Tonle Sap Lake
Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. This lake is very unique because of its depth and area which varies according to the wet and dry season in Cambodia. The dry season starts from October to late April. During the dry season, the water is only 1 meter deep and covers only 2,800 km of area. However, during the wet season, which starts from May to late September, the water’s depth in the lake changes to 8 meters deep and its area increases to 15,000 km. The reason why the water level rises because every year during the wet season, the Mekong river’s water level is higher than Tonle Sap Lake. This causes the water from the Mekong River to flow into the lake.
The Tonle Sap Lake itself is a rich biodiversity which is able to support the existence of many freshwater fishes, turtles, snakes, birds, and crocodiles. This body of water supports approximately 500,000 tons of fish every year. The most common fishes are Riel, Trey Riel Tob, Phtok, Trey Andaing Roueng, Slat, Chroleong, and Kaek. There are many species of turtles living in the lake and those are the Asiatic softshell turtles, Southeast Asian box turtles, Giant Asian Pond turtles, Snail- eating turtles, and Black Marsh turtles. However, these turtles are very vulnerable because there are high possibilities that these turtles are being attacked or harmed. We also have species of turtles that are endangered as well and those include the Yellow- Headed temple turtles, Giant Soft- Shelled turtles, and the Big- Headed turtles. These turtles are seriously at risk of extinction. The lake also serves as a breeding ground for many endangered large waterbirds species such as the Black-Headed Ibis, Painted Stork, Greater and Lesser Adjutants, Spot-billed Pelican, Milky Stork, White-winged Duck, and the Grey-Headed Fish Eagle. The main species of snakes living in Tonle Sap includes the Frog-Eating Water snakes, Puff-faced Water Snake, Rainbow Water Snakes, Bocourt's Water Snakes, and the Tonle Sap Water Snake (Enhydris longicauda) which is the only species that is endangered. The most common species of crocodiles in Tonle Sap is the Siamese crocodiles which are up to 20 feet long and has jaws that can devour fishes, birds, and small farm animals in less than a minute.
There are three main floating villages in the Tonle Sap Lake and those villages are Chong Kneas, Kompong Pluk, and Kompong Kleang.
- The first village in the north part of Tonle Sap is known as Chong Kneas, is the nearest floating village since it’s located just 17 kilometers from Siem Reap city. This village looks poverty-stricken and the people there are surviving on a bare minimum. Chong Kneas is basically just a normal village but built on top of the water. It looks similar to slums floating on the lake. Although the village is on water, they have school, hospital, church and monasteries, restaurants, grocery shops, repairing shops for boats, police station and a lot more. Most houses are made by bamboo anchoring to the bottom of the lake. The main source of transportation there is by boats and everybody there knows how to use it. Kids often use the smaller boats which require paddling since it doesn’t have a motor. There are many ethnicities living here such as the Vietnamese, Muslim, and Cambodian. This small village of Chong Kneas has approximately 5000 people living around here. For generations, the livelihood of these locals is through fishing, farming, and trading goods with other villages.
- Kompong Pluk is another floating village located just 30 kilometers away from Siem Reap city. Flooded mangrove trees surrounded this village which makes it possible to support the variety of wildlife there. Whenever the dry season approaches, the buildings in the village seem to be floating in the air because they seem to soar up with their 6-meter stilts which are exposed by the lack of water. During this dry season, most villagers tend to build temporary houses on the lake. However, when the water rises up again, the stilts would be fully covered and villagers move back to their houses on land. The main source of transportation is by boats in this village. There are around 3000 people living in the Kompong Pluk village and there 2 ethnicities including Vietnamese and Cambodian. Fishing has always been the main source of income in this area. Although it’s just a small village, Kompong Pluk still offers the best insights to the daily lifestyles on water of the villagers here. It is a unique lifestyle in which you’ll be amazed by people doing daily chores while swinging up and down the ladders. An undenied regular boat tour through this village will let you absorbed into this more realistic picture of Cambodian villages even there is no luxury to offer.
- Last but not least, we have the Kompong Kleang village which is largest floating village which has a population of over 10,000 people. It’s located about 50 kilometers away from the city of Siem Reap. To support the needs of their inhabitants, they have built their own schools, medical center, pagodas, and markets. Since this village is the furthest of them all, it’s laid untouched by many tourists and it has become one of the most pristine and unspoiled beauty of the local environment. Due to the changing seasons, the villagers here also have to relocate their houses just like the Kompong Pluk villagers as well. Their main source of income there is by farming and fishing. Two main ethnicities here are Cambodians and Vietnamese.
If you want to enjoy the beauties of Tonle Sap Lake, it would be best to visit them during the rainy season, preferably from June to October. These months are best for traveling on a boat to see the villagers’ daily lifestyles as well enjoy the view of the sunset over the lake. However, if you interested in the wildlife, you can go to visit from December to April. That would be the best time to enjoy the birds’ sanctuaries, for example.
