Lake Girl

This shot was taken at the edge of a floating village called Chong Kneas on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and why you cannot see the land on the other side.

This young girl has no problem being in a boat by herself as she would have spent her whole life on the water.

The concept of a floating village is quite strange to most of us. There were about 100 or so house boats similar to the two in the background all grouped together out in the middle of the lake. There was a primary school and a high school with a basketball court! Pigs and chickens also had their own houseboats. The village is fully mobile and moves to various areas around the lake depending on the season.

The level of the lake rises about 10 metres in the wet season which begins in April/May and much of the surrounding area is flooded. This fluctuation wouldn't affect these people much. There is plenty of readily accessible food in they way of fish and crabs to eat which, in a fairly poor country like Cambodia, is an important factor.