Chong Khneas, The Floating Village of Tonle Sap
Day 2 : Phnom Penh – Siem Reap
We started our day early as we will be leaving Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The bus departs at 7.30am, so while waiting for our pickup to the station we lingered around taking some photos of the nearby morning market.
6.30am in the morning at St. 144, Riverside Phnom Penh. The guesthouse that we stayed is located just a stone throw away from the ever bustling Phsar Kandal.
Some scenes at the market.
I didn’t get to explore much of the market though, as our pickup arrived shortly afterwards. The van stopped at a few locations to fetch other passengers, and then took us to the bus station in front the Central Market for us to board the bus to Siem Reap.
Although Siem Reap is separated from Phnom Penh by a mere 144 miles away, it took nearly 6 hours to arrive at our destination bypassing Cambodia rurals.
The journey was quite straight forward though, with the bus stopped in between nondescript villages and small towns to drop the commuters. The vista are somewhat the same throughout; dry and barren land which dullness accentuated by the hot weather with tiny huts lined along the road, and the folks were inside for the early afternoon siesta. We killed most of the time dozing off; otherwise listening to the MP3 while enjoying the view through the smeared window, or eavesdropping into locals conversation (which was quite loud – more like shouting actualy; as if they were quarelling or something. At times they were a bit annoying, especially when we were intermittently awoken from our slumber).
We finally arrived at Siem Reap around 2.00pm, and as we got off from the bus we found ourselves beseiged by pesky tuktuk drivers. We hurriedly leaved the scene in order to lose them, but one lad followed us faithfully. He introduced himself as Sweet (rather a sweet name for a guy), and mentioned that this was the only day he got to pick up passengers from the station (they were on monthly rotational basis, hence explained the eagerness). Since he looks less foxy compared to the other drivers and the fare was reasonable, we agreed with his offer.
We asked Sweet to drop us at Angkor Park Guesthouse right in the heart of the town, and got ourselves a spacious room at only USD9 per night.
Earlier, we had made a deal with Sweet to take us to the Tonle Sap, a fresh water lake that dominates Cambodia. After refreshing ourselves and a quick lunch (some bread and tuna) we headed to Chong Khneas floating village about 15km away, cruising along the inundated watery vegetation plots and blossoming lotus farms.
Upon arriving at the jetty we were surprised to see a newish terminal, and the thought of being ripped off immediately popped up in mind. Actually I did asked Sweet to take us to Mechrey, whereby it is less touristy and commercialized. Unfortunately we started our tour quite late and the village is located further away, so we finally agreed with Sweet suggestion to head to Chong Khneas instead (albeit the numerous pre-empts of its scandalous reputation).
As we reached the terminal, we were approached by a group of man dressed in khaki uniforms, which I think the jetty operators. It seemed that the terminal was not fully operational yet, and there was no ticket counter in sight. All tickets were to be purchased from them. We were charged an exorbitant fare of USD20 per person (since there’s only two of us, USD15 if you are in a group of more than 3 people), and in exchange we get 2 hours of private tour (which didn’t matter to me). I believed there’s a higher say in the ticket price, and the control are definitely not governmental (they operated under the boat owners association, and I doubt is true). The fare is way too much for such short excursion, more than the price we paid for a full day jaunt in the gulf of Tonkin last year (and that was with meal!). So cunning was their operation that there’s no way we could share the boat, and they were a bit rude too! Seeing me contemplating, they finally reduce the fare (which confirmed our theory that the fare is fixed by them).
“To be, or not to be”, Will whispered in my ears.
“Well, what the heck”, I said to myself. It was fairly absurd to turn our backs now that we were already here. And with that notion we hesistantly chipped out some cash from our thin wallet and handed to one of the men, now smiling. Deviously.
We were ushered to a small boat, manned by a skinny man in mid 30′s and a young chap. Soon we found ourselves cruising the shallow and muddy water of Tonle Sap, bypassing long boats in white and blue. “These are the express boats from the Mekong River in Phnom Penh” the boy told us, in broken English. Taking a boat is another alternative of reaching Siem Reap, despite the normal bus trips.
It was the beginning of dry season in Cambodia, and water level drops tremendously. This in fact relates to Tonle Sap unusual behaviour – the flow changes direction with the change of season. In dry season the water drains into the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, whereas during the monsoon the water reverses its flow and flooded the lake and nearby area with all the sediments and nutrients make it a great fish breeding ground.
During the dry season most of the village folks live on land, as seen by the small wooden huts. They are tiny and portable, and can be moved to drier land when the water level increases.
There was not much to do during the low season, and the locals filled up the time fixing nets and boats to be ready for the next catching trip.
Fishing is the main source of income at Tonle Sap, and everywhere we could see men with fishing nets.
The water was so low that most fishing activities were done at the riverbanks.
Oopssie…
The boat took us along the waterway for several minutes, until we reach the lake and the floating settlements.
We stopped by the crocodile farm and a floating restaurant in the middle of the lake, which was the highlight of the tour.
Traditional fish traps (Malay: Bubu) made of rattan.
Dried crocodile skins were on display, among other things.
Aerial view of Chong Khneas village from the platform above the restaurant. The place is equipped with school, grocery store and police station. It look much the same with the floating village we saw in Halong Bay, Vietnam.
A family paddling by.
While we were enjoying the view I spotted a girl with a snake. She was paddling in a small metal basin with a phyton in one hand, happily shoving it to me. I was bewildered, and quickly snapped a photo of her. And that was before she raised her hand unsmilingly and made a gesture with her index finger – accompanied with a demanding voice: “1 dollar!!!”
When we were about to leave the restaurant I saw a family on boat; the girl playing with a snake while her mother feeds the sibling. With a shy smile she posed for us, and timidly took the money I offered – only with her mother’s approval. They are really poor people, but yet didn’t ask for money like the others, which made me more than willing to give it to them. I don’t mean to brag, but it just feels good if that small favor could put smiles on their faces.
A boat house.
Our young guide asked whether we want to visit the orphanage and the school, where we could help donate some books and stationeries. We’ve heard about this scam as well, and said that we were uniterested. In reality I honestly want to visit and see the kids, and very much happy to chip in for the books, if it really goes to them. Which I doubt.
Without visiting the orphanage and what’s not, the tour ended shortly than promised. We were too dissappointed with the overall tour that we didn’t even want to argue. I felt a bit sorry for our hosts actually; the boy especially - when seeing his frowning expression we guessed that they also didn’t get their fair share from the jetty operators. And without the scam tour to the orphanage and school, it means that they lose the incentive as well. At least we were thankful that they didn’t even push us into it.
At the end of our tour they asked for a tip, of which we handed a small not worth mentioning to the boy as a token of appreciation despite the rip-off, and believe that god knows better. What’s important it reached them. Perhaps I was too optimistic when I said this : I’m glad that at least a small losing on our side could mean something to these people. Perhaps I was simply an idiot.
