Ton Le Sap Lake, Cambodia

Tuesday, November 26

Happy thanksgiving week friends:) 
I just love this season. I flew home to northern California on Saturday
and my mom and I spent a glorious day shopping and oohhhing and aaahhhing over all the gorgeous Christmas decor!
{and may or may not have busted out some Christmas carols in the car, accapella!}
I am now spending my days snuggled up by the fire, drinking tea,
and editing the festive family photo shoots i've been taking the last few days! 

But today, I thought I'd share with you our pictures from Ton Le Sap Lake in Cambodia! 
Who knew that the largest lake in SE Asia was located in Cambodia? I sure didn't! 

The same day we wandered out into the countryside and saw the Lotus pond,
was the same day our driver brought us to the shores of Ton Le Sap. 
Besides being the biggest lake in SE Asia, it also is home to over 7,000 people! 
Yes, they actually live on the lake.
They are called the floating villages. 

Our guide, a 23 year old boy who grew up on the lake, shared the history. 
Durin the Vietnam war, many refugees sought refuge in Cambodia, and many of them could not afford to live on land, so they reverted to residing in homes on the lake…ie: house boats! He told us it is extremely difficult to live on the lake. For starters, you have to take a boat if you want to go anywhere. you'll see in these photos below that some people get mighty creative in how they travel, some rowing themselves out in big cans! 

Kevin and I were fascinated by this "floating village" and the people who lived there. 
It was amazing to see how resourceful they were:) 

Ton Le Sap lake is about a 30-45 min drive outside of Siem Reap. I would absolutely recommend coming here if you have time! 
It was a highlight of our trip! 

Enjoy the pictures:) 
love Katie 
 {oh hey there little 3 year old with a PYTHON!!!!! around your neck. like umm...no.big.deal!!!}

16 comments :

  1. Amazing! What a beautiful and super interesting place :) did you ever feel culture shock on your travels?

    Esther

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  2. the little girl with the snake!!! Seriously, I'm in love with all this color! But somehow I get the impression that you guys must be very grown up indeed when you say "23 year old boy" :P That's older than me! And my family has been to this place, too!

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  3. This is both beautiful and heart breaking. Love the cheerful colors and their creativity, but I can't imagine living like that. Thankful for your beautiful & adventurous heart Katie!

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  4. So beautiful!! And I can't get over that little girl with the snake!

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  5. The colors are beautiful. You captured the essence of Cambodia so well. And the snake! Haha so cute that little girl.

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  6. Wow! Thanks for sharing the mini history lesson. I loved learning about this lake and the amazing villages!!!

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  7. I was enjoying the pictures of the lake... and then I saw the photo of the girl with a snake. No thank you!

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  8. These pictures are amazing! I can't believe those houses stay up, the little stilts look so unstable! And that 3 year old?? ummmm wow!

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  9. Wowzzers, these photos are awesome. SO much color! That girl with the python was freaky though!

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  10. This village is incredible! I was so impressed by the "house boats"! We saw something similar to this in Granada, Nicaragua on Lake Nicaragua. There are 100s of "Islas" (miniature islands) in the middle of this late so there is an entire community living out there including a school and a health center! I blogged about it briefly here- http://how-beautiful-are-the-feet.blogspot.com/2013/05/when-love-came-to-town-part-2.html..

    All of your pictures here were phenomenal, as usual!

    Lauren @ How Beautiful Are The Feet

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  11. Beautiful shots! Adorable little one with the python. Haha.
    Looks like a paradise. c:

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  12. For some reason, people who are poor seem more happy than the ones who have everything in the world. Happiness and Joy lies in little which we tend to forget and look out for things that we don't have and stress out.

    The place looks beautiful. May god be with them

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  13. your pics are phenomenal!! i don't know how you made it to the tonle sap. that's awesome!! i have yet to visit the lake but would love to some day. maybe i can convince my cousins to take me there next time.

    and the girl with the python. fearless! she is one girl who you know will be a survivor! surely, she must come from a family of survivors.

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  14. That little girl with the snake... oh gracious! That's scary! She's a brave little thing. :) Also, these photos are beautiful. What an incredible place.

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  15. I have always had a heart for Vietnam big time (My dad was in the war and I always felt compassion and pity for the people that were harmed and displaced, and for all I know I have family there, since my dad went to the prostitutes that he now accepts were trafficked girls, though he was unaware at that time). Anyway, he used to show off a lot of slides of the house boats and so this all came rushing back to me when you posted this and talked about it.
    +Victoria+

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  16. haha that little girl is awesome. i love the attitude on her face!

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