Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. Over the course of a year its size varies from 1000 square miles to 6000 square miles.  It is fed by the Tonle Sap River for half the year which then reverses to drain it for the other half.  Villages are either built to float on the water or upon very tall stilts to accommodate the huge variation in water depth.

This morning Jeanine and I visited the lake and a small village adjacent to it.  We had lunch on a floating restaurant which featured a collection of live alligators,  presumably there to be harvested for the alligator based dishes on the menu. We arrived by long tail boat which are well suited to navigating the narrow and shallow rivers and lake provided the propellor does not get fouled.

Depending on the season, inhabitants of the lakeside village either dock their boats at their front door or need to travel several miles to reach the edge of the lake.  I enjoyed photographing the people of this community whether they be resting, playing, or at work.

Shrimp are spread out on tarps and dried in the 100 degree air.

With the rainy season still months away, boats can be found everywhere, temporarily abandoned along the once full rivers that feed the lake.

On the return trip to our hotel we drove past the scene of an accident. It is a wonder that we did not encounter more of these given the extremely free-for-all approach to driving that is common to this part of the world.  After collecting our luggage we made our way to the airport for our flight to Vietnam.