The Dâmrei Mountains (literally the "Elephant Mountains", , Chuŏr Phnum Dâmrei), refer to a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

situated in south-western

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, traversing around north-south as a succession of the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains (, ; , ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the southwest part of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range is within Cambodia. The silhouette of the Cardamom Mountains appears in the Sea ...

, dropping abruptly to the sea near the town of Kampot. The Elephant Mountains represent the easternmost parts of the original extent of the wet evergreen forests that include Cambodia's south and the mountains east of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in Thailand.

Description

The range is a southern offshoot of the Krâvanh or

, occupying a much smaller area. The highest elevation is

Phnom Bokor Preah Monivong Bokor National Park (, ) is a national park in southern Cambodia's Kampot Province that was established in 1993 and covers . In 2003, it was designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park. It is located in the Dâmrei Mountains, forming the ...

at above sea level. Located close to the shores of the

Gulf of Siam The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, the densely wooded hills receive some of the heaviest rainfall in Cambodia, averaging 150–200 inches (3,800–5,000 mm) annually on their western slopes (which are subject to southwest monsoons) but only 40–60 inches (1,020–1,520 mm) on their eastern slopes, because of the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

. The Dâmrei Mountains were, until 1975, the principal centre of Cambodia's pepper-growing industry. After the intervening years of civil war and upheavals pepper-growing has revived slowly beginning from the late 1990s.

National park and tourism

Phnom Bokor National Park Preah Monivong Bokor National Park (, ) is a national park in southern Cambodia's Kampot Province that was established in 1993 and covers . In 2003, it was designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park. It is located in the Dâmrei Mountains, forming the ...

occupies most of the highland plateaus and summits of the Dâmrei Mountains. The authorities are trying to curb

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

. The park has a great variety of plant species, including rare

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

, an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

pitcher plant only first described in 2009, as well as some spectacular waterfalls during the rainy season. There are several historic and cultural sites in the national park area. Bokor Hill Station (''Station d'altitude de Bokor'') is an abandoned French settlement on top of Phnom Bokor, where elite French colonial officers spent holidays during the hot season. The place also has a church and a palace, all in a dilapidated condition. Nearby there is a Cambodian army outpost which doubles as a youth hostel. Both sites are now becoming tourist attractions, and the road to reach them, originally built in 1907 at the cost of many human lives, has recently been modernised.Mogenet Luc, ''La création de la station climatique du Bokor (Cambodge)'', présentation commentée de sources d’archives inédites, Péninsule, 2007 (2) N°55, Paris, 2008 As of 2014, the 32 km road connecting National Route 3 to Phnom Bokor is completed. In 2012, the large luxury hotel of Thansur Bokor Highland Resort, located near the Bokor Hill Station, was completed.

References

External links

Wildlife Alliance Cambodia Conservation Program

Conservation International Cambodia Program

Bokor Mountain Tourism

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damrei Mountains Mountain ranges of Cambodia Cardamom Mountains

Description

National park and tourism

See also

References

External links