Tonle Sap tour Siem Reap. All Included Private Guided tour to the Secrets of Cambodia’s Water Villages

Frequently Asked Questions

Siem Reap Floating Village

➤ Escape the city for a day and visit Siem Reap Floating Village.

After seeing the fabulous temple complex of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, you may be left wondering, “Now what?” After you’ve seen the biggest religious building in the world, go to the Siem Reap Floating Villages.

➤ Siem Reap, Cambodia’s floating villages, will transport you to another fantastical realm.

Communities in rural Cambodia near Tonle Sap Lake are all the rage among vacationers these days. Anyone who comes to Cambodia must take the time to experience the unique culture of the floating villages near Siem Reap.

This fascinating journey through the history of this Southeast Asian nation is reminiscent of a museum visit. A sense of humanity and gratitude for life is conveyed through the stories of the various villages.

Nowhere else will you go on a tour where everything you see is so genuine as on the eco-tours of Siem Reap floating villages. You can trust your eyes; that’s how things are.

➤ The Floating Village of Kampong Phluk is a Must See in Siem Reap.

Kampong Phluk, another floating village close to Siem Reap, translates to “harbor of tusks.” It is only a half-day trip away and is only 30 kilometers from Siem Reap. The village’s economy depends heavily on catching shrimp and fish.

Crocodiles are raised as livestock in these villages rather than chickens or other common livestock. Just as we thought, right? Sadly though, it won’t work for them. At one of the floating restaurants, if you think you can stomach something as absurd as crocodile meat, you can enjoy a rare delicacy.

The dense mangrove forests are a hidden treasure of these communities, and exploring them will only set you back a few extra dollars. It’s a beautiful spot to spend some time taking pictures of nature.

➤ What is the best time to visit the floating villages of Siem Reap?

The Floating Villages of Siem Reap are Best Visited Between November and April.

From June to October, precipitation is common. When everyone in a town seems to be “floating,” it’s high season, and many tourists flock there.

The stilts supporting the houses are visible during the dry season, making the buildings appear even taller than they are.

Sustainable Travelers

Don’t bother with any schools if you can help it; many schools will try to solicit donations from tourists in exchange for “donations” (usually for things like “books” or “rice”) that may or may not be used for those purposes.

The best way to help the people living around Tonle Sap Lake is to buy souvenirs, eat at local restaurants, and consult the tourist centers. Tourism in the form of paddle boat rides through the flooded forest provides locals with another means of income.

➤ Is Tonle Sap Worth Visiting?

When you are in the vicinity of Angkor Archeological Park to see the temples of Angkor Wat and others, spend a day exploring the Tonle Sap fascinating world. In the rainy season, when the Mekong is at its fullest, some cruises go into the lake to explore its villages and farms.

➤ What Exactly Is A “Floating Village”?

In the modern era, cities and population centers continue to develop in close proximity to bodies of water, as doing so has commercial and sustainability benefits. However, communities do exist that choose to reside on the water rather than just near it. These communities, often referred to as “boat communities” or “floating villages,” were established on the surface of inland water bodies for a variety of reasons, including ethnic and occupational.

➤ How Far Is Kampong Phluk From Siem Reap?

About thirty kilometers (twenty miles) to the southwest of Siem Reap is the well-known floating village called Kampong Phluk. The trip to Kampong Phluk should take between forty minutes and an hour, depending on weather and traffic.

➤ How Much Does It Cost to Visit Kampong Phluk?

A trip to Kampong Phluk will set you back $24 if you want to see everything the place has to offer (including the entry ticket and boat ticket). To get there, you can either take a tuk-tuk for $20 or hire a private car and driver for $45 + boat tickets and entry fees.

➤ What Is Unique About Tonle Sap?

The sunsets!

And… Tonle Sap Lake is one of the world’s most productive inland fisheries and the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia. The 100-kilometer-long Tonle Sap River flows out of the lake and into the Mekong.

➤ How do people make a living on Tonle Sap?

These lake dwellers have settled the area around the Tonle Sap in hundreds of small villages. People who make their homes on stilts or in houseboats (collectively known as “floating villages”) go fishing from long sampans and bamboo fish traps.

