Discovery Center: The Secret Lake of Kampot, A Kayak Journey Through Khmer History

Just a few kilometres from Kampot, between pepper plantations and karst hills, a stretch of water carries a name that is both intriguing and misleading: the Secret Lake. Far from being a simple scenic spot, this man-made body of water holds the memory of a dark period in Cambodian history. Today, Kep West's Discovery Center runs kayak trips here, gliding silently between drowned trees and water lilies, through one of the most striking landscapes in the province.

Two Kep West tandem kayaks glide among white water lilies, with a hill and a line of trees in the background

A Misleading Name

The Secret Lake isn't secret at all — except in name. Known locally as Tomnup Tek Krolar (sometimes transliterated Boeung Tanop Tek Krolar), this vast artificial reservoir is today one of the most visited spots in the Kampot countryside, about thirty minutes' drive from the town centre, on the road toward Kep. Its surface area varies considerably with the seasons: generous at the end of the monsoon, it shrinks noticeably during the dry season, exposing dead tree trunks that give the landscape the look of a drowned forest.

A History Born of Tragedy

This reservoir is nothing natural. It was dug in the late 1970s, under the Khmer Rouge regime, to serve as an irrigation dam meant to supply the surrounding rice paddies. Like thousands of other hydraulic projects undertaken across Cambodia during the same period, its construction relied on forced labour — villagers from the surrounding area compelled to work under extremely harsh conditions. This origin, rarely highlighted in tourist brochures, makes the Secret Lake a site of memory as much as a natural one: a quiet reminder of what the country went through during that period, just metres from the colourful kayaks that now cross its waters.

Read the full story here