Blogs from Tonlé Sap, North, Cambodia, Asia

The people of Tonle Sap Lake do not have land to live on. They have lived on the water for decades moving when the water level changes. The extremity of the poverty experienced here has led to aid projects including a floating hospital, floating school and a fresh waterline from the city. From the river you can see a lot. It feels like you are ease dropping into the lives of the people. Some are cooking, some are washing clothes, or washing themselves with water from the river. One boat that approached ours had a women and her four children. The oldest daughter carried a python which she offered to us to hold in exchange for a dollar. The oldest son jumped in the river to look for frogs to sell. The women placed her baby ... read more

I mentioned that I visited some ancient ruins during my time at the wedding. I couldn't incorporate it into my wedding entry; as I sat down to write this entry, I realized I had no idea where it was, the name of the city, or the time period these temples and buildings date from. So I cannot write much about this experience, except to mention that it cost money and was a fairly nice way to spend a Saturday morning. It reminded me of my other times visiting ancient ruins in Italy, Greece, and Yemen. I do value my archaeological experiences. Even if I don't take thorough notes on the names, dates, and places. I hope you value my experiences, too, as you look through this small collection of photos.... read more

Quakers got the experience of being refugees today: herded into a small crowded fishing boat and being sent off to an unknown destination. We even had the boat break down and drift aimlessly on the water. Fortunately we were only on Tonle Sap Lake. This lake has been described as the "Heart of Cambodia"and is one of the most amazing geographically features in the world. It is fed by the Tonle Sap (Tonle means river) the only river in the world that changes direction every year. When the monsoons come the flood waters from the Mekong River are so high that the water flows up the Tonle Sap from where the rivers meet at Phnom Penh. This deposits tons of silt and nutrients in the Tonle Sap Lake so it is one of the most prolific ... read more

Joy of joys, this trip was to be taken in air-conditioned comfort. What a treat indeed. I may have mentioned how hard am finding it adjusting to the heat out here. Have I? Am sure I must have, it has pretty much been my all consuming thought this last week. Am sure I didn’t have this much difficulty adjusting the last time and I’ve been pretty darned miffed over it I can tell you for it is impacting on my enjoyment to an uncomfortable degree. However, I subsequently discovered that 2 paracetamol (taken after a particularly rough run in with a particularly unyielding rock whilst clambering through a particularly tight space at Bang Malea) makes the heat that much more bearable. It is likely then that I am running a small fever of sorts; this cheers ... read more

Tonle Sap lake is a great hub in Northern Cambodian for both tourism, enjoyment of Cambodian people and culture, as well as a place to lend a hand. There are a lot of places in Cambodia that seem like good places to volunteer, but in fact, exploit the Cambodian people. For example there are tours set up where you can visit an orphanage, help out a little bit, and meet the children. Unfortunately, the money you pay for your trip to the building does not in fact go to the orphanage or to help the children in any way, shape, or form. This corruption has led to some skepticism on a traveler's part about volunteering and difficulty avoiding corrupt volunteer opportunities when one is seriously looking to offer help. Matt did a fair amount of research ... read more

Hi All, After a somewhat difficult week we decided to go away for the weekend. We are in Kampong Chnang this election eve. The town is located on the Tonle Sap river, just south of the Tonle Sap Lake. The town itself is not flash but the countryside around it is lush and green with occasional hills! Makes a nice change from the flat floodplain where we live. The week's difficulties centred around my fieldwork which began with surveying on Monday, well installation and borehole drilling on Wednesday through friday and sample submission Friday pm. The surveying went well despite one mishap, I forgot the bloody tape measure so John had to measure distance with the staff. It was hot. Damn hot. John, being pole boy copped the brunt of the heat; Sua (our translator and ... read more

After few days staying in Siem Reap. I decide arrange tours to cruising through Tonle Sap lake to see floating village. We start at 4pm and take roughly 40min to reach that place from center of Siem Reap city. Riding with a Tuk Tuk will give some exposure of Cambodian villagers. They still using candlelight as a lamp, cow and colt as main trainsportation, children playing with a dust. This is very native, while i still remember my mum told me that i can see Malaysian 50years ago. The boat ticket cost USD15, and we start cruising the river. No accompany, only me, boatmen and his conductor. I can't recalled their names ( i got bad memorize d;) ) Got a lot of shuttle boat that come and go between this river, that is good business ... read more

First thing we got shuttled from our hotel down to the boat on the River (Stung Sangker) where we, a load of other tourists and some Cambodians piled on - the boat was a pretty simple open sided motor boat with rows of benches, a small back decked area and a roof that you could also sit out on. Once we set off, I stayed below at the back to hide from the sun, and to guard my prime corner seat, while Rach went upstairs to escape the noise of the motor. We were off on the nine hour journey along the river and through the northern end of the lake Tonle Sap. And the journey was absolutely stunning! We started off passing through a sunken length of the river, with pretty high banks, but with ... read more