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The floating villages at Tonle Sap Lake have become a great interest for many travelers visiting Siem Reap. The fascination with people who live in floating houses, travel to floating schools, and eat at floating restaurants is quite an experience for anyone traveling to Cambodia. Apart from the floating villages, there are also stilted villages along the banks of Tonle Sap Lake. These magnificent houses and buildings rest on tall, thin stilts that keep the occupants dry during the wet season and have giant ladders to reach the houses during the dry season.
There are several communities of people living on Tonle Sap Lake. With four main villages that are accessible from Siem Reap, there are a variety of ways to get there.
The villages respectively named: Chong Kneas, Kampong Phluk, Kampong Khleang, and Mechrey are described in detail below.
Please contact our front desk for more information or tour booking and arrangement.
Chong Kneas is the closest accessible village to Siem Reap, approximately 16 km away. In this village, you can see both stilted and floating houses, which are regularly moved around according to water levels. Chong Kneas is also the boat terminal for Battambang and Phnom Penh.
Chong Kneas is largely set up to serve Korean tourists which means there are many delicious Korean restaurants. It is also a common place for rice scams. The boat tours are not owned by the local community, and sadly the people living here see hardly any of the vast amounts of tourist money coming in.
In short, unless you’re planning to travel by boat to Battambang or Phnom Penh, there’s probably not much else here of interest.
Kampong Phluk, which literally means ‘harbor of the tusks,' is actually 3 villages consisting mainly of stilted houses that line the main entrance to Tonle Sap Lake. This community sustains themselves primarily by catching fish and shrimp, but also harvest some land crops during the dry season.
This village, located just over 30 km from Siem Reap and can be easily visited during a half-day trip. The road & river trips to get there are relatively short compared to some of the other villages. A private company will ferry you through the village to the lake which is the main destination. There aren’t any activities for tourists in Kampong Phluk because this is a working village, and most of the people within the village are focused on their own industry work. This village is quite separated from the tourism industry.
As you float past the village houses and see many locals, it can be interesting to view another way of life. It can also feel quite invasive, especially knowing these residents aren’t involved in or receive any benefit from the tourism industry. However, nearby there are small boats that can take you around the mangroves, or flooded forest, which is a more authentic experience. There are also a few floating restaurants where you can stop for a delicious snack. Visiting this village will give you the valuable opportunity to support a local economy and have your money go directly into the pockets of the people in the community rather than the big tour companies. Please contact the front desk for more information or tour booking and arrangement.
Kampong Khleang, literally meaning ‘harbor warehouse,’ is a stilted village around 50 km southeast of Siem Reap. This village is the farthest place to visit on Tonle Sap Lake. It doesn’t have the same amount of visiting tourists as the other villages on the lake, which can be appealing if you want a more genuine experience and a more relaxed pace.
Kampong Khleang has both stilted and floating houses, as well as many other buildings to sustain this large community of approximately 6,000 people. The floating houses are moved according to the water levels on Tonle Sap Lake. During the dry season, the houses are situated on the edge of the lake. But during the wet season, they appear to float on top of the lake.
The boat service here is owned and run by locals, meaning your money is directly supporting the local community. Beyond Unique Escapes and Triple A Adventures both run tours to Kampong Khleang. The Beyond Unique Escapes tour includes visiting the local market and a sticky rice producing village. It’s also possible to make your own way there by tuk-tuk and hiring a boat once you arrive, giving you more flexibility with timing. Please contact the front desk for more information or tour booking and arrangement.
Mechrey floating village is located 25 km southwest of Siem Reap and approximately halfway to Prek Toal; another floating village and the entry point to the Prek Toal Core Bird Reserve. Mechrey’s community mostly sustains itself through fishing, but more recently, they are able to build sustainability with the development of eco-tours.
As a newcomer to the tourism market, things in this village are pretty grassroots level. However, many of the methods applied in other villages are evident in Mechrey – such as offering tourists the opportunity to buy rice for local orphans. However, while this may seem like a kind and generous thing to do while traveling, it’s often causing more harm than help. We encourage you to think twice before donating in this way. It can be much more beneficial to the community to donate money to a reputable organization such as ‘The Lake Clinic’ which provides medical support to communities on Tonle Sap Lake.
It’s often said that the journey is prettier than the destination when it comes to Mechrey, however, if you seek a more ‘real life’ experience, then this is the place to visit. Please contact the front desk for more information or tour booking and arrangement.
We would be delighted to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. Tap the WhatsApp, Telegram or Messenger Icon below and we will be right with you.
