Tonle Sap Lake

On the free day in Siem Reap, we visited the Tonle Sap Lake and the floating village, which is a
remarkable social site. In order to get to the city it is necessary to rent a boat and a guide for a
fee of 20.00$ per person. The 20$ are used by the government to maintain the canal and to increase its diameter in order to prevent boat-traffic jams. Since the government made the canal bigger the number of boats increased from 10 boats to over 200 boats for tourist. During the rainy season, there are more than 500 tourists coming to swim and to visit the floating village.
This is a very important site and gives a lot of Cambodians jobs. Additionally it is important for the village people.
The local school, where the children of the village people learn English for free, is funded by the tourists. They are also depended on the book donations the tourist can make.









Nevertheless the students have to swim to school and the classrooms are very crowded.

On the lake live 5000 residents. There are two different communities. On the one side live 3000 Vietnamese and on the other side 2000 Cambodians, but they live friendly together. The reason why these people live on the water is that the properties on land are too expensive for them and they don’t have to pay taxes on water.

The people on the lake make their living of tourism and fishing.

Visiting the floating village was a valuable experience and lets you appreciate what you have and where you come from.