Visiting the Floating Villages on Tonle Sap Lake

WHAT ARE THE FLOATING VILLAGES?

Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It’s also home to approximately 80,000 people who live in 170 village communities comprised of floating and stilted houses.

The lake is located about 17 km outside Siem Reap – a place few visitors to Cambodia miss thanks to its proximity to the temples of Angkor Wat.

The reason the floating villages have sprung up on Tonle Sap Lake is that it provides 400,000 tonnes of fish to over 3 million people across the country. This accounts for 75% of Cambodia’s annual inland fish catch and 60% of Cambodia’s protein intake. In addition to fish, there are also shrimp and crocodile farms.

The characteristic stilted buildings are designed to withstand enormous fluctuations in the size and depth of the lake. From the dry season to the rainy season, its volume can increase from 2700 to 16,000 km², its length from 160 to 250 m, and its depth from around 1 to 10 m. Fed by the Tonle Sap river, which joins the Mekong, its flow actually changes direction depending on the levels of rainfall.

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WHO LIVES ON TONLE SAP?

In addition to Cambodians, a lot of Vietnamese live in the floating villages on Tonle Sap lake. Many came over before the Pol Pot era to work as fishermen, supplying markets across Cambodia as a means of earning a living. Others were displaced during the Khmer Rouge regime and have since remained.

People live off the lake, fishing for their dinner and selling what they’ve farmed. They make fertiliser from left-over fish heads, and soap from the fat that gathers at the bottom of their baskets. Some supplement their diets by growing floating vegetable patches, or keep farm animals like pigs or chickens on their properties. The communities have floating schools, shops, churches, gas stations and medical facilities – and even floating karaoke bars and a basketball court!

The layout of the houses, with their open fronts, enables you to catch a glimpse of daily life as you pass by. Especially after dark, many residences are lit up by TV screens and fairy lights, their occupants swinging contentedly in hammocks.

Life in the floating villages is not easy though. Even the smallest errand requires a boat. A fish-heavy diet so scarcely supplemented with fresh fruit and vegetables can lead to problems with malnourishment and, due to over-exploitation and habitat loss, fishermen increasingly have to travel for days to reach good fishing spots.

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WHICH VILLAGE SHOULD YOU VISIT

There are three main floating communities on Tonle Sap. The most commonly visited is Chong Khneas, as it’s the closest to Siem Reap. To reach it independently costs about $15 by tuk tuk (an extremely dusty ride) and $10 to $20 per person by boat. If you go independently, you also have to be wary of scams. It’s been known for the kiosk at Chong Khneas dock to quote prices as high as $35 per person for the boat. Given that you’re in the middle of nowhere with little bargaining power, you might have little choice but to pay up. Other travellers have told of being asked to fork out $60 for rice bags, or $20 for books and pens to donate to the schools. While the prospect of providing a little more support to a poor community isn’t, in itself, too hard to stomach, it’s still preferable not to be guilted into spending a fortune on overpriced goods, which it’s rumoured are then sold on – rather than donated – to those who really need it.

A better alternative is to take an organised tour with Tara Riverboat. Their sunset tour of the floating villages costs $36. They pick you up from your accommodation and drive you in an air conditioned minibus to the docks. Most of the tour is from a small boat. You can disembark to look around a souvenir store, climb onto a roof for panoramic views, and sympathise with some very sad looking crocodiles at the crocodile farm. You also pass by the school and learn about the prayer hut, before transferring to the Tara – the largest boat on Tonle Sap. The top deck is the perfect place to sit and enjoy your complimentary food and drinks as the sun sets over the lake.

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MORE ABOUT TARA RIVERBOAT

Tara Riverboat have been operating in Cambodia for 12 years and its employees are long-term, committed locals, many of whom were born in the floating villages. The business is dedicated to responsible tourism, meaning that they focus on supporting community education, training and sustainable tourism. Currently, they’re involved in a project to provide local villages with water filtration systems. In addition, 10% of all profits go back into the community.

The prices really are all-inclusive, and the guides make sure you’re not exposed to any of the scams that befall the independent traveller.

Tara Riverboat run day trips ($29) and sunset tours ($36) to Chong Khneas, as well as various tours to Kompong Phluk, Kompong Khleang and the birdwatching mecca of Prek Toal Biosphere Centre.

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VERDICT

Personally, I usually prefer to do things independently. I like the freedom it gives me to allocate my time as I please, and, nine times out of ten, it works out cheaper. This is definitely not one of those nine times. For the ease of getting transfers directly from your accommodation and avoiding scams, for the opportunity to ask your guide questions about the villages, for the peace of mind that Tara Riverboat supports the local community, and for the inclusion of unlimited food and drink, I would highly recommend the Tara Riverboat sunset cruise.