A Floating Village and a New Destination!

The floating village is probably Susan's favorite memory of Cambodia. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.  It provides support for many of Cambodia's fisherman who, in turn, supply fish as a staple for the Cambodian diet.  What makes Tonle Sap so interesting is the impact of the monsoon rains.  During the wet season the lake greatly multiplies in size and the incoming water actually reverses the flow of the river that normally feeds out of the lake and eventually into the Mekong river.  In the wet season the water level rises well over 20 feet.  As you can imagine, the fishing villages on the edge of the lake would normally disappear entirely.  Instead, they become floating villages.  The villagers' homes are either built on top of scaffolding allowing them to perch above the flood level, or are on barges or houseboats that rise along with the water level.  We boarded an old wooden boat that reminds one a bit of the African Queen (of Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn fame) though with some benches mounted in the center under a wooden roof with a tin covering.  The muffler less motor was beneath the ancient floorboards and was operated by what looked like a bicycle chain connected to the throttle.  The skipper was one of the villagers who was assisted by a young boy about Robert's age.  He scampered all over the boat and liked sitting on the tin covered roof where his steps resonated like a drum to our small group of passengers below.  This of course was an irresistible attraction to our kids who scampered up on the roof as well leading to quite a din of noise below.  As we puttered along we were treated to an incredible sight of the village perched some 25 feet above our heads by thin wooden poles with more wooden poles as cross braces. We saw all sorts of buildings supported high in the air including a school, police station, countless houses and even a large restaurant.  Meanwhile, at the river and lake level we saw all the nets, traps and other trappings of this large fishing village along with countless boats, many of which were making their way to and from the lake, most with the clatter of diesel motors though some were propelled by paddles.  Village kids played and fished with nets along the shoreline. During the rainy season, the children are dropped off at school by canoe.  It was all truly an amazing sight. Rather than the original plan to stay another week on a remote island in Southern Cambodia, we climbed aboard a small shuttle to travel to Bangkok Thailand for the next leg of our journey.  It was hard to say goodbye to our students from HILS who would remain in Cambodia for another month to work on development related projects.  Crossing the border into Thailand was a stark reminder of how poor Cambodia is.  Gone were the constant signs of poverty.  Thailand has many modern style homes and more conventional style stores and restaurants.  The highway opened to multiple lanes of traffic with everyone driving on the left rather than the right side of the road. Our transportation dropped us off at a parking lot in downtown Bangkok at the beginning of rush hour.  We had no idea of where we were and only the vaguest notion of where we would go. The immediate need was a place to stay. Friends had recommended a home for traveling missionaries called the Alliance Guest Home. Susan had an address from the internet and, with the assistance of a friendly Thai fellow passenger from the shuttle, we managed to find two taxis to take us and our luggage the address. We requested but had not yet received confirmation of the reservation, but it seemed a good place to start. After a bit of a harrowing ride through the streets of Bangkok, both taxis arrived at the destination where we were delighted to discover that they did have a room available.  What a wonderful place! The guest house is set back from the traffic at the end of a long alleyway with lots of quiet places on the grounds to sit and read along with a well stocked library of books. No TV in the room and nary a complaint from Daniel, Mary and Robert, all of which have become avid readers during our time in Korea.  We ventured out last night to the streets to find dinner.  We stumbled upon a sidewalk gas grill where they were cooking pork chops and what looked like a T Bone steak! We found a table and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  I ordered the steak.  It was about 4 dollars and Daniel ordered another steak for about 2 dollars.  Our total bill was $11.00 including Susan's fish and chips, fries for Mary and Robert and 5 bottles of ice cold soda.  We'll be back!  The guest house served a breakfast this morning where we spent a wonderful time with a Cambodian missionary couple asking about their work in a larger village.  They were here for a short stay to rest and recharge their batteries before returning to their work in Cambodia.  We stayed at a similar guesthouse in Phnom Penh for traveling missionaries.  What a vital resource they provide to traveling missionaries. Susan has promised to try and include a few pictures of the floating village she took with her iPhone. Enjoy!