Kirirom n.p.

Kirirom national park is one of the locations in Cambodia where you can find Nepenthes smilesii.

The park is situated 120 km west of Phnom Penh, in the Kampong Speu province. It covers an area of 35.000 hectares (350 km²) and is estimated to be composed of natural and semi-natural vegetation.

The park is a mountain resort (800 m above sea level), known for its pine tree covered hills, water falls and lakes. It was a favourite retreat for King Sihanouk in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the king’s villas, roads and other infrastructures were all destroyed during the Khmer rouge era.

The park was declared a national park after the government troops won it back in 1992. The park is only open to visitors since 1997. Visitors are mainly Khmer people coming at the week-end or for holidays.

It’s the only Cambodian park that can be visited on a one day return trip from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh or as a stop over on the way to the coast.

I visited the national park in 2002. I was doing an internship in Cambodia and I went to Kirirom for a mushroom inspection. Being a scientific mission I had a special permit made by the national park authorities. That allowed me to go anywhere in the park.

The Kirirom landscape includes mountains and hills, up to 800 m in altitude, and water sheds and talwegs, where the water is drained to the lower part of the park.

The pine trees forest, which is peculiar of this park, is only found between 600 and 800 m altitude, with a clear undergrowth of graminaceous. That’s where Nepenthes smilesii thrives. It grows among low graminaceous on sandstone soil covered with pine needles.

The number of plants you will find is varying in my opinion according to the competition with graminaceous. In some places the last ones are so present that nepenthes are absent. Colour of plants ranges from almost totally green to green with red marks and to totally red. They are rarely all red or all green but generally green with red marks. The biggest specimen I found had 30 cm long pitchers.

If you go down to 600 m altitude, you don't find anymore nepenthes and the vegetation is much more dense.

The average annual rainfall in the Kirirom national park is about 2.000 mm. The best time to visit the park is just after the rainy season which occurs between May and October. Since its opening in the late 1990s the park's facilities have improved to attract more visitors. You’ll find the accommodation suiting your budget from the luxury resort to the simple guesthouse. You can also contact travel agencies in Phnom Penh that will arrange day trips to the park. If you wish to visit more than one or two areas, you are better have your own transport (4x4 car or motorbike).

Photos by Julien Jedrusiak: pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6, pic7, pic8, pic9, pic10