Day One at Siem Reap: Arrival and Tonle Sap

After landing at Siem Reap International Airport, we headed towards town on a tuktuk driven by Kim Tann.



His number is 7228 as you can see. We stuck with him for about four days in Siem Reap, more details will be provided subsequently.

Along the way, we passed by a funky lady who looked like a foreigner. Although foreigners are not supposed to rent motorbikes in Siem Reap.



Before heading out to Tonle Sap Lake, we dropped off our baggage at Mandalay Inn, a cramped yet homely budget guesthouse.



Then, we hit the road again!

Here's what a gas station in Siem Reap looks like:



You'll see many of them along the roadside - basically 1 litre used soft-drink bottles filled with gasoline. Some stations have tubes hooked up to gas barrels.



Some shots along the way:



The unphotogenic old man.



A lil naked kid by the road.



Check out the tuktuk driver's shadow!



People building houses.



And finally, the stretch of boats lining the dock at Tonle Sap Lake.



Here's the guy steering our boat.



The trip on Tonle Sap at Kampong Khleuk was quite boring really. The weather was scorching, not many people were out, the light was harsh, and honestly, not very conducive to photography. So if you're a photographer, I'd suggest heading out as early as 7am, or around 5pm.

It was so hot that some of the squatters living there were bathing or swimming in the water.



And then you see all kinds of boats:

Big ones and small ones.



Small motor-driven ones.



Stationary boats.



Heavily laden and close-to-sinking ones.



Here's a woman chopping up stuff to break up the monotony of boats.



A woman rowing her boat in the heat.



Little speedboats.





The floating village even has its own churches:





People preparing food on their boats.





A young mom rocking her kid to sleep.



Bare buttocks! Lots of young children run around buck naked in Siem Reap. I hope it does not encourage child sex in the rural areas :/



Despite being a poor area, houses look very colourful and cheerful.





A young boy sitting on his boat.



After awhile, you reach the end of the kampong, where there are several floating shops where tourists are unloaded.





There are fishes kept in a pen, as well as alligators.









The end of Tonle Sap is a large expanse of empty lake. With several boats floating around.





These boats will crowd to yours, and little children and old women will try to sell you bananas for USD1 (almost every thing there is sold in USD).

Here's one of our drivers steering our boat away.



Views on the way back:

































More photos up tomorrow!