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| The Tara at its mooring on Tonle Sap Lake |
During
my trip to Cambodia I booked a 'sunset cruise' on Tonlé Sap
Lake, the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. Since I knew nothing about the lake and the people who live
on, or around its perimeter, I was constantly surprised by the amazing
resourcefulness of these people and their way of eking out a living in what
appear to be the most trying circumstances.
The Tonlé Sap (Khmer for "Large Fresh Water
River", but more commonly translated as "Great Lake") is a
combined lake and river system of major importance to Cambodia. The Tonlé Sap
Lake is linked to the sea via the Tonlé Sap River, which converges with the
massive Mekong River in Phnom Penh (see my earlier post:
Phnom Penh River Cruise).
There are around 170 floating villages with some 80,000
inhabitants living on, and around Tonlé Sap Lake. The GECKO* Environment Education
Center, which I visited, is located in Chong Khneas commune, and consists of
seven villages housing around 5,800 residents. The Commune, has some of the
largest floating villages on the lake. Among the facilities and services to be
found in the Commune and other floating villages are schools, fish wholesalers,
gas stations, restaurants, churches and pagodas, police stations, medical
services―and karaoke bars!
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| Floating classroom under construction |
Information panels at the GECKO centre provide some
background information to life on Tonlé Sap Lake. For instance, in a typical
floating village life expectancy at birth is 54 years. Twelve percent of all
children die before the age of five, and one out of two are malnourished.
Average annual income of most households is less than $500USD. Annual
population growth is 2.4%, while the literacy rate is 46%, which is 17% below
the Cambodian national average.
In the video we get glimpses of this floating village life.
We see children playing in the lake, people fishing, a floating restaurant, a
shop, a crocodile farm, and more. During the trip on the lake, we were told the
two partially built wooden structures that I have includes images of, were
destined to become floating classrooms. Note also the numerous television
aerials attached to village homes. Televisions and other electronic devices are
powered by car and truck batteries.
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| Part of my meal on the Tara |
My trip on Tonlé Sap culminated with a meal on the Tara, which is marketed as “The Biggest Boat on the Tonle Sap Lake”. At more than 41 metres in length, I can confirm that I didn’t see any other
craft on the lake that came even close to the size of this vessel. Despite the
claims on the company website that the Tara can carry more than 250
passengers (elsewhere it states 300), there were just four of us on this
outing.
Using the services of my hotel, I booked the US$33.00 Sunset
Tour direct through the Tara website, and experienced no problems from
hotel pick up, during the tour itself, or subsequent return to my hotel. I
point this out, since some of the reviews on Trip Advisor are highly critical
of similar tours, especially those booked through other agencies. Visitors
report being approached by beggars, and feeling pressured to donate a bag of
rice (at a cost of US$80), to an ‘orphanage’ they were taken to visit. Other
reviewers have complained about the conditions of the crocodile farm, and other
places visited during similar tours.
I’m not sure what they were expecting. Cambodia is one of
the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, and the people living in these floating
villages, and around the perimeter of Tonlé Sap are among the poorest in
Cambodia. If you are expecting flush toilets and pristine facilities in a
floating village, you will quickly realise that you are not going to find them
either on this tour, or in many other places outside of your hotel or one of the
major cities.
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| Floating restaurant and store on Tonle Sap Lake |
Reading through some of the Trip Advisor reviews, it is also
apparent that some visitors made their own ad hoc arrangements to tour on the
lake. Using unregistered and unqualified ‘tour guides’ is simply asking for
trouble, whether in Cambodia or anywhere else for that matter. Clearly, dealing
with authorized guides and tour operators is the best way to avoid many of the
problems some reviewers complain about.
It is also worth pointing out (since the Tara website
doesn’t) that the vessel remains permanently moored during your visit and meal
while on the boat. The actual tour and journey that eventually gets you out to
the Tara is on a much smaller, faster boat similar to the small craft
seen in the video.
The Tara Boat Sunset Tour is sold as a four hour tour
(3:30pm-7:30pm), which begins when visitors are picked up at their hotel or
guesthouse around 3.30pm―in a much appreciated air-conditioned vehicle―and
returned to their accommodations at the end of the tour.
During the tour to the Tara we made two stops. The
first to the already mentioned GECKO Environmental Education Centre, and a
second stop at the village Crocodile and Fish Farm. I don’t know if the
crocodiles in the crocodile farm are the same species as the rare Siamese
Crocodile, which are an endangered species, or a different species of
crocodile, but either way, I found the whole trip on the lake to be one of the highlights of my Cambodian visit.
Sunset Tour Price Includes:
Pick up at 3.30pm, 4 hour tour from time of pickup to time
of drop off
Free Pick up & return in A/C Taxi
English speaking guides
Meal and drinks included on the Tara
Tour of floating village of Chong Khneas
Tour of Gecko Environmental Education Centre
Tour of Crocodile & Fish Farm
All Check Point fees included in Price
Children 12 or under, half price. 5 or under FREE
$33.00 Per Person - Tours from 3.30pm to 7.30pm
*GECKO―Greater Environment Chong Khneas Office
More Information
The bridge was initially designed by German immigrant John
Augustus Roebling. While conducting surveys for the bridge project, Roebling
sustained a crush injury to his foot when a ferry pinned it against a piling.
After amputation of his crushed toes he developed a tetanus infection which
left him incapacitated and soon resulted in his death, not long after he had
placed his 32-year-old son Washington Roebling in charge of the project.
