Cambodia’s Tonle Sap is said to be the largest lake in Southeast Asia and its most interesting attractions are floating villages. We drove down an extremely dusty dirt road that only existed during the dry season. Come rainy season, the road will sink up to 30ft. below the river that flows into the mouth of the lake. The river is low and looks more like a mud creek. The people living along the banks are so poor. They dwell in bamboo huts lifted off the ground with wooden poles, maybe 4 inches around. It’s so hot that everyone has gathered under the only shade there is; the dried palm roofs. There are no trees, just a blanket of baked brown. We stopped at one point to take some photos and several children ran over to the car, some clothed, some not. They begged, “one dollar please, just one dollar”. We were sure it was the only English they knew. Their dirty, sweet, little faces were so desperate. In the few seconds it took us to reach for our wallets to find some singles, more children came to the window and now they were fighting for the front spot, all reaching their hands into the car to be the one who received, what may be, the only money the family gets that day. Pulling the dollars out created more anxiety and they were literally shaking and fighting, all yelling, “please one dollar, please one dollar”. We handed out the bills that we had and two boys had a grip on one and neither would let go. The driver moved ahead and we felt awful. We have never witnessed such utter desperation. So sad.
The people who live along, and on, the river and lake have known no other life. Families have been there for generations. They move their homes with the flow of the water. When the water moves down, they move their homes down, as the water moves up, the move their homes up. As we drove closer to the lake we actually witnessed a group of people moving a home. Unbelievable. They are at the mercy of the weather. Most earn their living from the fish that they catch and when the water is low, as it was while we were there, the fishing is not good. Some run boats for locals and tourists. We parked where the river was deep enough to get on a boat and took a trip out to the lake to see the community of people actually living, and fully functioning on the water. We were awe struck by this unusual way of life. It must be so incredibly difficult. The population of this community alone is over 10,000 and there are many communities all around this giant lake. You cannot imagine it until you see it. Families with many children cramped in quarters some with no electricity or running water, some with what would seem, luxurious amenities, such as a TV and toilets. They all use small boats to get around, to shop for food, to get the children to the one school at the mouth of the lake, to visit their neighbors. Most are from Vietnam and are highly discriminated against by the Khmer people.
This place is a photographer’s dream…an intriguing image in every direction. As we docked at the floating restaurant, many small boats followed us, each carrying small children begging for money, “one dollar please.” The mother’s would have bananas to sell. One child had a large snake in a metal basket that he wanted to take out and show us. Eek, take the dollar, quick! The most creative getup, was a little girl, who stood at the front of the boat like a lake princess. She had a colorful bunch of flowers on top of her head, a bright plaid dress, a pacifier attached to a ribbon as a necklace, and a snake wrapped around her neck. She deserved a dollar for the most innovative, for sure. What a crack up! More boats pulled up as we ate lunch. Our guide told us to ignore them or the whole village would show up. The lunch was fried rice, although in hindsight, we should have passed and waited to eat at a more sanitary establishment. I paid the price the next couple of days, if you know what I mean.
We found this lifestyle absolutely intriguing. How anyone can survive this way is incredible. The hardest life title goes to the tenacious people of Tonle Sap.
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