Cruising the Tonle Sap River

We left Siam Reap on Monday morning and had a 5 hour bus ride to reach the point where our River cruise was to start. Along the way we stopped at a market (for a 'happy' stop or as we say a potty break) that is famous for cooked bugs! No, we did not eat any of them on the advice of our guide. Seems the oil they are fried in can be lethal to our stomachs.

We were greeted on the RV AmaDara cruise ship with food then it took off up river toward Tonle Sap Lake. We can't actually go into the lake because the opening is too shallow but there are some places they want us to see up stream. It's a Beautiful river! The Tonle Sap is a major tributary of the Mekong River which we will join later this week.

The propeller on our boat fouled on one of the many fish nets so the driver took off his clothes & used a machete to cut it off.

Tuesday dawned warm with lots of fishing boat puttering past us as the sun rose. Everyone loaded onto a boat that took us up river to view the village of Kampong Chhnang where houses are on stilts lining the river. Most were on 20 foot stilts since the rivers will rise over 14 feet during the rainy season that runs from a May to October. Over 56,000 live along the river banks or in the floating villages in this area.

Later in the day we pulled up to shore at Koh Chen where the people made silver and copper jewelry, plates, bowls, etc. We also visited an elementary school learning about how the country is trying to advance after The Killing Fields by the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot killed 96% of the intellectuals in Cambodia. The saying here is that those who know something will teach those who know little and those who know little teach those who know nothing.