Living on stilts

Cambodia is home to the great Tonle Sap lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in SouthEast Asia! Surrounding the lake, there are several floating communities, several of which you can visit from Siem Reap. Today we will visit one of the smaller, more scenic villages of Kampong Phluk, or ‘Port of Tusks’ by vintage jeep.

We depart the hotel and we are soon travelling on Jeep friendly country roads, and in the real Cambodia! This morning we will travel like the locals and take some time to explore a local village by bicycle. The roads are flat and there is little traffic, so it’s a nice relaxing time and a good opportunity to practice your ‘Soousaday!’ (Hello!) with the local kids.

Soon, we are back in our restored vintage Jeep and on our way to visit Kampong Phluk. As we approach the village and the lake, you will see the landscape and the houses change. Depending on the height of the water, we may drive quite far into the village, but if the water is high, we may switch to a local boat early on. People here need to be quite flexible in the way that they live and move around and the village as it changes depending on the season.

Travelling by boat allows us to really explore the village, and travel like the locals. Life can be tough here but the people are very resilient and are always quick to smile and wave. Our guide will explain to you how the village operates and how people can survive here – fishing of course is a big part, but when the water is lower, there is also farming. There is also a flooded forest here, when the water is high, it can be quite beautiful to explore by small wooden boat.