Chong Khnies and Khompong Phluk
22-May-05
Daylight came quickly. The cellphone clock beeped insistently and I rolled out of bed. I squinted at my phone and to my surprise, it was REALLY 6AM. I had downed only two beers the previous night, but they were the large size Angkor beers. Definitely above my limit. Still, I courageously headed for the shower, then bleary eyed, stumbled downstairs for my baguette and coffee. It was the morning of the much anticipated trip to Komphong Phluk, a fishing village on the huge and shallow Tonle Sap. As my eyes adjusted to the light and being awake, I could tell that it was an absolutely gorgeous day. One by one my fellow travelers joined me. After breakfast, we were all advised to make a last pit stop as the facilities were nonexistent until we returned. We reconvened and boarded the minivan and began the trip. A fairly short and uneventful drive brought us to the outskirts of the village called Chong Khnies. I had been in Chong Khnies once before, just after the rainy season. What a difference. The place we boarded the boat in November was completely high and dry. As we drove through the village, the road deteriorated dramatically. Little more than a rut for carts and motorcycles for several miles, it seemed an endless and kidney jarring journey. Ta, my favorite Cambodian guide, had the driver stop and point out a building on stilts. It was the spirit house I had photographed back in November, situated at that time far out in the lake. Now it was totally landlocked with no water in sight. I've posted "then and now" pictures. After another leg in the minivan of perhaps 20 minutes, we finally stopped. We were now in the dry season village of Chong Khnies. Part of the village had moved out here with the edge of the water. The next day was a Buddhist holiday and preparations were underway. There was a carnival and a pavilion set up for the monks to preside over various activities. One of my last posts showed one of the carnival rides.
One horrible and alarming thing was the amount of trash on the ground. It is a common problem and one I've commented on before. Trash pickup is problematic not only in Cambodia but in most other SE Asian countries. Too often plastic bags, boxes, food scraps and any other discardable items are just thrown on the ground.
After a short, hot, fairly ugly and depressing walk, we got to the water . I think squalor would be an appropriate word to describe what we walked through to get to the boat. We traversed a few hundred yards of narrow planking and at long last boarded the small boat. "Grandfather" (me) was escorted carefully along the plank by one or two young boys. They made sure I made no missteps. The boat was a slightly larger version of the long-tail flat bottom boats found commonly in Asia. It was perhaps a bit wider in the beam with seating for four across, though it still didn't draw much water. As we moved through the water, the floating village was active. Sunday morning didn't slow commerce down a bit. There was constant traffic, some people poling their boats and some using motors. A boat full of children arrived at the local Catholic Church. After passing the church, we were out on the open water! Finally!
About an hour later, after the "giant fish in the boat" episode I mentioned in the last post, we arrived at Komphong Phluk which is a larger floating village than Chong Khnies. Fishing is the predominant industry along the Tonle Sap. The population of Komphong Phluk is probably 99% dependent on fishing for survival. Oddly enough the second largest industry seemed to be raising, keeping and selling crocodiles. We never saw any in the wild, but saw at least a few dozen in captivity in wooden cages on stilts. This village, like Chong Khnies, was located in two places. There was a 'dry season' village which we visited. It was all built on the water, each home on stilts. The rainy season version was a bit inland. We were unable to get there because our draft was too deep. We got stuck in the mud and our boat driver and his son had to get out and push. No problem. The dry season village was quite photogenic. We wandered around a bit and finally tied up at a store. We clambered up to the "store" where we could buy beer, candy, oil, dried noodles or various other unrelated items. Despite a rather limited selection, we were all able to find something to buy. Me? I bought a bunch of iffy looking Cambodian candy which I promptly gave to the local children.
