The Tonle Sap

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Our first view of Cambodia from the window of our Lao Airways plane was totally different from what I expected. I had imagined a dry, dusty, haphazard landscape; what I saw from high in the air was a lush, green , and very orderly scene with LOTS of water. I had imagined further that when we stepped off the plane we would be hit with a blast of hot air like a blast furnace; instead it was mild and comfortable with a lovely breeze blowing. At the airport we were greeted by Ly Heng, our guide and Kuny, our driver.

Pavillon d’Orient

We checked into our hotel, the Pavillon d’Orient. What a delightful place! The staff couldn’t be more solicitous or accommodating! Our room is on the second floor overlooking the garden. No need to draw the blinds - tree-tops are the only thing out there. French doors open onto a lovely balcony complete with wicker furniture. The bath is the most luxurious we’ve had so far with a big soaking tub and HOT water plus a separate rain shower. An excellent open-air dining room serves us a full breakfast and is available for meals all day long. I tried the national dish, Fish Amok, for dinner and it was excellent. I won’t tell you that Bruce had spaghetti and meat sauce or that we had our first real dessert in 2 weeks - crepes filled with Nutella!

We sat with Heng soon after we arrived and laid out our plans for the week. I think that he wants to work up to the piece de resistance, Angkor Wat, so he has scheduled us for other activities before we go there. He did give us a titillating peek at it on the way from the airport, but we’ll let him run the show. For our first outing we went to the Tonle Sap.

Brief Explanation of the Tonle Sap

For two weeks now we have been making our way down the Mekong River in Laos. Just beyond the 4000 Islands, the Mekong flows into Cambodia on its way to the South China Sea. At Phnom Penh, the capital, it is joined by the Sap River, which flows out of a large lake called Tonle Sap. In the dry season Tonle Sap covers about 1000 sq. miles; however, in the rainy season, as the Mekong swells tremendously, an interesting phenomenon occurs. The Mekong flows INTO the Tonle Sap, reversing its flow and driving vast amounts of water that expand the lake to 3 times its former volume. The Tonle Sap becomes a huge breeding ground for fish and when the rainy season is over and the water level slowly drops, the fish are trapped there as if in a barrel, ready to be scooped up in big nets, and eventually thousands of square miles of lake again become dry ground.

The annual influx of nutrient-rich water also means that the receding flow leaves rich farmland where farmers raise a variety of crops; however, even in the wet season they are able to farm. There are villages that grow a special variety of rice. At the start of the rainy season they plant rice in boggy ground in traditional fashion. This rice grows stems at the same rate that the lake rises, so that when the rice is fully grown it is floating on the surface with the roots still fully connected to the lake bottom.

Kompong Phluk

To capitalize on the bounty of the lake, the Vietnamese and native Cambodian people (mostly Muslim Chams) who live here have engineered unique villages. In the dry season they erect their homes on wooden platforms 20-25 or more ft. high. As the lake fills and expands, the water rises under the platforms until the houses sit only a foot or so off the water. We went by boat from a small village where there was a canal leading to the Lake. The canal soon became part of a watery landscape, the channel marked only by “hedgerows” surrounded by more water. After traveling through this Everglades-like area for a mile or two, we reached the village of Kompong Phluk.

At this time of year, the water in the village is still about 4 feet deep; the houses sit about 15 feet above it. The dry season has begun and little or no rain will fall for the next 5-6 months. We transferred to a small flat-bottom boat poled by a middle-aged woman so that we could ply the side waterways. The inhabitants have developed unique systems for carrying out the activities that are normally done on dry ground. There were large rectangular pens afloat on empty oil barrels which serve as fish hatcheries; atop the fish pens sat another pen - this one holding a pig or two. The waste from the pigs served to nourish the fish. Yum, yum.

In the increasing air space under the houses were tiers of bamboo. They held a pig here, a couple chickens there, the family firewood, building materials, or maybe the family's dogs. Tied to an upright is was a bicycle - not much use now, but invaluable when the water recedes and streets re-appear. Children scampered up and down the flight of steps leading to the water. Toddlers who didn't look to be more than 2 or 3 played on the edge of the house platform 15 feet in the air or splashed around by themselves at the bottom of the stairs. By the time they were what looked like 4 or 5, they were already poling flat-bottom boats through the labyrinth of “streets” or playing in the water. The local school, also on a platform in the water, had the children's boats tied up at water's edge. Instead of going to the market, the market comes to the houses. An old lady paddled door to door selling vegetables, another cooking oil and spices, a third was helping a young girl find the right shade of lipstick (ding dong - Avon calling). There is no electricity in the village, unless the family has a recycled car battery; if not they use candles and cook on wood fires inside the houses. Some now have some sort of toilet, but other inhabitants go the way of the pigs.

Just beyond the town is an area called “The Flooded Forest”. Here substantial trees sit with their feet in water; among the trees the locals string mesh fences for fish traps. What an interesting world this was! At the end of the trip we were also rewarded by a lovely sunset. We're off to a great start in Siem Reap!

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Photos

Pavillon D'Orient
Our Room

Pavillon D'Orient
Dining Room

Kampong Phluk Village
At the peak of the rainy season the water will be lapping at the floor boards.

On the Tonle Sap
On a flat-bottom boat.

School in Kampong Phluk
The school is on stilts; the playground floats; the students arrive by boat.

Peddler Lady Coming to Call
All manner of goods are sold door to door by boat.

Poling Through Flooded Forest
Only the tops of the trees are above the water.

Comments

[Loren]

Siem Reap
Val and I had Thai food today, and once we told the waitress about where you were, she couldn't stop talking. And once she stopped talking, she couldn't stop feeling homesick. She told us all about the tourist trip she's taken while visiting home--something about cruising on the Mekong, and the French bridges that were never finished. Unfortunately, we couldn't remember the names of the places you had been (except for Luang Prabang, which she's been to, and is, of course, not in Thailand), but we'll show her the pictures next time we go. Now we have more pictures to enjoy--looks like the digs have gotten better. But, in order to brag on them, we'll have to find a Cambodian restaurant.

[OldLadyVagabond]

Mekong
The French bridge is in the blog on Cruisin' the Mekong. It's in Laos.