After treating him to several drinks one night in Siem Reap, my friend Bunnak drunkenly said he would take me to his village, Komphong Phhluk, the next day. I held him to it.
Komphong Phhluk is a fishing village on the Tonle Sap lake. The water levels fluctuate so drastically that the people have to build their houses 30 or 40 feet in the air. The visual effect is really cool.
We rode about an hour or so on Bunnak's bike on the most horrible road ever. In fact, this road recently won Grand Jury Prize at the Shitty Roads of the World Expo 2006. I just read that Cambodia's roads are in the running for the worst in the world. I believe it.
But when we got in the boat and chugged down river, the reception was breathtaking. The sun was just coming up and everyone was out fishing- men, women, kids, grandma- everybody. Everything is on stilts here, even the pig pens! They build pens out of bamboo in the water to keep fish that they caught, and wooden ones to keep crocodiles. They eat crocodiles i suppose. I hung out with Bunnak's folks and played with kids. They tried to see how many of them could hang off one of my arms until i fell over. I think i made it to four.
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