding, Cambodia probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. That being said, there is one mountain in Cambodia that you should absolutely go to if you get a chance. The best part about it is that it may already be on your Cambodia itinerary. Bokor Mountain is a mountain about 37km west of Kampot in southern Cambodia.
Kampot is one of our favourite places in not only Cambodia, but all of the world. A sleepy riverside town just a 2 hour bus ride away from Phnom Penh, it was a place we’d frequent often when we were living in Phnom Penh.
Bokor Mountain is one of the many tourist attractions in Kampot. Atop the hill you’ll find a national park, an abandoned church, waterfalls, a Buddhist temple and views of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. As for skating? The mountain is just over 1100 meters high with approximately 14 kilometres of skateable smooth pavement downhill. The road is very well kept and fun to ride.
Watch: LONGBOARDING DOWN BOKOR MOUNTAIN
How we got to the top
There are two ways to get to (and up) Bokor Mountain.
1. Drive to the top & have a friend follow you down
This is, by far, the best way to go if you have a friend that can drive down behind you. This way, you can get to the top on your own terms without spending any extra money on top of the moto rental rate.
You can rent a motorbike in Kampot for about $5-$10 a day. Most guesthouses will have their own bikes available for rent. If they don’t, they will help you arrange one.
Gas is approximately $1 per litre.
2. Drive/transit to the bottom & hitchhike to the top
If you don’t have somebody to bring your bike back down, you can park at the bottom of the mountain and hitchhike up.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to rent a bike at all, you can take a tuk tuk to the bottom of the mountain and hitchhike from there.
What to expect
This hill is an absolute leg burner. There are sections that are more mellow than others so you’re only going maybe 30-40km/h which is hard staying in a tuck going that slow for so long. Other sections will definitely pick up speed though. If you really wanted to, could probably get up to about 80-90km/h.
There are some corners that you will have to pre drift for as they are quite tight and with the unpredictable traffic, you want to give yourself the ability to slow down and potentially shut down if necessary.
What to look out for
Like anywhere in South East Asia, the vehicles in Cambodia are known to cut corners. The top of the mountain has a casino and other tourist attractions. This means you will see buses quite regularly – and they love to take the inside lane up the mountain.
It was still worth it though.
There is known to be some security up at the top of the mountain, so we hurried down quickly before they could tell us we couldn’t skate. If the security tells you not to skate, then you should not skate. Other than that, we had no one bother us while skating or even at the bottom of the hill.
After doing only one run, our legs were burnt so we decided to quit while we were ahead.
One good thing about skating Bokor Mountain is that there is a hospital within 20 minutes of the hill so if any accident were to happen, then we wouldn’t be far away from help.
Nearest hospital: Sonja Kill Memorial Hospital, Kampot
We made sure to smile and wave at the locals on our way down the hill. We received big smiles and laughs in return.
As always if you have any questions you can reach out to us at @notluxxe on Instagram and I’d be happy to link you up with local skaters and give you any tips/advice while you’re there. ~Nick
Have fun and skate safe!
Disclaimer: All activities in the photos/videos published in this blog were performed by professional athletes at their own discretion. There is absolutely no assurance that any activity discussed in this blog is legal or safe. Participating in these extreme sports or related activities carries a significant risk of damage to property, personal injury or even death. You must exercise your own judgment as to the difficulty of these sports and assess your ability to protect yourself from the risks and dangers. If any of the aforementioned is sustained, we will not be held liable.