- Regions: Pusat, Battambang, Siem Reap, Kompong Thom, Kampong Chhnang
- Area: 2700 km²
- Flowing river: Tonle Sap
- Height above sea level: 5 m
- Fish: Striped Snakehead, Brown Snakehead, Black Labeo, etc.
Cambodia is located near the Gulf of Thailand, between well-known in the tourist environment of Vietnam and Thailand. The Kingdom is quite modern and has a developed infrastructure. Tourists of the capital (Phnom Penh) expect comfortable hotels that meet the requirements of the international standard and well-organized leisure, with a lot of cultural and historical attractions. Perhaps the most interesting place of the peninsula is the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest reservoir in the whole kingdom, in which one of several rivers of Cambodia originates.
Features of the lake
Freshwater Lake Tonle Sap is located in the southern part of the peninsula near the city of Siem Reap. It does not have constant parameters and directly depends on the rainy season.
During the drought, the area of the lake fluctuates within 3000 square meters, while the water level does not rise above one meter. During the rainy season, the lake's waters are filled and their area is 16,000 square meters, the water level is increased to 9-12 meters. At this time, Tonle Sap becomes the cause of flooding of nearby forests and fields.
When the water level again reaches the summer values, the water leaves and on the place of flooding remains silt, which serves as fertilizer in the cultivation of rice - the main product of the state.
Giant freshwater resources of Lake Tonle Sap have become an excellent habitat for fish, shellfish, shrimp and other aquatic inhabitants. According to various data, up to 850 species of fish live in the lake's waters, mostly representatives of the carp family. The territory adjoining the lake sheltered a lot of birds, snakes, turtles, many of which live only here.
Floating villages
The way of residing of local residents will seem surprising also. They build houses on the water and therefore do not pay taxes for land. In total, about 2,000,000 people live in such unusual houseboats, most of them Vietnamese and Khmer. Each family has a boat and uses it for fishing and as a means of transportation.
Ironically, all the floating villages on Lake Tonle Sap have all the vital social facilities: kindergartens and schools, gyms, markets, Catholic parishes, village administration, boat maintenance services. In the coastal thickets, as a rule, there are local cemeteries.
Occupation of local residents
It is not difficult to guess that the main activity of the local population is fishing. It helps to get food and earn money. Fishermen are skillful and inventive: for example, to catch shellfish or shrimp, they use branches of shrubs. Some of the branches are connected and supplied with cargo, becoming a trap. After a while, the branches are taken out of the water along with the long-awaited catch.
In addition to fishing, some enterprising residents of Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia have mastered another type of earnings - tourist excursions along the lake. Such walks can hardly be called chic, they, on the contrary, are not very costly, but at the same time they will fully reveal the local flavor and exoticism. Pleasantly sincere and friendly attitude guide. Pay for the tour, you can US dollars, Thai baht or local rielami.
By the way, not only adults, but also children earn on the island. Preschool children swim on the watery surface of the lake on the basins and beg begging from tourists or offer to take a picture with a python. Older children work as masseurs: they stab in the backs of vacationers with persistence until they pay off with them. On the day, children earn about fifty dollars, which by local standards is considered more than worthy.
Urgent problems of residents
Of course, the appearance of buildings is far from ideal and snackbars for travelers are more reminiscent of huts and sheds, however, the inhabitants of the floating villages do not complain about the conditions - for them it is quite customary. The houses are erected on stilts and in droughty time they are used as pens for pets. A serious inconvenience to any floating village is the lack of dumps of the toilets that are habitual for us. All waste products of livelihood villagers are dumped in water, which they use for cooking, washing, washing.
In such colors and realities Tonle Sap appears in you in Cambodia. People from developed countries, when visiting these places, have mixed feelings towards the local population living below the poverty line. At the same time, it strikes the wisdom and steadfastness of the spirit of the inhabitants of the floating villages, which is so lacking in modern civilized society. If you decide to visit the Kingdom of Cambodia, do not miss the chance to plunge into the atmosphere of primitiveness and detachment from the turmoil of big cities, which you will be presented by Lake Tonle Sap.
How to get there?
You can reach the lake either with a tour group or on your own. The road from the old center of Siem Reap to the pier takes only 30 minutes.
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