Revised Tonle Sap page  June 2007  also see Lake Villages with new set of Images May 2007

Floating Catholic Church at dawn

What's Cooking! Chong Khneas floating village

Shrimps drying on a huge wooden platform high above the water

Turning the small fish called Reil which are dried in the sun

Water Baby; Chong Khneas

Bucket gang Chong Khneas

Moving House along the causeway

Family fishing

Extremes of high and low water!

The 2 images below of the same group of houses show the difference in water levels between March (lowest) and October 2006 which was the highest for several years.

Snake Catcher

Ice is needed to keep the fish fresh

Its the coolest job on the lake

Fisherman and son

Kids and Cat; Chong Khneas

The image above was taken in early 2004; before gangs of youths in plastic buckets started demanding money from camera toting tourists

Getting to meet the locals!

Taking a canoe through the mangroves on our Kompong Phluk tour

Hi  Kompong Phluk

Chong Khneas; is the  Floating village that most visitors see.  It is where the  ferries from Phnom Penh and Battembang dock. Most tour companies operate from there.

With well over 5000 people living in over 1300  houseboats. It can be an interesting place to visit. However with over 150 tour boats operating here it is no longer the experience it once was. It is a chaotic place

There is more to the Tonle Sap than this; as you will find out as you read on!

photographing the lake life!

I do hope you have enjoyed these photos and information.

Unlike other tour operators; we base our tours from the spectacular Lake community of Kompong Khleang. This allows us to run special lake tours that few visitors have the chance to visit. for more on the remote lake communities see Lake Villages

 If you are visiting Cambodia and want to experience these places; we can set up a tour if not on the programme. See our Tours page for details

While Tourism is bringing in  extra income; fishing is the lifeblood  of the lake  communities.

 A small part of Chong Khneas, taken at flood season from Phnom Krom Hill 

  They appear to be used for a surfing as well !

Ccanoes are used for transport of people and goods

 Croc in Crocodile farm

Aerial view of the lake shore showing the arrow shaped fish fences and traps and the algae that forms in at the lowest water. The  RH photo shows a fish trap and large basket for the catch

The Fishing industry is one of the most important in Cambodia. Over 2 million people live on or around the lake. It is big business as fishing earns millions of dollars.

Fish are so significant, that the Cambodian Riel is named after a small  fish which are used in their millions for fish paste and animal feed .  

For those who have permanent homes; these need to be on stilts up to 10 metres high, to allow for the rise in water levels.

Only a few people have the luxury of living on permanent land; The more remote villages of Kompong Khleang and Kompong Phluk have small sandy islands at their centres.

Others live alongside high causeways which are dry for much of the year, The best place to see this is Kompong Khleang.

House moving takes on a very different meaning Here!

The villagers who live along the causeways and rivers have to adapt to the rising and falling water levels.  Those who have floating houseboats, simply tow their homes to the most suitable location.

Others have temporary thatched huts which are dismantled and moved along the causeways. These  which can extend to many kilometres. In the case above; their lightweight homes are lifted onto trucks to take them on their journeys of 1 or 2 kms several times a year.

Emptying the catch among the floating houses and fish markets