Moving towards Siem Reap…slow but sure.

Slow boat to Siem Reap

It is time to move on from Battambang and head to the next stop which is Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, but how to get there.  Two choices are available the air conditioned bus which takes 3 hours and cost $3 or go by slow boat (with no aircon) down the Sangker River and across the Tonle Sap to Siem Reap which takes 6 – 8 hours an cost $17…..Mmmmm.  Well you guessed it; I’m on the damn 30 passenger slow boat leaving at 7:30 Am.  Endless photo opportunities and a flat butt from sitting eight hours on a wooden bench guaranteed.

Villages along the Sangker on the way to Siem Reap

It was not full so everyone could spread out a bit. I had a bench by myself after my friend Barbara headed to the rear of the boat to get out of the sun which was hitting the side our seats were on. Looking around I observed it was a real mix of tourist and locals, plus piles of goods being carried home by the passengers or being sent down to little mom & pop groceries.

Scenes along the river as we move to Siem Reap

The boat was an old flat bottom wooden clunker perfect for plying the shallow waters of the Sangker.  Thankfully it was covered with pull down shades on the sides in case the sun became too hot or it rained (both of which happened).  With a bit of shade and a little breeze coming from the river it was not so hot as to make it unpleasant and I enjoyed leaning out observing the lives of people along the river.

The boat stopped along the way here and there whereupon boats would row out and pull up alongside…people hopping on or off…goods being delivered or more being picked up…a ballet dance on boats and water.  At one point a low flat boat with a motor ran alongside as we were moving down river and a small boy about 8 or 10 jumped from his boat to ours with a tray hung around his neck. He walked the boat trying to sell us a cool drink and then hopped off the boat onto the one still running next to us…Amazing!

Families in houses along the river

This is the end of the dry season and the rains have not yet come to raise the level of the Sangker River to a satisfactory level.  Much of the time on the ride was spent trying to find the channel and working hard not to get mired down in the mud.  The captain had an assistant who poled the boat along in some really shallow spots….so glad the boat was not full or we might have gotten stuck at least a half a dozen times.

Stilt houses along the Sangker River

All along this little river were encampments of people either living on boats or in stilt houses along the banks. At the beginning of the trip the river banks were more scarcely populated but at the end near Siem Reap there were dense floating villages along the tributaries leading in to Lake Tonle Sap. I want to come back during the rainy season to see how the river changes and how it effects the lives of the people along the river.

After 7 hours of maneuvering down torturously narrow waterways, the river is widening and the water color is changing….we’re emerging into a broad expanse of water… Tonle Sap Lake

Clouds over Tonal Sap Lake

Tonle Sap Lake is unique! A fresh water lake that dominates the map of Cambodia and covers 2,500 sq Km in the dry months… it is an amazing fishery and is the breadbasket of Cambodia.  When the monsoons arrive so much water comes down the Mekong River that it starts backing up the Tonle Sap River causing the lake to quadruple in size to 10,000 sq Km making it the largest fresh water lake in Asia. It is a fragile eco-system home to an amazing amount of fish and birdlife…some of which are endangered.  The eco-system  and the food chain for millions of Cambodians is under threat due to the Chinese damming up the Mekong river… only time will tell what the effects will be from the changing water flow.

Market in the floating village leading into Siem Reap

Eight hours later the boat docks and my poor buttocks, which may take days to recover, are ill prepared for the twenty minute tuk tuk ride into the town of Siem Reap over some very bumpy roads.  But hey, that is what we intrepid travel bloggers do while anticipating a chilled G & T and planning the next photo op…..hit the bumpy road.