The Floating Village Of Tonle Sap (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1

After seeing all those floating houses, we soon reached a platform somewhere in the middle of Tonle Sap Lake.



We soon found out that this platform is actually two big floating houses connected to each other. You would need to walk on that wooden plank to get across from one floating house to the other. Do not slip or miss a step or you would end up in the water!



I actually took a boat paddle and dipped it into the water to see how deep it was - surprisingly it was only as deep as an adult human height! We were told that Tonle Sap Lake is around 1 metre deep during the dry season but could be as deep as 9 metres during the wet season!

This floating structure is actually meant for tourists like us. There were souvenir shops and snack shops, and there was even a mini crocodile farm!



Don't worry - the area is fenced up so even though you watch the crocodiles from above, you will not be in danger of falling down and become crocodile's dinner! Unless of course, you decide to climb over the fence and jump down!



Besides crocodiles, they also had a python on display!



I wonder which one is more lethal - crocodile or python?

Do you know what this is?



What about this?



If I'm not mistaken, the first picture is an anchor.

And if you have read Part 1, you will have no problem guessing what the second picture is. Well, I don't know what you call that structure, but the people living there tie their floating houses to it to prevent their houses from floating away with the water currents!

From where we stood, we could see steps going up to a higher platform, where people, mainly tourists, were enjoying the view of the lake.



We went up to the higher platform. It was very windy! See those ripples on the surface of the lake? I felt as if I was in the middle of the ocean!



We stood here enjoying the wind and waiting for the sunset.



After waiting for some time, we caught the beautiful sunset.



Here are some more pictures of the sunset.





Soon, it was time to depart back to the mainland. On the way back, I took a few more photos.



It had been quite an experience seeing the floating houses and the sunset on this Tonle Sap cruise. When we reached the mainland, our driver Xiao He drove us back to our hotel.



It would be our last time seeing Xiao He as we would be leaving Siem Reap the next day. No, we would not be flying back to Malaysia. Not so soon!



After spending three days in Siem Reap, we were ready to leave the magnificent Angkorian temples and the memorable Tonle Sap Lake and move on to Phnom Penh - the capital city of Cambodia.

But something happened later that night - something unexpected that could have threatened all our plans. Stay tuned for more...