Showing posts with label Siem Reap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Siem Reap. Show all posts

Friday, March 14, 2014

Tonlé Sap Lake, Cambodia

The Tara at its mooring on Tonle Sap Lake
During my trip to Cambodia I booked a 'sunset cruise' on Tonlé Sap Lake, the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia. Since I knew nothing about the lake and the people who live on, or around its perimeter, I was constantly surprised by the amazing resourcefulness of these people and their way of eking out a living in what appear to be the most trying circumstances.

The Tonlé Sap (Khmer for "Large Fresh Water River", but more commonly translated as "Great Lake") is a combined lake and river system of major importance to Cambodia. The Tonlé Sap Lake is linked to the sea via the Tonlé Sap River, which converges with the massive Mekong River in Phnom Penh (see my earlier post: Phnom Penh River Cruise).

There are around 170 floating villages with some 80,000 inhabitants living on, and around Tonlé Sap Lake. The GECKO* Environment Education Center, which I visited, is located in Chong Khneas commune, and consists of seven villages housing around 5,800 residents. The Commune, has some of the largest floating villages on the lake. Among the facilities and services to be found in the Commune and other floating villages are schools, fish wholesalers, gas stations, restaurants, churches and pagodas, police stations, medical services―and karaoke bars!

Floating classroom under construction
Information panels at the GECKO centre provide some background information to life on Tonlé Sap Lake. For instance, in a typical floating village life expectancy at birth is 54 years. Twelve percent of all children die before the age of five, and one out of two are malnourished. Average annual income of most households is less than $500USD. Annual population growth is 2.4%, while the literacy rate is 46%, which is 17% below the Cambodian national average.

In the video we get glimpses of this floating village life. We see children playing in the lake, people fishing, a floating restaurant, a shop, a crocodile farm, and more. During the trip on the lake, we were told the two partially built wooden structures that I have includes images of, were destined to become floating classrooms. Note also the numerous television aerials attached to village homes. Televisions and other electronic devices are powered by car and truck batteries.

Part of my meal on the Tara
My trip on Tonlé Sap culminated with a meal on the Tara, which is marketed as “The Biggest Boat on the Tonle Sap Lake”. At more than 41 metres in length, I can confirm that I didn’t see any other craft on the lake that came even close to the size of this vessel. Despite the claims on the company website that the Tara can carry more than 250 passengers (elsewhere it states 300), there were just four of us on this outing.

Using the services of my hotel, I booked the US$33.00 Sunset Tour direct through the Tara website, and experienced no problems from hotel pick up, during the tour itself, or subsequent return to my hotel. I point this out, since some of the reviews on Trip Advisor are highly critical of similar tours, especially those booked through other agencies. Visitors report being approached by beggars, and feeling pressured to donate a bag of rice (at a cost of US$80), to an ‘orphanage’ they were taken to visit. Other reviewers have complained about the conditions of the crocodile farm, and other places visited during similar tours.

I’m not sure what they were expecting. Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, and the people living in these floating villages, and around the perimeter of Tonlé Sap are among the poorest in Cambodia. If you are expecting flush toilets and pristine facilities in a floating village, you will quickly realise that you are not going to find them either on this tour, or in many other places outside of your hotel or one of the major cities.

Floating restaurant and store on Tonle Sap Lake
Reading through some of the Trip Advisor reviews, it is also apparent that some visitors made their own ad hoc arrangements to tour on the lake. Using unregistered and unqualified ‘tour guides’ is simply asking for trouble, whether in Cambodia or anywhere else for that matter. Clearly, dealing with authorized guides and tour operators is the best way to avoid many of the problems some reviewers complain about.

It is also worth pointing out (since the Tara website doesn’t) that the vessel remains permanently moored during your visit and meal while on the boat. The actual tour and journey that eventually gets you out to the Tara is on a much smaller, faster boat similar to the small craft seen in the video.

The Tara Boat Sunset Tour is sold as a four hour tour (3:30pm-7:30pm), which begins when visitors are picked up at their hotel or guesthouse around 3.30pm―in a much appreciated air-conditioned vehicle―and returned to their accommodations at the end of the tour.

During the tour to the Tara we made two stops. The first to the already mentioned GECKO Environmental Education Centre, and a second stop at the village Crocodile and Fish Farm. I don’t know if the crocodiles in the crocodile farm are the same species as the rare Siamese Crocodile, which are an endangered species, or a different species of crocodile, but either way, I found the whole trip on the lake to be one of the highlights of my Cambodian visit.

Sunset Tour Price Includes:
Pick up at 3.30pm, 4 hour tour from time of pickup to time of drop off
Free Pick up & return in A/C Taxi
English speaking guides
Meal and drinks included on the Tara
Tour of floating village of Chong Khneas
Tour of Gecko Environmental Education Centre
Tour of Crocodile & Fish Farm
All Check Point fees included in Price
Children 12 or under, half price. 5 or under FREE
$33.00 Per Person - Tours from 3.30pm to 7.30pm

*GECKO―Greater Environment Chong Khneas Office


More Information

Friday, September 23, 2011

Friday Fotos – Beng Mealea, Cambodia

A pair of Naga protecting the entrance to Beng Mealea
I spent almost the full month of February (2011) travelling around Cambodia, and it was one of the highlights of my extended eight month round the world trip. I had plenty of time to check out all the major temples and sites, including Beng Mealea, the subject of this post.

