CAMBODIA ~ Floating Village - Chong Kneas ~

... View of a floating village on the northern end of Tonle Sap lake... the largest freshwater lake of Southeast Asia... where close to 1,000 families live and make their living fishing on the lake... its water level varies considerably and the inhabitants of six of the seven villages at Chong Kneas live in houseboats that need to be moved with the changing levels... Chong Khneas, while interesting, is over-touristed and according to many travellers a "tourist trap"...  for the residents of these villages, life on the water is not a cultural tradition that people cherish and wish to preserve... when the villagers were consulted about their living conditions, they said that they would prefer to live on the land and have access to clean water and sanitation as well as have their children go to proper schools instead of the poorly maintained floating school... Thanks a lot Gian Luca and Raffaella!【ツ】

Photo: © The Victory Angkor Photography, Cambodia
Chong Kneas is a sort of port and long canal close to Siem Reap, flanked by scrubby green-brown banks to the west side. The canal is overlooked by the hill of Phnom Krom to the north on which sits an Angkorian temple dedicated by King Yasovarman around about 900BC.

Tonle Sap Lake is one of the richest inland fishing grounds in the world, home to not only over 200 different species of fish but also to over one million people.

The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve is a unique ecological phenomenon surrounding the Tonlé Sap or Great Lake of Cambodia. In 1997, Tonle Sap Great Lake was recognized as the first Biosphere Reserve in Cambodia.

Stamp:

Cangzhou Iron Lion and Buchen Temple Lion
(Issued 16-11-2017)