Visiting the floating village on Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

Hello Steemians,

In this post, I will talk about the floating village of Tonlé Sap in Cambodia, which I visited in July 2008.

Tonlé Sap (Khmer: "Great Lake") is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It is a seasonally inundated lake, i.e. the water volume fluctuates dramatically throughout the year. It peaks in September and early October, and troughs in late April. The lake also boasts a high degree of biodiversity, and it was designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1997.

As one of the world’s most varied ecosystems, it maintained on its own the Angkorean civilization. That civilization is long gone now, but Tonlé Sap continued to sustain the local population to this day.

When Tonlé Sap floods, it becomes a prime breeding ground for fish. During this time, fishing is prohibited, to allow breeding. At the end of the rainy season though, when the water levels go down, fishing is allowed again. Then the local fishermen populate the region with their floating houses, and get to work (1).

When I visited in July it was rainy season, and yet there was quite a few people there. Imagine what happens in dry season!

The floating church

Children playing on Tonlé Sap

Floating basketball court on Tonlé Sap

Floating petrol station

Views of the floating village

And that's the end of this post. I hope you liked it, and that you will follow me to my next one. Have a good day, and we'll speak again soon!

References:
1.Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonl%C3%A9_Sap.