Off the beaten path

Location:
Cambodia

Tonle Sap, floating village

By V!VA user

Seasoned travelers tend to stray away from the beaten path of family resorts and touristy shopping destinations. But, it is the most seasoned travels that form the common goal of absorbing as much of the local culture and the environment of a society as possible.

It is our first day in Cambodia, a country so exotic and new to us. A 45 minute long car ride that lead to our escape from the bustling hotel-lined streets of Siem Reap and onto a motor boat in the Tonle Sap River, the largest fresh water lake in all of South East Asia. We're escorted onto a small motor boat that is operated by a Cambodian family and a boy about the age of twelve is our driver and his younger brother, is first mate. Amidst the roaring of the engine, we look around us at the scenery passing us by. Homemade houses made from bamboo and debris are situated on top of stilts that are ground into the land beneath the river. The presence of children is abundant. Adults seem scarce. We pass by schools made of wood, with entrance signs explaining that they have been donated by Japan, France, and Spain. Every home, every school, everything is built over wooden stilts.

Our tour guide, a fellow who is passionate and well-versed on his country explains to us with disdain how this area of the Tonle Sap is densely inhabited by illegal Vietnamese immigrants. He sees these people as a threat from taking much needed jobs from his fellow Cambodians.

The immense poverty of this area becomes more evident when we are discovered by the abundant array of petty vendors that hawk around the vicinity of the boat dock. In a country as rural and cut off from mainstream society as Cambodia, it is hard to remain anonymous as a white-skinned, blond-haired American. A young girl climbs onto our boat to sell us soda drinks. Others start rowing up to our boat in tin pots. Some of these young children are missing an arm or a leg. These sites unfortunately become all the more familiar during out time spent in Cambodia, which holds thousands of land mine victims from its many years of war. It is hard to not buy the goods these kids are selling, not because of the need for a can of Sprite or a key chain. It is hard because you know that this little amount of money for you (most try to sell whatever they've got in hand for one American dollar), that means so much to them. An adorable young boy slides onto our boat with the assistance of his father. We slip him a dollar and when they are out of our immediate eyesight, his father reminds him to hand over the cash. Our guide tells us the importance of not just giving the children money, but to buy the items they sell in order to instill a work-ethic within them.

The water we are driving in is a greenish sort of brown, it is heavily polluted. Yet we see naked babies bathing in it and women washing clothes in it. The afternoon sun is lowering so that the sky has bolts of orange running through it. It is the end of the workday for most families living floating villages. We see fishermen accounting the day's catch and more adults are now visible on the shoreline. Aside from giving us a taste of life in this fragmented village, the purpose of this boat ride is to take us to a small crocodile farm. Crocs are popularly raised within this area. Their skin can be sold for a great sum of money; their meat is considered a delicacy within the area as well. We arrive at a flimsy dock constructed of bamboo. Our guide escorts us to the hole in the midst of the dock where the crocodiles are kept. About ten of them are kept within a 10X10 foot area filled with raw sewage and water from the lake. Nonetheless, I do not detect any discontentment within their mischievous facial expressions. We get back on the boat and the sun begins to set. Our fascination with these village people, living on nothing with nothing has grown. We pass children as young as two standing from flimsy boats, naked, with large snakes dangling from their necks. We are hungry for more to observe. An important thing to know about traveling with a guide is that it is rarely necessary to stick with a pre-planned schedule. Once you enter a country, and begin to experience it for yourself, certain activities become more appealing and others, less. We wanted to observe the lives of more of these people living within the floating villages of the Tonle Sap. We asked our tour guide to walk us around the villages on the shore. He gladly accepted. Walking around the village at dusk was peaceful. Adults were turning from their farm work and people of all ages could be found bathing outside either in the lake or under newly donated water pumps that line every other house within the village. These clean water pumps have been donated by families, mostly Americans that have visited the village in recent years. Most guides have available information ready if parties are interested in donating a pump of their own. Walking down the unpaved, dirt streets, I do not feel uncomfortable. People smile from a distance but do not bother us. I do not feel pity for these people. Though they live with less than little, these people do not seem tragic to me. The vendors we encountered within touristy territory seemed desperate to me. But, seeing these people within their own community, being myself an observer and intruder onto their lives, I was able to grasp the true cultural feel of this beautiful country.

Further Information

Travel tips: -Coming with a tour guide is helpful for navigational purposes

Must see/do at this place: Seeing the crocodile farm is interesting, stay a little longer and walking through the village by foot is interesting

You should avoid here: To avoid becoming a target for herds of vendors when boat riding through the lake, avoid making eye-contact.