Visiting | The Floating Village upon the Tonle Sap

Photo Collection: The Floating Village on the Tonle Sap, Cambodia – Our young captain takes us for a tour past stilt homes of the local fishermen, along the river and into the produce-rich vastness of the Tonle Sap Lake (upto 16,000sq km) – one of the few tidal lakes in the world.

The lifestyle here as been relatively unchanged for centuries. A few modern cons here-and-there but fundamentally the same, with contact only to the wider population to sell the immense catch they produce (circa 125,000 tonnes/year).  Even after the Khumer Rouge, those who survived reclaimed this lifestyle.

But it’s under threat.  Plans of dam building on the Mekong threaten this peaceful lifestyle, a vein that is the main supply of fish to the rest of the country which also brings in additional export revenue.

If these dams are built, the fish migration stops, fish breeding stops, the tide changes and impacts will be felt across the ecology and by the villagers. The whole country will suffer…

On the stilts you can see how high the water rises in the rainy season

As we pulled in, our bus was surround with these smiling faces

Our Young Captain

As we leave the narrow river, the mouth opens up into the vastness of the

The village’s school

Fisherman cooling off

Play-time on the Tonle Sap

The Road to Phom Penh