Saturday March 5, 2005
Life around Tonle Sap
Story & pictures by Liz Price
We were flying over a huge expanse of wetland and my first thought was there had been big floods recently. But then I saw that the flooded area was actually a mix of marshland and lake. It was immense.
Homes are humble here.
The plane landed in the small, international airport of Siem Reap in Cambodia, the gateway to the world-famous Angkor Wat temples. Although these temples were to occupy our time in the next few days, we visited Tonle Sap lake on our first afternoon there.
Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in South-East Asia.
That afternoon we wandered around the market area of Siem Reap, absorbing the atmosphere and getting a feel of the place. There were several beggars following us, mainly amputees, victims of the landmines which have plagued Cambodia for the last decade. Others who were clamouring for our attention were the romauk drivers.
Romauks are motorcycle taxis, commonly known as tuktuk, although they resemble motorcycle trailers. They only exist in Siem Reap and are a good invention, as two people can sit side by side, and there is even shelter in case of rain.
My travelling companion, Sandy, is good at bargaining and was soon in lengthy negotiations with Sam, the tuktuk man.
Sam had been following us for a while, trying to get our business. We pretended to be disinterested and wandered back to the hotel, but he followed us. There is an abundance of romauk drivers in Siem Reap, but few tourists. Finally, we agreed on a fee of 10,000 riel (RM10) for Sam to take us to the lake to watch the sunset.
On the way, we stopped at Krouser Thmey, which is a non-governmental organisation that looks after orphans. It has an exhibition centre and the main display is about Tonle Sap lake.
Here, I learnt that one quarter of Cambodia’s population – some three million people – live on the lake. Many are poor and live in simple boathouses. It is also the richest freshwater fishing ground in the world.
As we left Siem Reap, we drove along one street lined with houses. There was so much to see, and a lot of activity too. It was my first visit to Cambodia, so I found everything fascinating. The houses decreased in size and number as we went along, eventually becoming small huts. Ahead of us was Phnom Krom. (Phnom means hill in Cambodian.)
It was Saturday and lots of locals were out for dinner or having picnics by the roadside.
Phnom Krom is 12km south of town. We parked near a bustling market. The tantalising smell of grilled chicken whetted my appetite.
An artistic display of snakehead fish.
We walked through the village, which consisted of a row of small huts on the edge of the lake. From here, the express boats go to Phnom Penh and Battambang, the two largest cities in Cambodia. Dozens of express boats were moored here.
Although the villagers are poor, they seemed happy and content, and were quite friendly. The kids said “Hello” and enjoyed being photographed. The houses were basic and small, with no electricity or running water. Clean water comes from communal handpumps.
My camera clicked furiously as I discovered a lady grilling a rat over some charcoal. I did a double take as I didn’t realise what it was. She obligingly held it up for me to photograph.
There are a few shops here, but they are spartan. We walked down to the water village. Boats were weaving in and out of the maze of stilts supporting the houses. People were selling and buying things, doing household chores or just relaxing and chatting, but many stopped to wave at us.
We visited the Gecko Environment Centre which has displays on the flora and fauna of the area as well as information on communities living around the lake.
The first item to catch my eye was a tank containing snakes. To my amazement, the caretaker stuck his hand in the tank and pulled out a fat snake and dumped it on the counter in front of me. Fortunately, the snake just sat there and made no attempt to escape.
There are six species of water snakes living in Tonle Sap. About 8,500 snakes are caught a day during the wet season. They are eaten with palm wine. The skin is also used. Apart from fish, turtles live in the lake but are being heavily hunted. The Siamese crocodiles are also decreasing in number.
About 700 families live on Chong Khneas, the name of this floating village. The people are a mix of Buddhists from Cambodia, and Catholics and Muslims from Vietnam. They live in floating houses and wooden boats, and the village “moves” with the season. Tourists need to rent a boat to see it properly.
The villagers make their own fishing nets and use lights to attract the fish. Cages are used to rear fish such as the snakehead.
Clean water comes from communal handpumps.
There are two species of fish here, the Channa micropeltes a.k.a. Giant Snakehead (toman), and the Channa striata or Common Snakehead (haruan).
These two species collectively comprise the second most important fish group bred under culture in the Mekong area. The snakehead is not a pretty fish and has some canine-like teeth, but it tastes good. We ate it several times, mostly as curry.
The Tonle Sap lake flows into the Tonle Sap river, which enters the mighty Mekong River at Phnom Penh. The 4,200km long Mekong is the longest river in South-East Asia and is the third most diverse river in the world after the Amazon and the Congo.
There are some spectacular large water bird populations, and over 1,500 fish species here. The Giant Mekong Catfish can weigh up to 300kg and is an endangered species.
Tonle Sap Lake itself is an incredible natural phenomenon. During the wet season, the waters of the lake increases from 2,500 sq km to 13,000 sq km. The maximum depth here is 10m.
This process makes Tonle Sap one of the world’s richest sources of freshwater fish and a fertile spawning ground. The fishing industry supports about one million people in Cambodia and a dry season catch on the lake can average 100-200kg a day.
