Floating Village Cambodia

I just wanted to send a quick note about today's adventure. I took a one hour tuk-tuk ride to a boat landing which took me for a 2-hour boat ride around a floating village. It sounds really cool but the reality is that these floating villages are where the poorest of the poor live. You can't quite imagine such a thing unless you see it. The village is a collection of the most rickety houses - made of bamboo and miscellaneous scraps - and they are all floating in this brown soupy river. There are also floating stores and schools. For the tourists there is a floating visitor center showing how people live and a couple of restaurants.

My guide told me the most interesting fact...the village rests right off shore today however, come the dry season in April, the entire village (2000 homes) will have to haul their little huts and stores out several miles to accommodate the lowering of river. In other words, if the village stays were it is today, they will be on dry land and will have to walk several miles in order to do their fishing. It's an incredible picture; kids floating to school in little boats; tiny kids in boats that look more like buckets paddling from one house to the next. There is even a floating Catholic Church and a floating basketball court paid for by the Catholics.

My guide took me to a little store and I paid too much money for some books and pencils, we then went to the floating school and delivered them. The school is just one floating room (10x15)that holds approx. 25 kids and one teacher. I had to pay some company 35 dollars to take this tour (I know now there are other ways) and my guide told me they pay him $40 per month. Next time I will try to avoid the "company" and deal with the locals directly. It really pisses me off how much money this "company" is charging/making when some of the people in the village are so poor that they have to drink the river water where the village waste is dumped into. That's it...I return home tomorrow. Thanks for your responses...it's been nice hearing from people.