Located around 12 km from Kampot, 25 km from Kep, and 140 km from Phnom Penh, Phnom Chhngok is a small mountain featuring a Buddhist temple on one side and on its western side a cave featuring an ancient temple dating to the 5th century Funan Era.

From the site entrance on the western side follow the staircase that leads up and past a Buddhist shrine to a viewpoint over the fields and then, down into the cave, passing a small monolith that’s shaped like an elephant. You can see the temple the moment you start to head down.

The cave is quite cavernous and lets in a little more light than the nearby cave temples, although, you will still need extra lighting if you want clear photos. The temple is built up against the wall and around a stalactite

It is similar in design to the cave temple at Phnom Totong which both differ from the cave temple at Phnom Khyang. The brick temple features emphasized base moldings and pilasters and a triple-eave pyramidal roof which is all fronted by a short forebody giving entrance with a decorated arched pediment and remnants of a lintel with Makara on the side spewing out a ribbon.

Inside, you can see the stalactite hanging down, dripping water onto the linga-stalagmite.

There are usually casual guides lurking around who, for not much, will be happy to give you local background on the site, and, lead you safely through the natural wonder of the cave that winds its way around and out just north of the entry stairs.

Getting to Phnom Chhngok is easy, bar the dirt road that connects to the site, either from road 3, or road 33, being in a poor state as of early 2022. But it’s not long and will surely get you there.

Nearby there are the other cave sites Phnom Kbal Romeas, Phnom Totong, and Phnom Khyang along with the Brateak Krola Lake, Bokor Hill, and of course Kampot city and Kep beach.

Rodney Charles LHuillier

Living in Asia for over a decade and now residing in beautiful Siem Reap. Rodney Charles L'Huillier has spent over seven years in Cambodia and is the author of Ancient Cambodia (2024) and Essential Siem Reap (2017, 2019). Contact via [email protected] - more..