Mike Porter recently participated on a floating tour of Kompong Khleang, the largest floating village in Siem Reap, Cambodia. He was nice enough to share his photos and we’ve selected a few to give you a better idea of what life in like the floating villages during the dry season. Take a moment to view the photos with descriptions provided by Community First: Kompong Khleang Floating Village Tours.
A great image of Kompong Khleang during the dry season. As you can see the water is rather low but a canal has formed allowing fisherman to make their way to the Tonle Sap and return to the port. Notice the sheer height of the homes – in the high season the water will increase by up to 10 meters. When this photo was taken the water was closer to 1 meter deep so you imagine how much it will change!
This is a photo of recently repaired road through Outaput village. Right before the recent elections, the government paid for a new road to be constructed. This allows residents to travel through the village with ease and is much faster and cheaper than taking a boat. While the road is in excellent condition right now it will be covered in water in a few more months and will need to be paved again the following year.
The port of Kompong Khleang. After a long day of fishing residents of Kompong Khleang bring their catch right in front of Wat Kompong Khleang, the main Buddhist pagoda, which can be seen in the background. Residents will offload their catch and sell it to the truck drivers who then drive it to the market to be sold to local sellers. When this photo was taken most of the residents were fishing for water snail and clams as the water was lower. The white bags are full of the snails and clams.
Another great panoramic shot of the canal that has formed through Kompong Khleang. If you look in the middle you will see a smaller port. It is not as popular but sometimes people will offload their catch at this part. It is usually transported by small Toyota Camrys.
A photo of participants on our group tour. In the middle is Phearin, our Khmer teacher, who joined the group for the photo opportunity.