➤ How many Floating Village Cambodia?

170 different floating communities are home to a combined total of 80,000 people who make their permanent homes on the water. In contrast to the majority of employment choices in Cambodia, not only is the money stable because of a very long fishing season, but living on the water can be challenging.

➤ Cambodia and Siem Reap have a lot to offer to tourists.

The area around Siem Reap is home to four major floating villages:

• Chong Kneas

• Mechrey

• Kampong Khleang

• Kampong Phluk

Chong Kneas

About 16 kilometers from Siem Reap is the village of Chong Khneas. In this village, people live in homes that are either permanently afloat or on stilts and which move around with the tides.

Because God and education don’t need an excuse to be prevalent even in the most difficult areas, you’ll be surprised to find a floating school and even a church. You may also encounter crocodiles lazing around in the murky water of the Tonle Sap Floating Village, but there’s no need to be alarmed.

If you plan on staying for a while, you can enjoy the local Korean restaurants and shop for unique souvenirs at the floating markets.

The cities of Battambang and Phnom Penh can be reached from Chong Khneas (the capital of Cambodia). Visiting these locations by boat is the best way to get the most out of your trip.

Mechrey

There are fewer tourists in Mechrey than in other Siem Reap floating villages because it is less well-known. It is a wildlife sanctuary’s entry point and is located 25 kilometers southwest of Siem Reap.

Explore the unusual way of life of the residents of this floating community. Lovely plants and verandas stacked high with firewood adorn the exteriors of the floating homes. Animals will even make their homes beneath the floating homes.

The floating garden and floating cemetery in this village are its most peculiar features.

You can do some bird watching and nature photography in a vast forest that is home to hundreds of different bird species. Stop by Artisans Angkor to pick up some locally-made keepsakes before heading home.

Kampong Khleang

Kampong Khleang, whose name translates to “harbor warehouse,” is a permanent stilted village located about 50 kilometers southeast of Siem Reap. This is the most remote of the Tonle Sap Lake’s popular villages from Siem Reap. Its lack of popularity among tourists means you can expect a slower, more laid-back experience, which may be appealing.

Kampong Khleang is home to a sizable population (roughly 6,000), so naturally, numerous structures, including houses on stilts and boats, provide for everyone’s needs. The homes on the water are relocated as the Tonle Sap Lake rises and falls. The homes are situated nearly on the water’s edge during the dry season.

Since locals own and operate this boat service, your payment will go directly to them. There are trips to Kampong Khleang that can be booked through My Siem Reap Tours. We take you to the local market and a village where sticky rice is made. If you prefer to have more control over your schedule, you can also get there independently by tuk-tuk and then hire a boat once you get there.

Kampong Phluk Floating Village

The bulk of the homes in Kampong Phluk is constructed on stilts.

The name of the community translates to “harbor of the tusks,” alluding to the three communities that border the main entry to Tonle Sap Lake in this region.

The distance from Siem Reap is slightly more than 30 kilometers, making it an easy half-day excursion. Compared to other villages, the river and road trips are rather quick and straightforward.

The journey from the village to the lake. Because the lake is the most important place, a personal ferry service will transport you there after passing through the hamlet.

The community’s primary source of income is fishing and shrimp farming. However, they do harvest some crops from the land during the dry season. Because Kampong Phluk is a working hamlet, most residents are preoccupied with their jobs, entirely disconnected from the tourism sector that buzzes by their doors.

Life in the neighborhood. Going right past the people’s houses to get a glimpse of another way of life may be interesting, but it may also feel extremely invasive. As previously stated, residents are not involved in the industry and do not gain from it. As a result, there are no general activities available to tourists in Kampong Phluk.

A genuine encounter. A local guide can take you in one of the neighboring little boats into the mangroves or flooded woodland. Furthermore, a few eateries are floating around, and visiting this location benefits the local tourism industry in a variety of ways.

In short…

Kampong Phluk is a working community, thus, tourists can’t do much there because most locals are concentrated on their own industry. 

Small boats can tour the mangroves, or flooded woodland, for a more realistic experience.