Floating Village

My first morning in Siem Reap I awoke to the sound of thunder and rain outside my window. I spent the better part of the morning swinging in a hammock under the guest house's awning as I drank coffee and read. The morning rains turned the main roads into mud, filling large potholes with brown rain water. Walking through the town in the afternoon I watched as the traffic weaved there way through the rained soaked streets, including this pizza delivery man.

In the afternoon I hopped on the back of Lucky's motorbike, a driver who recommended my guest house the night before. Lucky, in his early twenties, is a Siem Reap native. He suggested a trip to the floating village, about 20 minutes outside of town. This became my first experience with the growing tourism industry in Cambodia. The floating village can only be accessed by boat which is run by a private company who charge a ridiculous amount for tickets to independent (and group) travelers. They make people take boats independently. Having just read that a petroleum company manages the tourism of the Angkor temples, taking a large cut of profits from the pricey entrance fees, this experience left me even more soured about the industry. It begs the question, are the poorest people benefiting? As I witnessed people's standard of living it doesn't appear that everyone's living standards are improving equally.

The roadside out to the lake and floating village was a glimpse at how most people live in Cambodia. The road was lined with small huts either made of plank boards or bamboo thatched walls. Houses were raised on stilts creating a safe harbor during the rainy season and a cooler place to live under the house in the dry season. Being the dry season most daily tasks took place under the house. As we rolled along I could see people sleeping off the mid-day's heat in a hammock, preparing food for dinner, washing clothes, cutting their children's hair, and repairing motorbikes.

6,000 Muslims, Cambodians and Vietnamese live on a lake that provides a home, source of water and fish to it's residents. Floating schools, stores houses and even an environmental center are scattered around the lake. The picture to the left is the basketball court connected to the floating school. Fish breed in fish farms that were constructed. Large sticks helped to anchor houses in place.

Woman paddled along in long, narrow boats selling food to fisherman and village residents.

Below is a shot of a family's home. Women prepared food in the small kitchen areas and used water from the lake to clean vegetables and fish.












Even though it was a Friday afternoon, many children were in their homes or riding on boats. They watched as I floated by, some smiling and waving eagerly. The adorable girl below was at a floating cafe and souvenir shop, a trap for tourists. She was almost 2 years old and ran up to me with arms stretched high, pleading me to pick her up. I felt a little Angelina Jolie syndrome coming on.






Access to the lake was along a small river which seemed to have been man made and began at the docking station for the tour boats. Life on the banks looked to be very difficult; facilities were lacking, the shore was polluted with garbage. The boys on the left took time to cool off from the heat by splashing and jumping in the water at the river's edge. Behind them you can see some of the houses that line the shore.

Below to the left, a woman prepares a meal or washes dishes from her home. Girls are being taken to or from school pulled behind a motorized boat.