Living on the water is nothing new to me… I grew up in Louisiana and spent many weekends on the bayous and canals. I remember the camps and houses built high on pilings and wharves with boats secured to them, so, It was interesting to me to see how different the Cambodian life on water was from what I knew.
Since Vanessa was such an amazing tour guide, we hired her (and our wonderfully sweet driver, “Blue Eyes”) for our second day and our visit to the floating village of Tonle Sap…only we didn’t visit Tonle Sap. At Vanessa’s suggestion, to avoid the large number of crowds that now visit Tonle Sap, we would drive to another village, Kompong Pluk. She explaied that Kompong Pluk is a prime example of how the real Khmers in this area live…on stilted houses, not floating ones.
The trek to the village was not very long and I was intrigued with the variety of homes along the way…some very basic with thatched walls and roofs and some more elaborate, however, the common feature was that they were all raised in the air, leading me to assume that the entire area is prone to flooding.
Eventually, we arrived at our boarding point. For $20 each, we had hired a boat which would take us to the village.
The day was sunny and warm and the wind from our boat moving along the canal was welcomed. We began our journey with views of the fields and the workers in them. There were a few other boats of tourists that we passed and eventually, we began to see houses and boats with villagers.
Seeing the actual village was a photographers dream. It seemed everywhere I looked, there was a picture. The landscape was colorful and the people going about their everyday business was intriguing. There were boats being paddled by students returning from school. Fisherman wading in the water near their boats. Women mending nets.
Finally, we arrived at a staging area. We were offered the chance to ride in a smaller boat with a local women who take you through the back waters in the jungle for $10 each. These truly are the Housewives of Kompong Pluk! Riding with Vanessa in my boat, we were paddled swiftly through the dark waters by a woman, protected by the harsh sun by a hat and long sleeves. In her lap, she carried a small child who appeared to be about one year old. Sitting behind her and facing Vanessa and I, sat her older daughter. A beautiful child, she appeared to be about three or four years old and was well-behaved, but the mother told Vanessa in her native tongue, that she was giving her trouble that day. Why? The little girl wanted to work! Amazing that a child so young wanted to contribute!
About halfway through our backwater tour, a couple of boats came up to us…the village version of stopping at the local convenience store. The boats were stocked with snacks, chips and drinks. A welcome respite with the hot temperatures!
Soon, we arrived at another dock which contained a resturant and we were able to disembark. We sauntered along a very high walkway built above the water and meandered through the treetops. I am guessing that this walkway is a work in progress, since it ended abruptly with no destination.
Our large boat came once again to join us and we ventured away from the village and into the Tonle Sap lake. The lake, 1,042 square miles is the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia.
Soon, we turned around and headed back the way we came.
On the way back, I concentrated on watching and photographing the villagers more so than the overall view of the village.
I will forever remember the little boys paddling home from school who hitched a ride by grabbing onto our boat, so that they could outpace the girls nearby who were giving a mighty effort. Or the boatload of mini monks…boy monks who waved and and posed and didn’t mind that I was taking their picture. Or the housewives who waited patiently with their children tucked into their boats…no life vests, mind you…for the chance to proudly show the tourists the beauty that surrounds their village.
These people were amazing to see, working on the water, however, I am sure that although they welcome the business that tourism brings, it must be tiresome to witness the loads of tourists that come to watch them go about their everyday life.
It has been years since I have spent time in the Louisiana waters, but being in Kompong Pluk, brought back those memories vividly and I thank the people of this village for willingly or unwillingly sharing theirs lives and showing how similar we all are, no matter what part of the world we live.
Information for visiting Kompong Pluk:
Tour guide: $35 per day
Car rental: $30 per day
Boat rental: $20 per person
Small boat fee: $10
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