Visiting a Cambodian Water Village

This is the second of two posts about Cambodia from my sister Rebecca (click here to read about her visit to Angkor National Park). Rebecca dreamed of being a photographer for National Geographic as a kid, and while she works as a teacher in China and chases after her energetic multilingual son instead, her photos for this post touring a Cambodian water village are wonderful!

Visiting a Cambodian Water Village

To get around in Cambodia, we hired a tuk-tuk. It’s like a motorcycle with a little four-seater cabin attached.

You might see elephants or monkeys.

And lots of beautiful countryside.

The temples are incredible, but what Alec and I both loved most was the kampong–the Water Village!

We rode far, far from the city in the tuk-tuk, wearing face masks so we didn’t have to breathe all the dust from the dirt roads. Then we got on a boat, driven by a very young driver who proved to be an excellent tour guide!

We floated down a river until we reached the place where the river widens into the lake, and that’s where the water village is.

First we saw the police station, pictured above;

Then we floated by the high school, this long blue and green building. I wonder if there is a school boat instead of a school bus!

Before long we were passing many homes just like this one, until we arrived right in the middle of the town.

Can you spot the kitchen?

I think this may be the local beauty salon!

There were kids boating and swimming everywhere. They all had big smiles and waved to us as we went by.

We hired a smaller boat to take us into the forest.

We floated under a long walkway built high in the trees, connecting different parts of the village.

It’s important to recharge after all these adventures! Fresh juices and smoothies available in just about every restaurant were perfect after a hot day of exploring the jungle.

Cambodia has so much more to offer–there are gorgeous beaches, historic cities, and epic rivers we didn’t get to this time around. The days we spent were some of the best of our Asian travels so far, and the people we met brought to life the tragic history and beautiful culture I was first introduced to in Children of the River. As Alec said: “In Cambodia, I can be so happy. We can go to Cambodia again!” I hope we do!

Rebecca Gataullin is a Third Culture Kid with too much world left to uncover. She lives in China, teaches bilingual 6th grade, is challenged by perfectionism and Chinese-character illiteracy, loves her Tatar husband and their raucous three-year-old Tatar-American TCK-Junior Alec, and writes in her dreams.

Would you like to contribute to this series? My readers enjoy hearing about small-town USA as well as more unique destinations like water villages in Cambodia! All I ask is that you use a child-friendly voice and your own photos! Email me at mamasmilesblog at gmail dot com if you are interested!