Cambodia

Spent a few days now Paddling in and around Tonle sap lake (largest lake in southeast Asia), in a village named Kampong Phluk, about 2 hrs outside of Siem Reap, it costs about $10 to get from town to the village by tuk tuk. It is a beautiful place, every home in the village is built on top of 10 meter high piers, for when the wet season floods the village and the surrounding mangroves. We paddled down the channel and into the lake where there are many fishermen and floating tourist restaurants, a bit over priced for Cambodia but its a bit touristy. A pretty nice place to paddle out to and have some fresh fish and cold beers, while lounging in hammocks and enjoying nice lake views. It also happened to be Cambodian new years (April 15,16,17) so the entire village was in full party mode. There was food, games and dancing in the streets it was pretty sweet.

There is another floating village to paddle to, Chong Khnies, about 14 km out of town, $4 tuk tuk ride. You put in at the Siem Reap pier and its about a 30-40 min. paddle out to the village. This place is interesting in that you can find some fish farms, crock farms, and floating schools and homes. It is an expensive place to hang out though, you can expect to pay American prices for a bottle of beer, and or food. There is also a ton of tour boat traffic and tourists everywhere. All in all I would say there is huge potential for the exploration of this lake if you feel so inclined, and have the time and motivation. Aloha.

This is Tonle Sap Lake:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=12.9232568&lon=104.3716622&z=9&l=0&m=b