Kompong Phluk Floating Village

Kompong Phluk is a fishing village with houses built on stilts on the edge of Tonle Sap, the largest natural freshwater lake in Cambodia which is about 30 kilometers away from Siam Reap town. The name of the village literally means ‘the port of tusks’ perhaps due to its appearance with a forest of bamboo and wooden stakes on which local houses are perched. In the wet season from April to October, the size of the lake enormously expanded and the whole ground of the village and its surroundings are submerged, the village becomes a floating one on the water. During the dry season when the water level is low, you will see the village from a different perspective.

The flooded mangrove forest around and near the village is home to great biodiversity that includes many unique plant species, fish, and animals, many of which are endangered. And, together with the lake of Tonle Sap, it is now part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

This village is home to about a thousand families with nearly 4000 people, mostly Khmer ethnic. The local life here largely depends on fishing on the Tonle Sap Lake and some agricultural farming during the dry season. The living condition of villagers was difficult during the 1980s due to the lack of essential services and Khmer Rouge remnants. Things gradually improved only from the middle of the 1990s when aid projects and conservation programs were carried out here with roads, schools, and some necessary public facilities were built in the village. The village is now turned into an ecotourism site where visitors can enjoy visits to experience the village life on unique floating homes, the submerged mangrove forests, and the great Lake of Tonle Sap.

A visit to the Kampong Phluk floating village brings visitors a unique experience of local life on the water with a traditional lifestyle and culture as well as giving you a better understanding of nature and people in this beautiful country.

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