Taipei Times
4 March 2014
Cambodia’s floating villages have adapted to the ebb and flow of Southeast Asia’s largest lake for generations, but modernization and a scarcity of fish are now threatening their traditional way of life.
Houses, schools, hairdressers and even dentists — entire communities bob around on the Tonle Sap, whose waters rise and fall dramatically with the seasons.
The huge lake, nourished by the mighty Mekong river, is home to hundreds of thousands of people eking out a simple — but for many rewarding — existence.
“Life in the floating village is much better,” said fisherman Sok Bunlim, who was born and raised in the lake community of Chhnork Trou, where fleets of canoes and small motorboats ferry people around.