Living on Waters

This is a place where houses are built on stilts because the area becomes flooded during rainy seasons. This is a place where boats are not just a mode of transportation, but a home to all. This is a place where grocery marketing transactions take place over waters. This is a place children take boats to go to that blue school on waters. This is Kompong Kleang, Siem Reap’s biggest village on the Tonle Sap Lake.

Houses by the lake

Pagoda

An English School

Located on the northern lake-edge about 35km east of Siem Reap town (about 1.5 hour bus ride from the Raffles hotel), Kompong Kleang is home to over 20,000 people. At the centre of the village lies a bustling market, one of several pagodas, a school and health centre. Kompong Klean in dry and wet seasons promises vastly different views. While we saw houses up to 10 meters in the air during this trip, our tour guide shared with us that waters rise to within one or two metres of the buildings during the wet season.

The Dock

A house in the making

Villagers transporting their goods across the bridge

Upon reaching the edge of the lake on bus, we boarded a modest boat for a relaxing, eye-opening journey up the floating village. En route, we saw hardworking fishermen spreading their nets across the water, playful children enjoying a dip in the cool water, women sunning clothes on laundry lines… Children’s enthusiastic waves and innocent smiles melted our hearts on this sunny Thursday morning. The trip to the floating village was definitely a breath of fresh air from our temple visits.

Our students with the local children

Heading back to the dock

What a great ride!

Our Afterthoughts…

As we returned to land, we noticed several large boats similar to ours. While such foreign visits to the floating village promote learning of other cultures and generate revenue for the community, we sincerely hope Siem Reap will continue its development of community tourism in a sustainable manner. Heavily dependent on the fish and waters for a living, we wouldn’t want increased traffic to be detrimental to the villagers’ critical natural resource, would we?  So please travel responsibly. Little things like not littering in the waters can go a long way. Every bit counts!

Yummy Lunch

Serious thoughts aside, it was soon time for lunch and we headed to Steung Trorcheak, a restaurant famous for its Amok cuisine. The gorgeous salad, crisp morning glory and tasty amok fish made it impossible for all of us to resist snoozing in the hammocks that were hanging just next to the restaurant.

Alas, sleep was not on the itinerary and we were off to see the last of the temples in Siem Reap.

All set for a sumptuous lunch!

Local salad with a tangy taste to start our lunch

What better way to end our lunch!

– By Wei and Clara