Day 2 – Wednesday 17th of December –  Tonlé Sap lake and river cruise

Late in day 1 we decided to do the Angkor tour – the main reason of coming to Siem Reap in the first place – on Thursday, so we had to figure out something for Wednesday. Our trusted driver-guide Jimbo suggested a riverboat ride on the river and on the delta of Siem Reap river. So boating we went!

The journey from the town to the starting point of our lil cruise took about an hour on tuk-tuk. Some parts of the trip took place on a ruddy lil country road and lead us to the toll booth where we got our tickets. Even on this last 25min journey most of the time the evidence of the yearly flooding of Tonlé Sap (meaning approximately The great body of fresh water) were abundant: more and more houses on bigger and bigger stilts, algae and rubbish high in the trees and deep grooves on the ever so lovely terracotta coloured dust roads and river banks. We got to the toll booth and were appalled: $23 for a boat ride and entry?! And additional $5 for a smaller ride among the mangrove trees? It’s a ripoff I tell you… Though, somehow we still ended up paying the $23 for the standard river cruise thingie.

So we slowly started our journey down the river – which at this point was only few meters wide and up to the waist of a local man (~165cm tall, so the total depth was certainly less than a meter). The river grew wider and deeper rather fast and the signs of water level in the wet monsoon time reached easily 3-4m from the current water level. After maybe 20mins or so we saw the top of a local pagoda – a mix in between a Buddhist temple and a community center – around one curve of the street. It still took us around 10 minutes to reach the village though. The Village was a loose collection of houses on long 4-5m long stilts concentrated on the few slightly higher places (high enough to offer some dry ground to anchor in the stilts) around the current waterway and the waterways that would form during the wet season. All in all it was a sight that inspired amazement or even awe in its simplicity, a sight that I have wanted to see for quite a while and now I have 🙂

After leaving the village we headed out to the delta of the river and after stopping at the starting place of the mangrove tour, we decided to go on one as well… for the extra price of $5. But oh boy, was it worth it! After escaping the inevitable salesfolk in the beginning of the tour (this kinda tours are infamous for the people selling stuff “to be given to the school children”) the serenity and calmness of the forest overtook us completely. The only sound we heard came from the birds and insects in the trees and the water passing by the sides of the boat. Even the sounds from the main waterway did not seem to be able to penetrate into the forest. The light that was filtered trough the leaves dotted the water and cast its reflections on the underside of the canopy. Even the air was cooler and calmer than elsewhere on the river. And no bug was bothering us there. Truly a place where one could completely forget the surrounding world and become one with the nature. 12/10 and thumbs up.

After the mangrove-euphoria had passed we headed out to the lake itself. It is kinda hard for a Finn to even think of the lake as a lake as it is so unlike the ones we have back home. I mean, the lake is bigger, flatter and wider than the stuff in Finland and there is barely any islands or such on the lake. It has the feeling of a sea, without the salt though. The only thing limiting visibility is the vapour rising from the water. Astonishing. Though I must admit that I was lil surprised to find the sales boats harassing us even there… On the way back we visited a wooden walkway build among the tops of the mangrove trees, meters above the current water level. It would eventually lead to a viewing platform  by the lake, where one could sit and watch the sun set beyond Tonlé Sap – a breath taking sight as we were told… Just if the walkway would be completed, currently the platform was not connected yet. It was charming never the less.

While we reached the floating village once again, we were hailed from one of the houses to picked up passengers. The main passenger turned out to be an old man – prolly in his 70s – who had most likely had some sort of accident (or some other medical emergency) and his escort. So we hurried back to the landing point where our paths separated. We did see the man once more riding at the back of a scooter, on his way to receive medical aid. All in all this episode made me once again thankful for our good roads and fast medical transportation as not everyone is as lucky. (That is one of the main reasons why I would feel hesitant to move far into the countryside even back home.)

On our way back to the town (and on the way to the lake to be honest) we spotted all the time people fishing with thrown nets along the more shallow parts of the river. And the catch seemed to be plentiful of small fish… It was like seeing someone lift huge catches out of a mere ditch back home, just absurd. These tropical waters seem to support “a bit” more life than back in the Frozen North™.

As a side note: I am starting to feel really weird being called “sir” all the time… I am no colonial master of these locals, nor am I of royal blood…

Fun fact of the day: All the countryside of Cambodia seems to be dotted with signs and locations of Cambodian People’s Party, CPP, which is the current ruling party in Cambodia (majority in the senate), with its roots in communism (not the radical sort practiced by Ḱhmer Rouge though).