From Siem Reap to the Tonle Sap... an experience

I rented a bicycle on Friday and thought it would be nice to go and see what the Tonle Sap looked like.

I set out on the road from Siem Reap towards the south. For 10 km outside of Siem Reap the road is very good then it becomes a dirt road, then a very bad dirt road and in the end it's just a path in the sand. Overall the distance is approximately 20 to 25 km from Siem Reap to the lake.

Starting from Siem Reap the road is a nice picturesque asphalt road with small shops, houses, etc., along the Siem Reap river. Here a bridge on the river and a truck heading towards the road.



It then becomes even more picturesque with beautiful landscapes when the road crosses rice-fields and ponds full of water-lillies.





Afterwards one arrives to houses lined between the road (which becomes a dirt road at that point) and the river bed (dry at this time of the year), houses built on stilts ("pilotis" in French), with again small shops and, as you can see on this picture, some boat-building.



Scattered houses are found again but in the dry landscape, there seems very little one can live off and there is an impression of despair, embodied by this poor man's face. I couldn't understand him and had the impression he was simple-minded. I was very moved by his uncomprehensible speech.



Meanwhile, air-conditioned tourist buses and tuk-tuks go back and forth, bringing tourists to see the floating villages (while shutting their eyes on the rest?)




Then you arrive at the point where there is a bit water in the riverbed. Water buffaloes, loading of a boat with rice.




The riverbed is being dug so that tourist boats can come a bit closer to Siem Reap... It comes as a suprise in such poor surroundings with no infrastructure nor heavy machinery anywhere to face such a huge crane. I guess that tourist infrastructures are the priority.



As I was travelling from the idyllic landscapes around Siem Reap to I was seeing poorer and poorer villages but I was in for a shock when I arrived at the end of the road: the dirtiest and poorest village I could imagine. (I know there must be worse elsewhere, but I was expecting to see a beautiful view of the lake and I was ending up in a very depressing place.)





Other views of this village.






That's all folks.