Beng Mealea (meaning "lotus pond" in Khmer), is a temple in the Angkor Wat style located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia. Although the temple was built as a Hinduist temple to honour Vishnu, the supreme god in Hindu belief, there are also carvings depicting Buddhist motifs.

Primary built of sandstone, Beng Mealea is largely unrestored. Massive trees and thick brush thriving amidst its towers and courtyards and many of its stones lay in great heaps. For years it was difficult to reach, but a road recently built to the temple complex of Koh Ker passes Beng Mealea and more visitors are coming to the site, which is 77 km from Siem Reap.

An elaborately carved lintel from one of the collapsed buildings
While the history of the temple is pretty much unknown, it has been dated by its architectural style to the reign of king Suryavarman II who ruled during the early 12th century. Smaller in size than the king's main monument, Angkor Wat, Beng Mealea nonetheless ranks among the Khmer empire's larger temples.

Beng Mealea is oriented toward the east, but has entranceways from the other three cardinal directions. The basic layout is three enclosing galleries around a central sanctuary, which has long been collapsed. Structures known as libraries lie to the right and left of the avenue that leads in from the east.
There is extensive carving of scenes from Hindu mythology, including the Churning of the Sea of Milk and Vishnu being borne by the bird god Garuda. Causeways have long balustrades formed by bodies of the seven-headed Naga serpent.


Danger – Mines!
 Recognise the warning signs. Your life depends on it.
Tens of thousands of tons of unexploded bombs of all sizes, and an unknown number of mines (many thousands more), lie buried or scattered over the Cambodian countryside. During my stay in Cambodia I read several reports about villagers – children as well as adults – who had been injured or killed as a result of inadvertently stepping on or ploughing over mines lying in their fields.

Even in the vicinity of the major temples, mines lay buried just below the surface waiting to complete their deadly missions. The above sign at Beng Mealea has been placed there by the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), and serves as a warning that mines still exist near the temple. While the immediate area around Beng Mealea and other temples has been cleared of mines, visitors should resist the temptation to head off into the surrounding country to explore on their own.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Friday Foto: Angkor Thom, Cambodia

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Angkor Thom (literally, "Great City"), is located in Cambodia, and was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. Established in the late twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII, it covers an area of nine square kilometres.

I visited Angkor Thom during my month long stay in Cambodia during February 2011, and was left overwhelmed by the scale and beauty of this great complex. Like the other stunning temples around Siem Reap – Angkor Wat being probably the most famous – Angkor Thom has suffered from weathering, wars, and from the stupidity and vandalism of the Khmer Rouge during their murderous reign.

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Thankfully though, much remains to be admired (and photographed), by the hordes of visitors that swarm over the great temple sites and ancient cities of Cambodia.

Most of the great Angkor ruins have vast displays of bas-relief depicting the various gods, goddesses, and other-worldly beings from the mythological stories and epic poems of ancient Hinduism (modified by centuries of Buddhism). Mingled with these images are actual known animals, like elephants, snakes, fish, and monkeys, in addition to dragon-like creatures that look like the stylized, elongated serpents (with feet and claws) found in Chinese art. [Source: Wikipedia…]
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One can only marvel at the size and scope of the thousands of bas reliefs carved into the laterite from which the buildings of Angkor Thom are constructed. How many artisans and sculptors worked – though slaved may be a better word – for how many years to build, carve and shape these ancient cities and temples? And in an age when the average life expectancy of most Khmer people would have been less than 50 years, how many spent their whole working lives on these monumental construction projects – living, working and dying within the shadows of these buildings?

Definitely, worth a visit, and should be in the Top 10 of any travellers ‘bucket list’.

Angkor Thom in popular culture
The film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider features several characters visiting Angkor Thom during their trip to Cambodia to recover the first piece of the Triangle of Light.

-o0o-

Click on each image to purchase or view excerpts from the books displayed below via Amazon.Com...
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Lonely Planet Angkor Wat & Siem Reap Encounter Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Moon Spotlight Angkor Wat
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization (Ancient Peoples and Places) Sacred Angkor: The Carved Reliefs of Angkor Wat Vietnam and Angkor Wat (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Cambodia

The temple at Ta Prom, Cambodia
Just for the record, I'm happy to announce that I am alive and well in Cambodia.

I'm now just over two weeks into a month long stay, and my first foray into a third world country has been an exciting, exhilerating, saddening, life-affirming, eye-opening experience.

It will take me a long to time to absorb the lessons and process the experiences this amazing country has showered on me since my arrival here. From Phnom Penh, to the amazing temples of Angkor Wat and numerous others around Siem Reap; from the eight hour boat trip across Tonle Sap Lake to Battambang, to the experiences, sights, sounds and smells I am still to encounter, this month long visit will certainly turn out to be one of the highlights of my eight month travels, and I am delighted to have added it to my itinerary.

The resilience, friendliness and hope for the future shown by even the poorest of Cambodians has been one of the greatest joys of this trip. I have much to write once I return to Australia, and literally thousands of photographs and numerous video clips to go through before I can share my observations through this blog.

Right now I am in Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city - after Phnom Penh - where I will stay four or five days, before heading down to Sihanoukville for my final major Cambodian stop. If you have ever considered visiting Cambodia, I urge you to do so as soon as practicable. I'm sure you will not be disappointed.
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