Kompong Pluk Village

At the end of yesterdays trip to the temples we were asked......as usual, by the tuk tuk driver could he take us anywhere tomorrow. I was about to say no when he mentioned amongst other places the Flooded Forest of Komponk Pluk.  I had read about this village in the lonely planet book so agreed a price of $10 for the tuk tuk and he said it would be $15-20 each for the boat ride to, and back from the village. Before settling down for bed I searched the Internet for reviews, as usual a mixed bag of good and bad with comments of the extortionate cost of the entrance to the village.
So today when picked up by the tuk tuk we quizzed him on what we would see and the costs, in his broken english he said every thing would be ok. Still a little hesitant off we set, after 40 minutes of driving we left the main roads for a dirt track. The normal  bamboo and wood shacks of the poorer class were dotted along each side of the road.



Live pigs on back of motorbike


We stopped to pay for the boat and it was only $20 each. Feeling happier the tuk tuk took us further down the dirt track which became rather bumpy and uneven. We reached the end of the track, a busy dock with small to large motorised boats waiting to take passengers the final couple of kilometres along the Roluos river to the village itself which sits on the edge of the Tonle Sap lake.         ( We were lucky to arrive before the tour buses started to arrive, by the time we left the place was heaving with tourists and boats going up to the village. )

As we rounded the final bend the village came into sight, we had never seen anything like it before The houses of Kompong Pluk are built on top of wooden poles and stilts between six and eight metres high and tower over the boats moored along the river. This is because the  the lake and the rivers rise and fall up to 6/7 metres between wet and dry seasons. In the dry season they leave their stilted houses and build temporary houses down on the river bed, only to tear them down again as the water rises.

  


At the end of the village we reached a docking area, and were asked if we wanted a boat ride round the flooded forest for $ 6. Another extra, but we agreed when he said $6 for the two of us. We climbed in to a dug out boat and were paddled by a young woman from the village around the flooded forest.. It was cool and peacefully quiet with only the splash of the oar or song of the birds.

Time for a drink before cruising back to pick up our tuk tuk.

On the way we picked up an old woman who went back to where the boats started from to collect drink cans and plastic bottles which she could exchange for money or food.

We arrived back at the hotel 1.30 pm, one of our best days.