After our shopping spree, we cast off and headed back to Chong Khnies. The return trip was uneventful. No giant fish jumped into our boat, no water snakes were sighted and no crocodiles stalked us. As we arrived back in beautiful downtown Chong Khnies, it was just as busy as it was upon our arrival. By the time we arrived back at the boat "dock", it was getting hot and it seemed that we had timed our trip perfectly. Another great trip booked by Dave and guided by Ta! For more info on great trips and a friendly place to stay check out: http://www.peaceofangkor.com/index.html
Daylight came quickly. The cellphone clock beeped insistently and I rolled out of bed. I squinted at my phone and to my surprise, it was REALLY 6AM. I had downed only two beers the previous night, but they were the large size Angkor beers. Definitely above my limit. Still, I courageously headed for the shower, then bleary eyed, stumbled downstairs for my baguette and coffee. It was the morning of the much anticipated trip to Komphong Phluk, a fishing village on the huge and shallow Tonle Sap. As my eyes adjusted to the light and being awake, I could tell that it was an absolutely gorgeous day. One by one my fellow travelers joined me. After breakfast, we were all advised to make a last pit stop as the facilities were nonexistent until we returned. We reconvened and boarded the minivan and began the trip. A fairly short and uneventful drive brought us to the outskirts of the village called Chong Khnies. I had been in Chong Khnies once before, just after the rainy season. What a difference. The place we boarded the boat in November was completely high and dry. As we drove through the village, the road deteriorated dramatically. Little more than a rut for carts and motorcycles for several miles, it seemed an endless and kidney jarring journey. Ta, my favorite Cambodian guide, had the driver stop and point out a building on stilts. It was the spirit house I had photographed back in November, situated at that time far out in the lake. Now it was totally landlocked with no water in sight. I've posted "then and now" pictures. After another leg in the minivan of perhaps 20 minutes, we finally stopped. We were now in the dry season village of Chong Khnies. Part of the village had moved out here with the edge of the water. The next day was a Buddhist holiday and preparations were underway. There was a carnival and a pavilion set up for the monks to preside over various activities. One of my last posts showed one of the carnival rides.
One horrible and alarming thing was the amount of trash on the ground. It is a common problem and one I've commented on before. Trash pickup is problematic not only in Cambodia but in most other SE Asian countries. Too often plastic bags, boxes, food scraps and any other discardable items are just thrown on the ground.
After a short, hot, fairly ugly and depressing walk, we got to the water . I think squalor would be an appropriate word to describe what we walked through to get to the boat. We traversed a few hundred yards of narrow planking and at long last boarded the small boat. "Grandfather" (me) was escorted carefully along the plank by one or two young boys. They made sure I made no missteps. The boat was a slightly larger version of the long-tail flat bottom boats found commonly in Asia. It was perhaps a bit wider in the beam with seating for four across, though it still didn't draw much water. As we moved through the water, the floating village was active. Sunday morning didn't slow commerce down a bit. There was constant traffic, some people poling their boats and some using motors. A boat full of children arrived at the local Catholic Church. After passing the church, we were out on the open water! Finally!
About an hour later, after the "giant fish in the boat" episode I mentioned in the last post, we arrived at Komphong Phluk which is a larger floating village than Chong Khnies. Fishing is the predominant industry along the Tonle Sap. The population of Komphong Phluk is probably 99% dependent on fishing for survival. Oddly enough the second largest industry seemed to be raising, keeping and selling crocodiles. We never saw any in the wild, but saw at least a few dozen in captivity in wooden cages on stilts. This village, like Chong Khnies, was located in two places. There was a 'dry season' village which we visited. It was all built on the water, each home on stilts. The rainy season version was a bit inland. We were unable to get there because our draft was too deep. We got stuck in the mud and our boat driver and his son had to get out and push. No problem. The dry season village was quite photogenic. We wandered around a bit and finally tied up at a store. We clambered up to the "store" where we could buy beer, candy, oil, dried noodles or various other unrelated items. Despite a rather limited selection, we were all able to find something to buy. Me? I bought a bunch of iffy looking Cambodian candy which I promptly gave to the local children.
After our shopping spree, we cast off and headed back to Chong Khnies. The return trip was uneventful. No giant fish jumped into our boat, no water snakes were sighted and no crocodiles stalked us. As we arrived back in beautiful downtown Chong Khnies, it was just as busy as it was upon our arrival. By the time we arrived back at the boat "dock", it was getting hot and it seemed that we had timed our trip perfectly. Another great trip booked by Dave and guided by Ta! For more info on great trips and a friendly place to stay check out: http://www.peaceofangkor.com/index.html