Phnom Chhngok is a limestone hill about 8 kilometres from Kampot with a cave containing a small brick temple of pre-Angkorian date. The temple sits at the back of a large chamber, with a natural skylight admitting a beam of light that moves across the carvings through the day. The climb up the hill is straightforward — stairs cut into the rock — and takes about 15 minutes.
The site is quiet and genuinely ancient, less visited than the major Angkor temples but interesting precisely because of that. Local children sometimes position themselves as guides at the bottom; they know more about the cave than the signs do. A longer trail from the hill leads to a second, smaller cave with wall paintings. The whole site takes about two hours at a leisurely pace.