A mountain retreat only two hours’ drive away from the capital, Kirirom was once hailed as Cambodia’s own Switzerland. Home to the Kirirom National Park, which was created in the 1950s and put under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1993, it was Cambodia’s first protected national park. Now home to some of Cambodia’s ever-dwindling wildlife population, it offers a cool respite from the relentless lowland heat, and also a chance for a little cultural immersion.