Having visited quite a few Khmer temples in our last week in Thailand we thought that we better had a break from visiting temples before going to Angkor. We opted to visit two villages located on the Tonle Sap Lake, the biggest lake in South East Asia. We went in the morning to Kampong Phluk, a village where houses are built on very high stilts, and in the afternoon we went to Chong Khneas, a floating village. Those two visits were two very different experiences and to be honest if somebody would like to go to only one village (time or money wise) we will recommend Kampong Phluk as this village is less touristic than Chong Khneas and the visit much more enjoyable. Moreover Chong Khneas can be visited "for free" when travelling by boat to Battambang as the boats departs from this village.
We got a deal with a tuk-tuk driver to go to both villages for $10 as we told him we will also take him to go to Angkor, but the "official" price (that can always be negotiated) is $10 for a return trip to either of these 2 villages. The travelling time from Siem Reap to both villages is around 45min, the trip to Chong Khneas being shorter during the rainy season.
Kampong Phluk
It is a village where all the houses are built on very high stilts as the level of the lake increases by 8 to 9 metres during the raining season. The tuk-tuk took us to a nearby village where two guys were waiting to drive us to Kampong Phluk. As it is the dry season the village can be reached by motorbike via a very bumpy unsealed road too bad for a tuk-tuk. The guys wanted $15 dollars per person for the motorbike trip to the village and the tour boat on the lake. We finally got a deal for $12,5 each but this was still a big rip off as some other travellers told us they paid only $5 each without having to negotiate.
The motorbike trip was 45min long and a bit scary for Gosia as her driver was very fast on this very bad road going through the fields that get covered by the lake during the rainy season. The boat trip was 30min long. Before reaching the lake we travelled through the forest that is totally recovered by the lake during the rainy season. The lake is so big that you don't see the other side, however unlike for the lake Titicaca in Peru, the water is so muddy that you won't be confused if it is a lake or the sea. The boat went around a temporary village of very basic wooden houses on stilts that fishermen families inhabit only during the dry season. We could see that the level of the lake was very low as fishermen were walking around their boats with water only up to their chest. Back in the village we had some time to wander in the only street along which all the wooden houses are built. It was weird to see all those houses stuck so high on stilts. We were trying to imagine how the village looks during the rainy season when the water reaches the top of the stilts. Walking around we saw a lot of shrimps left to dry in the middle of the street on fabrics, people were chatting under their houses, some were working, kids were playing and some were riding old bikes much bigger than them and kept passing us laughing. Only two kids came to try to sell us books and pens "for the school" and another one came to ask us for our bottle of water under the instruction of her mum. All the other people were just going on with their life.
Chong Khneas
Visiting this village was a less enjoyable experience as it is a very touristic place. The price for the boat tour was supposed to be fixed at $10 per person as per our guide book but we have been asked to pay $15 per person and Russian tourists that arrived just after us have been asked to pay $20 per person! They did not want to put the price down even if we told them we knew the price was $10 per person but after a few minutes they finally told us that it is $10 per person only for a group of 5 people. So we asked tourists around and bought our ticket as a group of five. All along the road that leads to the lake are very poor habitations... for sure none of the money that the hundreds of tourists pay for the boat tours each day go to those people. Arriving at the pier we were surprised to see hundreds of boats waiting for the tourists and we were chocked by the extremely poor habitations surrounded by rubbish that are all around the dusty parking lot full of tour buses. As soon as we stepped of the tuk-tuk we have been begged to buy water, cokes and beers by kids and on our way to the floating village kids jumped on our boat from a small boat to also try to sell us some drinks. The tour around the floating houses of the village was the only enjoyable part of the visit, it was very interesting, we saw the supermarket boat, the hair dresser boat, the school boat... we also witnessed the locals relaxing in hammocks in their houses. After this 20min tour our boat stopped at a fish farm, which is in fact one of the many big boats made for tourists....all have an aquarium with fishes, a few crocodiles, a platform to watch the sunset and off course a restaurant and a souvenir shop. The sunset was nice, the crocodiles scary but overall the experience very unpleasant. As soon as we arrived at the "fish farm" we did not even have time to get off our boat that kids started to beg us to buy some fruits for $1. About to cry they kept saying "all for $1" "all for $1" "all for $1" "all for $1"....and they started to be aggressive towards us as we kept saying no no no no..... we did not want to give any money as it will encourage the parents to keep sending their kids begging, we rather buy from kids that offer products for an honest price or donate money to NGOs that will use it better and really help those people. Back on the boat we appreciated the end of the sunset before ending up stuck in a traffic jam when arriving at the pier. We could not believe it....boats everywhere, horns, fumes....well another reason to say that even if the floating village is nice it is not a pleasant experience to visit it!
