Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in South-East Asia. It is 250km long towards Phnom Penh and 200 km wide. The lake and attached river, the Tonle Sap River, join the lake to the Mekong River. Annually, the fluctuation of the Mekong’s water volume, supplemented by the Asian monsoon causes the flow reversal of the Tonle Sap River.
We visited Tonle Sap Lake with Komnob Airboat Tours. Our first time on an airboat…and it’s a really thrilling experience, so different from a boat ride. It’s very stable and the sensation of floating over water, grasses, and reeds at high speed is really unique.
PHOTO TOUR OF THE FLOATING VILLAGES OF TONLE SAP LAKE
As part of our trip we visited two floating villages on the lake, Macary and Prek Taol, with 200 and 2000 residents respectively. Here are some of the many photographs we took of the floating villages and their inhabitants.
We had bought writing pads, pencils and sweets and handed these out to the children of the floating villages. They were delighted with their gifts.
We loved our airboat tour and would highly recommend if you are in Siem Reap. It gave us a real insight into life in the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake.
