This is a huge lake - about 40 kilometers wide. It is only about 1 meter deep right now because Cambodia is at the end of the dry season. All the rice paddies are dry ground too. After the rainy season this lake will be 8-10 meters deep and much wider. The people live on this lake during the dry season and move into the hills when it rains. It is much cooler here and they have plenty of water - even though it is a pretty polluted. This is poverty at its finest. I really felt humbled by seeing how people live here. They do have a floating school, library, and even a floating basketball court.
One thing that really amazed me is how they love having me take their pictures. They pose and smile - I don't think I'd enjoy lots of tourists driving by my house and snapping pics all day. These Cambodians are truly wonderful and friendly people, very interested in tourist stories. Many speak a little English (they learn English and Chinese in school). According to one tuk-tuk driver Cambodia's worst problems are government corruption and education. The rural people only get a few years of school because it is not compulsary. Another thing that amazed me is how clean and fastidious they are. I saw women sweeping the dirt roads to remove rubbish, and their clothes are always spotless and ironed.
The woman cover up completely when out in the sun. It is cooler, but also in these countries, darker skin means lower on the social totem pole.
Stuff is really cheap here - I had many wonderful $1 meals, and my lovely hotel was only $49 (with AC and pool). There is so much more to say, but the bottom line is: GO and see for yourself.
This boy came up to our boat to ask for money.
She's washing her baby while he works on the boat. To wash the kid involves him jumping in the dirty lake, mama soaping him down, then mama pouring fresh water from the buckets over him. They have to paddle into town to get fresh water from the community wells.
Boat house and apparatus for keeping the wood dry - I assume it is for cooking.
Mobile Mini-Mart
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