We got a deal with a tuk-tuk driver to go to both villages for $10 as we told him we will also take him to go to Angkor, but the "official" price (that can always be negotiated) is $10 for a return trip to either of these 2 villages. The travelling time from Siem Reap to both villages is around 45min, the trip to Chong Khneas being shorter during the rainy season.
Kampong Phluk
It is a village where all the houses are built on very high stilts as the level of the lake increases by 8 to 9 metres during the raining season. The tuk-tuk took us to a nearby village where two guys were waiting to drive us to Kampong Phluk. As it is the dry season the village can be reached by motorbike via a very bumpy unsealed road too bad for a tuk-tuk. The guys wanted $15 dollars per person for the motorbike trip to the village and the tour boat on the lake. We finally got a deal for $12,5 each but this was still a big rip off as some other travellers told us they paid only $5 each without having to negotiate.
The motorbike trip was 45min long and a bit scary for Gosia as her driver was very fast on this very bad road going through the fields that get covered by the lake during the rainy season. The boat trip was 30min long. Before reaching the lake we travelled through the forest that is totally recovered by the lake during the rainy season. The lake is so big that you don't see the other side, however unlike for the lake Titicaca in Peru, the water is so muddy that you won't be confused if it is a lake or the sea. The boat went around a temporary village of very basic wooden houses on stilts that fishermen families inhabit only during the dry season. We could see that the level of the lake was very low as fishermen were walking around their boats with water only up to their chest. Back in the village we had some time to wander in the only street along which all the wooden houses are built. It was weird to see all those houses stuck so high on stilts. We were trying to imagine how the village looks during the rainy season when the water reaches the top of the stilts. Walking around we saw a lot of shrimps left to dry in the middle of the street on fabrics, people were chatting under their houses, some were working, kids were playing and some were riding old bikes much bigger than them and kept passing us laughing. Only two kids came to try to sell us books and pens "for the school" and another one came to ask us for our bottle of water under the instruction of her mum. All the other people were just going on with their life.
Chong Khneas
Visiting this village was a less enjoyable experience as it is a very touristic place. The price for the boat tour was supposed to be fixed at $10 per person as per our guide book but we have been asked to pay $15 per person and Russian tourists that arrived just after us have been asked to pay $20 per person! They did not want to put the price down even if we told them we knew the price was $10 per person but after a few minutes they finally told us that it is $10 per person only for a group of 5 people. So we asked tourists around and bought our ticket as a group of five. All along the road that leads to the lake are very poor habitations... for sure none of the money that the hundreds of tourists pay for the boat tours each day go to those people. Arriving at the pier we were surprised to see hundreds of boats waiting for the tourists and we were chocked by the extremely poor habitations surrounded by rubbish that are all around the dusty parking lot full of tour buses. As soon as we stepped of the tuk-tuk we have been begged to buy water, cokes and beers by kids and on our way to the floating village kids jumped on our boat from a small boat to also try to sell us some drinks. The tour around the floating houses of the village was the only enjoyable part of the visit, it was very interesting, we saw the supermarket boat, the hair dresser boat, the school boat... we also witnessed the locals relaxing in hammocks in their houses. After this 20min tour our boat stopped at a fish farm, which is in fact one of the many big boats made for tourists....all have an aquarium with fishes, a few crocodiles, a platform to watch the sunset and off course a restaurant and a souvenir shop. The sunset was nice, the crocodiles scary but overall the experience very unpleasant. As soon as we arrived at the "fish farm" we did not even have time to get off our boat that kids started to beg us to buy some fruits for $1. About to cry they kept saying "all for $1" "all for $1" "all for $1" "all for $1"....and they started to be aggressive towards us as we kept saying no no no no..... we did not want to give any money as it will encourage the parents to keep sending their kids begging, we rather buy from kids that offer products for an honest price or donate money to NGOs that will use it better and really help those people. Back on the boat we appreciated the end of the sunset before ending up stuck in a traffic jam when arriving at the pier. We could not believe it....boats everywhere, horns, fumes....well another reason to say that even if the floating village is nice it is not a pleasant experience to visit it!
