Floating Village on Tonle Sap lake

As you are planning your itinerary for Siem Reap, make time for the floating villages of Kompong Phluk.  It is the closest thing to another world that I have seen, and is a must see!



We organised this trip on the fly with our knowledgeable Tuk Tuk driver, who directed us to Kompong Phluk ahead of other options on Tonle Sap lake.

It is about a 40 minute ride out of Siem Reap to the departure point where you need to find the ticket office and pay $US20 per person for what turned out to be a 3 hour tour.  For this we got our own long boat, driver and our Tuk Tuk driver joined us our own personal tour guide and all round good guy!

It takes about 30 minutes to get the Village, and it is simply breathtaking with a whole community living on stilted houses, kids jumping in to the lake, fishing, floating gardens...the list goes on.  Our next stop was the only road in town, which is underwater for 7 month of the year.  This was like nothing I have ever seen - a dirt road surrounded by stilted houses, with the whole community going about their business as you walked around.  I felt a little like an intruder, but we were assured it was OK and the locals don't mind particularly if you engage, smile and show some courtesy.

Our next surprise was a floating garden tour on small canoes.  You get dropped off to do this and it is $US5 per person.  We were paddled around by some local women, and it is a serene experience.  If you get the chance make sure you do this.

If we thought this trip could not get any better it did, courtesy of a short trip on to the lake proper to see the sunset.  Magical!




The trip back to our Tuk Tuk, and make sure you tip your boat driver some $US.