Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Click here for photos of Tonle Sap floating villages.




We spent the afternoon on Mars; it was like visiting another planet, in a boat instead of a spaceship. Tonle Sap, an inland sea, near Siem Reap is only 1km from the city during rainy season, but now, at the end of dry season, it's more than 7 kms away. We drove slowly down a dusty isthmus that will be covered by water come June. Naked children gathered around the water pumps to bathe. Women nursed babies in thatched roof huts, National Geographic passed just beyond our car windows. We boarded a boat that labored through a man made canal to reach the lake.

It was absolutely surreal; people live and die in these cramped, fragile, wooden islands. They played cards, floated gardens, raised hogs (those were some hefty rafts), corraled fish, did laundry and raised children all in little houses floating on cafe au lait water. Residents embraced at least one modern technology; fishermen and women precariously perched on dugout canoes talked on cell phones!

When our boat slowed down, a platoon of children approached us; some in canoes, some rowing small tin buckets. "Please madame, one dollah," they called plaintively, turning their previously giggling faces into pitiful, pious ones and displaying a basket of 5 cm bananas or an upturned palm. We decided not to reward the begging here or near the temples, but to support the entrepreneurs. So we have a few bracelets, pictures and carvings to ship home.

The men took great pride in their boats. In spite of how muddy the water was from dredging the arteries, the boats were all clean and painted bright shades of teal, red and yellow. All the boats had eyes painted on their fronts. In a land where Hinduism and Buddhism are rolled up in a unique crepe, they accept blessings from all traditions.

The floating school was hot. Not a single fan or cross breeze abated the heat in the 15'x15' classroom. Still, the children's watercolor paintings cheered things greatly. Cursive Cambodian is beautiful so a math lesson on the green slate chalkboard was art to our eyes. The students in their blue and white uniforms seemed impervious to the heat as they pulled notebooks from their plastic, waterproof folders. These containers make sense given the way they get to and from school.

Cambodia provides free school for only four hours a day from Kindergarten through high school. Students must pass competitive exams in grade six in order to continue formal education. Talk about high stakes testing. The teacher told us that the children in his class were all in second grade, but ranged in age from 7 to 12 because they attended so erratically. He attended university to complete a teaching degree and now earns $30/month. Our guide completed primary school and English classes and makes that much in a day. There are one or two reforms needed in the Cambodian education system to move this impoverished country toward prosperity.

Life in Tonle Sap seemed like a lot of hard work. Perhaps it's easier during the rainy season when boats don't get stuck in shallow water and the fish are more plentiful, if only we could have checked out that assumption with the locals. Maybe it's like a lifelong vacation to them, fishing, playing cards and boating whenever they want. To our eyes, running water, electricity, hygiene, medical care and supermarkets appeared to be in short supply in this neighborhood.

It was a powerfully moving experience. I realized that I am a greatly privileged girl who needs to stop complaining. - Maya

It's amazing that people can live that way. -Skylar