Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap

The Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

To travel to this lake, one needs to hire a taxi or tuk-tuk from Siem Reap town, and the journey takes about one hour via a dirt road.

This incredible experience is not for the faint-hearted, where it will be a very dusty and bumpy ride to this famous floating village which attracts many tourists.

The poor people live along the main road to Tonle Sap Lake.

Apparently, for most of the year, the Tonle Sap lake is fairly small, around one meter deep and 2,700 square km.

However, during the monsoon season, the Tonle Sap river, which connects the lake with the Mekong river, reverses its flow.

When this happens, water is pushed up from the Mekong into the lake, increasing its area to 16,000 square km and its depth to up to nine meters, flooding nearby fields and forests.

The local village just before Tonle Sap Lake.

Journey to Tonle Sap Lake

Our trip began in the morning with a tuk-tuk ride out of Siem Reap town, watching the Cambodian lifestyle as we pass small villages and homes.

Eventually, our journey from a tar road becomes a dirt road. If you have not experienced bumpy, this is the place to do it. Oh, don’t forget to bring along a scarf to cover up as the dust from the dirt road will get to you.

One of the local homes near the lake.

Life at Tonle Sap Lake

I must warn you before you continue reading. This experience to Tonle Sap will either make you feel sad, or you will just be amazed at how people live in the real world.

To me, this must have been one of the saddest trips I have taken in my life. Even seeing the poor in Indonesia did not compare to the poverty I saw here. Poor people were just everywhere.

People literally living in huts the size of your home toilet. Just take a look at the picture above (You can click on the picture for a larger picture).

It is actually someones home. On asking the guide, he relates that this is actually normal. Sometimes up to 8 people can live in that hut.

Showers are taken just at the side of the hut and cooking on the other side. I even saw someone taking a bath just next to the road on my journey to the lake.

On how people live here, it is simply amazing. They rely solely on the lake for their food and just about everything else.

The common local boat jetty.

Anyway, we reached the jetty where we would change from tuk-tuk to a long tail boat. There are hundreds of these boats there, so the guide will take you to their regular boatman.

We board the boat and head out the river to see more of the Cambodian life by the river. The price is about US$10.00 per person for this trip.

This is the main transportation way for locals and also tourists. You will see boatloads of tourists moving up and down as Tonle Sap is quite the popular tourist destination in Cambodia.

Boat journey out to the floating village.

A typical tourist longboat.

A unique floating church at the lake.

Cruising along the river, you will be shocked to see that life revolves around the river and everything; I mean, everything is on the river.

From schools on boats to churches on boats, the scenery is filled with all kinds of boathouses.

One of the local floating restaurants seen.

Even local floating eateries are seen. Kids on boats and locals paddling around are a common sight along the way out.

A few thousand people live in this huge water village on Tonle Sap, where fishing is the main income for these locals.

When you reach the end of the river that connects to the lake, you start to see more of these floating villages.

They are practically everywhere and what makes things worse is the colour of the river and lake water. You start to wonder how these people live here in these conditions.

The floating village of Tonle Sap.

The Lao people of Tonle Sap live in deplorable conditions as there is no luxury here. Everything revolves around the lake and rivers here.

On occasions, I saw the locals just cooking outside their boathouse on an area about two feet wide. Using charcoal or wood fire stoves, they make meals for the family or even for their business.

I saw a lady cooking something which used chicken, and she simply threw the chicken intestines into the lake, and mind you, this is common here.

But then again, it sounds dirty, but I guess it is part of the ecosystem here where the fish would eat whatever is discarded into the lake.

A common floating home at the lake.

Some homes are even far out from the main village and stand alone in the waters as you pass with your boat.

One of the main pictures that did not turn up nicely is how the children and adults sit in basin or bucket type boats.

More like a plastic round tub, you are bound to see them solo paddling around and occasionally coming up to the tourist stops and asking for money.

Seeing how they are dressed and full of enthusiasm, some tourists hand over a dollar or two to these poor children.

One of the floating tourists stops at Tonle Sap Lake.

Finally, after a remembering boat ride, you are brought to one of 2 floating tourist stops, double as a restaurant and souvenir shop.

All tourists are brought to these two places just nearby each other. The boatman will stop you there where you get off, and he will wait for you.

Most tourists would just get off, order some drinks and browse the souvenir shop. Well, we did just that.

I ordered a nice cold can of Cambodian Coke and used the toilet here. Souvenirs were sky high priced, so we gave it a miss.

Crocodile attraction at Tonle Sap Lake.

At this stop, there was even a crocodile pit as the main tourist attraction, and it looked pretty scary from up above.

I am not kidding; there were live crocodiles for tourists to gawk at. They were freshwater crocodiles, and they didn’t look too happy, and each of them averaged about 4 to 6 feet in length.

The local grocer boat shop.

While taking a break and enjoying the Coke, a boat pulled up by the side, and the locals who worked at this floating restaurant quickly flocked to the boat.

Knowing me, I had to go and see what it was all about. It was the local grocer cum fruit boat. Selling to locals, he had jars of pickles and fresh fruit inside the boat.

A floating carousal totally blew my mind.

So the 20-minute stopover there came to an end as there was nothing else to do on this floating tourist stop, and we called our boatman.

We picked us up and headed back to the mainland. Along the way back, he took another route back and this time, we saw something out of the world.

A floating carousel! Now, how on earth is this. Words just could not come out of my mouth when I saw them. Simply amazing what people can do in a floating village.

A floating school spotted during the boat rider.

A floating basketball court at the lake.

Back in the river, we saw a floating school with a floating basketball court! It just goes to show that anything can float in Tonle Sap which is pretty amazing.

Sadly I did not see any school children as it was a weekend when I visited this place. I am assuming they have a school boat instead of a school bus?

Locals cooking in their floating home.

At the end of the day, this entire experience took us a good half-day spent mainly at the floating village. I would again advise, if you have a soft spot for poverty, please take a pass on this trip.

It is unfortunate to know how good a life we have when these poor people are happily living things as they are in Tonle Sap.

How To Go To Tonle Sap Lake?

To get here, just ask your hotel, or tuk-tuk guide about tours to Tonle Sap as everyone in the tourism industry in Siem Reap will provide this service.

You can try to go on your own, but it is too long a journey by bike. It is recommended to use a licensed English speaking tour guide for this journey.

The price for a boat ride is US$12 to US$15 per person. (Based on 2009 prices)

Journey to Tonle Sap – Well, I booked the guide for the entire day for $10.00, and he took us anywhere, so you have to ask your guide or tuk-tuk driver.

How Long To Spend At Tonle Sap Lake?

On average, a visit to this lake can easily take you half a day; hence you should leave in the morning and be back in Siem Reap after lunch.

It would not make sense to spend a full day here unless you do some volunteer or charity work. Most visitors are day-trippers who come here to see the unique way of life.

A floating church at Tonle Sap Lake.

I never thought I would see extreme poverty at this level until I visited Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Again, this place is not for the faint-hearted and the experience of a lifetime and is not luxurious. If you want a top-notch tourism experience, just stay in the Angkor Thom Complex area.