The floating village

On our last day in Siem Reap we visited a floating village on the Tonle Sap (lake). That morning, I rented a bicycle and went around Siem Reap. I ended up in a small village, which I managed to get fairly lost in until I found the river. The roads are narrow, mostly gravel or sand (which made riding a bike a bit difficult!) and keep winding as others keep branching off. Life there takes place mostly outside, since people's houses are small and made of wood and mud. People bathe, eat, work, and relax on their porches. As I drove through I got a "hello" from basically every single person. It is the only word most of them know in English and I am sure a random white girl biking through their village was an odd thing to see. I stopped a few times to play with the kids and flail my arms in an attempt to communicate. One kid got very excited when he saw me, and immediately pulled down his shorts to reveal a pair of hot pink boxers with the word "eagles" written across the butt. I flapped my wings like a bird to try to tell him what it meant...not sure if he understood or just thought I was weird. I also ended up riding next to a 17-year-old girl on her way home from school (they only go 7-11am, I am assuming because they need to be home to help their families do work). She has been studying English for 4 months and spoke impressively well, so we had a nice conversation about life in the village and her school.

I met my mom and Alice for lunch, and then we went to the floating village. First we had to take a tuk-tuk, then the road got too narrow so we had to hop on motorbikes, and finally we got on a boat down a river of mangrove trees, and ended up in a village where all the houses are built directly in the water on massive stilts. It is dry season now so the water was fairly low, but apparently it reaches to the doorstep during rainy season. The people who live there go into town once a day to get food. They primarily eat fish (who would have thought?!), but also have pigs which they keep on small rafts (caged) that float in the lake. There is also a crocodile farm where they raise them and then sell them for their skin. We went around the village, and then stopped and got out at the pagoda which is on the only tiny stretch of land this village has. The school is there as well. As we walked around, we saw a monk teaching a few kids English. He asked if I would help them practice their English, so we sat together and talked. My mom talked to a few of the boys who told her about school and their lives, and said they had only been to Siem Reap once (they were teenagers, and the city is about an hour away). There were lots of kids running around playing football (soccer) and flying kites, and everyone was out talking, and of course saying "hello" to us! I cannot imagine what it is to live in a village in a lake where you can either be in a house or on a boat, and that is all! It's strange to think that this place always existed, yet I was completely ignorant of it, and now was there, hanging out with some locals and exploring. It is such a different life experience from mine, it's hard to fathom.

On the way back from the village, Vuthy, our tuk-tuk driver, who was absolutely wonderful - he is studying English because he wants to be a tour guide, and was a great guide for us and translator! - got hungry. We stopped at a group of houses (I would barely call it a whole village) so he ordered for all of us (since we had no idea what to do). We ate his favorite Khmer dish, which was chicken cooked in a special way, I am still not sure how, with a sauce and some veggies. It was not my favorite dish I ate there, but good. (Oh yeah, the food there was good - lots of fish, coconut, fresh spices, delicious fruit smoothies, French baguettes, mmm.) The people we encountered there (and throughout the trip) were so friendly and genuine, and sincerely kind and open, and so willingly shared their culture with us, it was definitely one of the highlights. I just wish I could have talked to them more...I tried to learn Khmer and although knew a few words, I couldn't pronounce most. I'll work on that for when I return!