The water laps at the underside of the floors of the houses in the wet season. The children paddle to school. Some go in a small boat. Others use other types of makeshift watercraft, such as buckets, or large, round metal cooking bowls! The children are often very small. I hope they all swim. They are out, alone, on the largest lake in Southeast Asia!
 
I met Villa and Samnang 3 years ago . But, this time I did not go to their town in Cambodia. They came to visit me here in Siem Reap, instead. It's about a 4 hour bus ride between the two towns.

Before they returned home to Battambang, I hired my tuk-tuk friend, 'Boy', to take us to the floating village outside of Siem Reap.

I met 'Boy', as he has foreigners call him, last year when I was here when I hired him to take me to the landmine museum in his tuk-tuk. We became friends and now, when I need a tuk tuk, I try to give him my business. (He says his name is so difficult for foreigners to say, he just tells them to call him 'Boy'. And, 2 years later, I still do not know his name!)

In these countries, where English is a second language, the references to 'boy' or 'girl' usually means male or female. It doesn't seem to connect the person with their age as much as it would in America. For example, in the States, once a boy turns 18 or so he wants to be referred to as a 'man' and a girl as a 'woman' . 

But in these countries that use English as a second language, they use a lot fewer English words to get their ideas across in English. So, 'boy' is not condescending to a more 'grown-up' person here like it might be construed in the U.S. 

I refer to all my local friends in these countries as 'boy' when talking about them, although they are almost always between 22-35 years old. They are young men, but are happy to be called 'boy' by foreigners. So, I guess that is why my tuk tuk driver (25-30), uses "Boy" as his name.
 
By hiring Boy to take us to the floating village, we can all spend time together, and he can earn some money at the same time. He wants to take me places free, now that he considers me a friend rather than a customer. But, I insist on paying the going price for his services. It is his business and I don't want to take advantage of him.
 
There are several 'floating villages' around Siem Reap and I have gone to one already . But, this one is supposed to be much better and Boy knows all the ropes.
 
The tuk tuk trip takes about an hour to get to the lake. The tuk tuk rides are always a little bumpy, especially if you go outside the town. Right inside a town (the tourist areas) the streets are usually not too rough. But, go just a block or two off the 'main drag' and they might be dirt or pot-holed pavement. Our tuk tuk ride was over small, paved, bumpy roads. We bounced and jolted along in the small tuk tuk. We passed paddy fields and small villages and waving children.

As everywhere here, we pass roadside stands selling fresh fruit. There are small stands selling fresh sugar cane drinks. The canes are crushed while you wait and the juice is served in a small plastic bag or cup with a straw. There are even full meals served right on the roadside from small stands, surrounded by child-like tables and chairs! Small butane stoves like we might take on a camping trip are often used to cook the food while you wait .

Of course, our driver and my two friends are Cambodian and the scenes along the way don't mean much to them. But, to me I am still intrigued by the way of life here that seems untouched by the developed world. It's like a movie set of a place time forgot!

We arrived at our destination, The Great Tonle Sap Lake. While many of the nations I have visited in SE Asia are surrounded by an ocean, here, in Cambodia, there is not an ocean, but instead there is the Tonle Sap Lake.

The Tonle Sap Lake is a 75 mile long freshwater lake. It connects to the Mekong River and is the largest freshwater lake in all Southeast Asia!

Tonle Sap Lake has over 200 species of fish and almost half of all the fish eaten in Cambodia comes from this one lake! People come from all over the world to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat Temples and the Killing Fields . But, Tonle Sap Lake is just as much a part of the Cambodian History as those other attractions!

Unlike Angkor Wat and The Killing Fields, Tonle Sap Lake is a living part of Cambodian History! Huge communities of people, complete with schools, medical clinics, temples and stores live here, all floating on the water!

My friend and guide, Boy, is well known here at the lake and gets us a private wooden boat for the same price I would normally pay for a ticket on the same boat full of strangers. We walk a long single, wooden 12" plank from the bank to the boat. This is actually a good deal. I have -- many times -- had to wade waist-deep from the shore to a boat. So, having the plank to walk on is a luxury! 

As the small boat makes it's way down the Tonle Sap, there are villages of houses built on stilts in the water. This is the dry season, but during the wet season the water will rise up close to the floors of these houses . If the water should get higher than the floor of the house, many people have small houseboats they can use until the water goes down enough for them to get back into their homes. 

People are going from house to house in small wooden boats. Some are fishing. The kids are playing in the makeshift floating devices they have come up with! I see some kids in what looks like large, round pans from mom's kitchen! They have smiles as big as the moon!

We pass the stilted villages and get further out into the lake. The water turns from the muddy looking water to a cleaner water. There are no houses now but, instead, there are mangrove forests and lots of open water.

After a while we reach villages of floating houses, Kompong Khleang. Some houses are Khmer (Cambodian) and some are Vietnamese. Our guide points out how you can tell the difference by the way they are decorated outside . There are a lot of Vietnamese living in Cambodia.

After the wet season ends, these floating houses, churches, medical clinics, stores, etc. are moved further into the lake as the water recedes. We are lucky today. We see a house being moved! 

There are a couple of fishing boats with motors tied to the house and they are pulling it to the new location. I don't know why they are moving it now, maybe to be close to family or friends or maybe the fishing is better where they are moving. 

Apparently this lake and it's villages take on a very big transformation between the wet and dry season, when the lake increases to 5 times it's size!

We see the different floating houses in the villages and many of the people wave to us. Some are working on their porches cleaning fish or vegetables or selling goods. We see the different fishing methods being used . Some fishermen use nets. Some set out fish traps. Some have fish traps that are built of bamboo poles anchored in the water. We can see the tops of the bamboo poles sticking out of the water.

There are small boats filled with fresh vegetables and meat and household goods. These are 'floating stores'. People paddle up to them and buy what they need for the day. There are small boats loaded with drinks and snacks that pull up to our boat. They are floating 'snack shops' I guess.

Our boat arrived at a mangrove forest that had plank boardwalks built in it. Together we walked through the trees on the boardwalk. Below us were often small fishing boats making their way around the trees. 

We walked through the mangrove forest, above the water, talking and taking photos. We bought some food and sat down on the planks for a picnic style lunch, while men in their fishing boats paddled around underneath us.

We had a great time taking photos and eating - out in the midst of Tonle Sap Lake!