Siem Reap may be more laidback and provincial than Phnom Penh, but it has a unique charm and significant historical identity that makes it a must place to visit in Cambodia. Here goes the Part 2 blog post of my recent travel trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia - Way of life at a floating village, The Tonle Sap Lake. The ocean may be the body of water that defines many South East Asian nations, but not this one. Cambodia is dominated by another feature, a great lake - The Tonle Sap. The lake serves as the home, livelihood, and source of food for countless Cambodians / refugees. The people living on this lake represent a true "water world" with entire villages needing support. The Tonle Sap, the Great Lake of Cambodia, is one of the natural wonders of Asia. A trip to Siem Reap would not be complete without a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake. Cambodia's Great Lake, Tonle Sap Lake is the most prominent feature on the map of Cambodia which is an important commercial resource, providing more than half of the fish consumed in Cambodia. In harmony with the specialised ecosystems, the human occupations at the edges of the lake is similarly distinctive - floating villages, towering stilted houses, huge fish traps and an economy and way of life deeply intertwined with the lake, the fish, the wildlife and the cycles of rising and falling waters. Coming from Siem Reap, you reach a boat deck on the shores of Lake Tonle Sap. It's a scummy area, with boats loading and unloading goods, fish drying in the sun and assorted video cafes. The lake itself is peaceful and uneventful, but hidden dramas abound, if you hire a boat for an hour, or row out yourself, you can reach a floating house suspended overhung bamboo-fishing holding pens. A trip around the village is testimony to the ingenuity of people livivng on this waterway with small kids padding little tubs to each other's houses. Lake Tonle Sap is actually an enormous fresh water area. Lake Tonle Sap fills with water during the monsoon season, but by the month of February, it shrinks to a fraction of its former size, becoming one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. The main fishing season is February to May. When the water recede, fish are preventing from escaping with nets and bamboo traps. Some are caught in the branches of trees, or in the mud and simply picked up. Fishing families live in temporary huts that can be dismantled and moved forward as the water recedes. When the fishing season is over, fishing families return to their villages. Spartan interior of the boat. I was lucky enough to occupy the whole boat to myself for this exclusive exploration of the floating village. Me striking pics while exploration of the Chong Kneas floating village. As i looked around at the little boats that made up the floating village, i could not believe how life was different in Cambodia. Simple, colourful, even tempting as i thought about leading a hectic life back home in a city. Visiting exotic places can sometimes make you long for something different, even if just for a little while. Of course, i feel fortunate to live a sturdy house in Singapore. But i can't help but dream about being rocked to sleep every night on a lake, surrounded by bright greens and blues. A ride for three people on a motorcyle. Trading from house to house on a boat with 'sampan'. Chong Khneas floating village is the floating village at the edge of the lake closest and most accessible to Siem Reap. The villagers are primarily Khmer and have 2,500 inhabitants between them. During the dry season when the lake is low, the buildings in the village seem to soar atop their 6 meters stilts exposed by the lack of water. At this time of year, many of the villages move out onto the lake and build temporary houses. In the wet season when water level rises, the villagers move back to their permanent houses on the floodplain, the stilts now hidden under the water. The boat ride offers a close look at the lakeside village life. Vast mangrove forests surround the entire village, offering incredibly scenic locations for boat excursions along the flooded tree line. The annual flooding of the Tonle Sap makes the lake an incredibly rich source of fish, snails, snakes, frogs and all manner of aquatic wildlife, while the farmland around the lake benefits from an annual deluge of rich sediment. The rise and fall of the waters is quite marked and lakeside housing which may very well be several hundred metres into the lake during high water is supported by stilts up to about 10 metres high. This gives Tonle Sap villages a surreal feel during the dry season and a very tranquil and bucolic air when the lake is flooed and they appear to be almost floating on the water. Cambodian settlement. Boats serve not only as homes, but also as vehicles. For a heavily abandoned village, there were many boats on the water. Boats serve not only as homes, but also as vehicles. For a heavily abandoned village, there were many boats on the water. Floating house of worship. It was really an experience cruising down the floating village. The water looked pretty dirty but the people living in this village used this water to bathe and do their laundry. If you are one who always complain about the slightest discomfort in your modern daily city life, visiting this place will make you think twice about complaining in future. I really don't know if I can ever live in such a condition, but that's how these people live everyday. I must be thankful always for leading a more fortunate life back home. The Government of Cambodia does help to provide clean drinking water to this community. Above shot is the floating building that houses the community drinking water station. These villagers have fundamentally little humanitarian assistance. Water filters can be purchased for USD 12 and will provide clean water for an entire family for at least one year. The floating village is sort of self contained. Some of the people here probably have never even stepped onto land before. It's a rather sad story to me. Fishing is their source of livelihood as Tonle Sap is one of the world’s most productive inland fishing ecological hot spot. Harvested food for sale. Despite the lake's booming tourism (many boats filled with tourists ply the lake), the river people are mired in poverty and dependent on their fishing livelihood, where they follow the fishery law in Cambodia. Threatening the industry, however, are illegal fishing, poaching and other serious issues. I have witnessed children with snakes on their necks asking for "USD 1" to photograph their pets. My heart ached at the sight of mothers begging while their infants are laid in makeshift cradles in tiny boats. A few babies were crying under the hot weather. Other young ones have become pros at approaching boats by jumping in from their vessels, selling soft drinks in cans and snacks. You can wonder at the hygiene and medical attention they receive. There was even a mini crocodile farm but don't worry, the area is fenced up so even though you watch the crocodiles from above, you will not be in danger of falling down and become the crocodile's dinner, unless if you are not careful. It was all so mesmerizing. The colorful floating houses, ingenuity of the locals, yellow light of the setting sun shimmering on the water, vastness of the lake, reflections on the water and to complete the picture, a beautiful rainbow! One of the most magical experiences in my life, visually! It was overall an eye-opening and fascinating river tour and an experience of this trip that I won’t forget anytime soon. I feel lucky to have seen a part of Cambodia that relatively few people have been to, and to be able to better understand the current events happening during my visit. Anyone can read about financial damage and displacement statistics, but seeing abandoned villages and homeless children first hand gave me a more visceral understanding of the devastation. But if there is one thing Cambodia excels at, it’s survival and I have no doubt that the people of this country will recover from this natural disaster with grace.
A trip travel back in time at Siem Reap, Cambodia - Part 3 - To be continued...
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