Zero2Sixty

Nomadic people of Tonle Sap Lake

by Tracy on

Fishing Village People We completed our Cambodian adventure with a boat tour on Tonle Sap Lake and a visit to one of the unique Cambodian nomadic fishing villages, Chong Khneas. This is a traditional way of life that has been around for countless generations. The entire village is on bamboo floats; the hospital, school, mechanic's shop, pool hall, basketball court, TV repair man, grocery store- all of it floats. During the wet season the village takes up residence along the edge of the lake in one of the many marshy tributaries, but in the dry season, they pull up anchor and move out to deeper water in the middle of Tonle Sap Lake.

The small individual houseboats are powered by car batteries, TV antennas can be seen sticking out from the thatched roofs while the resident swings in a hammock and chats on his cell phone. The battery charging business is big here! People grow vegetables on their boats, keep livestock such as chickens and pigs, they raise local fish in small pens. We even saw a floating crocodile farm. A person could be born, grow up, make a living, grow old and die here without ever having stepped on dry land. It's a really unusual part of the world and we're glad we made the visit.

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