Cambodia: Floating Village

Among the top attractions of the Siem Reap area are the floating villages on the nearby Tonle Sap Lake.  The lake itself is remarkable, as it expands in size fivefold during the monsoon season when the river that normally drains the lake reverses direction due to overflow from the Mekong River and instead fills the lake.

As described in Wikipedia-

The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997. 

The Tonlé Sap is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake.

Floating villages have sprung up on the Tonlé Sap lake.  According to our guide, Len, the villages are populated by the families of ex-Vietnamese soldiers.  When Vietnam ended its occupation of Cambodia after overthrowing the Khmer Rouge, many soldiers didn't want to leave.  Instead they shed their uniforms, and with no land holdings to call their own in Cambodia, formed communities living on house boats on the lake.

On the drive from Siem Reap to the lake we saw little slices of rural Cambodian life.

delivering blocks of ice

Once at the lake we rented a boat.  Shortly after we set off, a faster boat drew alongside our boat and without permission someone from the other boat jumped onto our boat.  Fortunately it was not a pirate but a young girl trying to sell some food and drinks.

executing a well-practiced boarding maneuver

It was remarkable how the villagers were able to fulfill all the necessities of life in the absence of dry land.

hotel/restaurant boat

floating store

a common sight of fishermen and women beating fishing nets to dislodge the tiny fish caught in the nets

boys jumping into the lake from a small boat

it's hard to see, but this is a floating pig pen

a family collecting the day's catch

cell phone tower and communications building

our guide, Len, said that in Cambodia kids know that it is time to start school when they can touch one of their ears using the opposite hand.

Charlotte checking whether she is old enough to go to school

vendor

basketball court

We stopped at a floating gift shop/ restaurant/ marine zoo/ tourist trap.

boy with snake at the tourist trap

catfish feeding frenzy

crocs on display

Charlotte about to feed the catfish

girl with snake asking for money from the tourists

 We had a view of nearby homes from the second floor restaurant.

this little boy was floating along in a metal tub.  later he came alongside our boat and very persistently asked for money.

Len told us that the village is quite poor and that the children often don't get a decent meal.  An enterprising family had set up a store selling boxes of noodles, pencil sets and notebooks, and bags of rice to tourists so that the tourists could then donate their purchases to the villagers.  It seemed somewhat scammy, but we went ahead and bought a box of noodles which we took to a school and handed out to the students.  The students seemed genuinely grateful- the school was apparently not usually visited by tourists - and when they received a packet of noodles would abruptly hop up, crossing their arms in front of them locked at their elbows in a gesture of thanks.

one of the primary schools

Charlotte with the box of noodles

handing out the noodles

I was impressed with the resourcefulness of the families living in the floating village that they could survive living entirely on the water.  It was a fascinating place to see.

The visit was somewhat depressing however.  Although living on the lake had its pluses, such as the boys who treated the lake as a vast swimming pool located out their front door, the families were clearly poor and the opportunities for the children limited even by Cambodian standards.  The boats of tourists, including us, snapping photos were turning the villagers into a floating spectacle for our entertainment.  Their use of little children to beg tourists for money, undoubtedly for long hours every day, was also discouraging.