Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) Day 4: Part 2 - Tonle Sap Lake

Date Visited: 4th March 2013

Once we done with the Angkor Grand Circuit tour, we requested our driver to stopby at KFC for our lunch break. We did spot this fast food chain restaurant right on the first day we reach Siem Reap and honestly to say, this fast food is definitely can't run away from our staple meal. Of course, if there is any McDonald's outlets available, for sure we will list it as one of our itinerary but so far, the huge yellow M logo  with red background hasn't breakthrough into Cambodia market yet. And so we did try Cambodia's KFC but not much different from Malaysia one.

After satisfied our hungry tummy, we moved on the our final destination on the forth day - visit the infamous Tonle Sap Lake. Tonle Lap Sake is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and it is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

#1: The entrance fee to the floating village is US$10

#2: Dry season by the time when we were there

As my friends and I went there during the dry season, thus the water level was very shallow and our boat hardly to make the move from where its docked. While waiting for the boat driver to move the boat, instead of splashing by the water, we were trying so hard from being splashed by wet and dirty brown mud. 

#3: Floating houses on stilts

After waited for almost half an hour, finally the boat managed to cruise along the canal and soon, we came across the floating village which consists more than hundreds of floating houses on the both side of the river banks. For your information, Kota Kinabalu does have floating village as well but not as huge as the one in Siem Reap.

#4: The villagers daily routine is different on dry and wet season 

From what our tour guide told us, the villagers daily routine is divided into two distinctive seasons; the dry and wet one. During the dry season where the lake shrink and the water level is low in between the month of November to May, the villagers would take this opportunity to dry their catches, repair boats and we even saw a group of kids playing football happily.

#5: We managed to catch the sunset in Tonle Sap Lake

#6: Floating plants with sunset as the background view

Luckily us got to see the sunset before the sun decided to give way to the night. Although the view wasn't that spectacular and breathtaking comparing to the previous sunset views we ever experienced, but still watching sunset in Siem Reap is one of our wishlists and glad we managed to accomplish this. And to our surprised, we didn't spot any boats except ours for this sunset experience and phototaking.

#7: Catching fishes is their main source of income for living

#8: Their catch for earning and living

Our boat ride lasts roughly around one and half hour and I glad we didn't approach by any crocodiles along the cruise. I won't say this trip is a pleasant and interesting experience but definitely it is one true eye-opening trip for us to appreciate and be thankful for what we have in our life, especially when we are living in more fortunate life comparing to these villagers.

Despite their poor living and working conditions, the villagers were friendly and the kids especially, smiled and waved at us when we passed by them. They even happily performed "Gangnam Style" dance to us. How cute those kids were?

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