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| Far removed from the glitter and grandeur of the Angkorian edifices, life is harsh for most Cambodians, reeling from a cruel history of persecution at the hands of the communist Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot just decades ago, during which almost 30 percent of the population perished through forced labor camps and brutal genocide. Communities such as these are still extant -- where people live 10 meters above water on stilt houses at the edge of the Tonle Sap lake, subsisting primarily through shrimp fishing, crocodile farming and growing a modest crop of vegetables. |
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| Our journey begins at the edge of the lake, where some incredibly arduous maneuvering gets our boat out of the jetty past the other vehicles and along the narrow tree-fringed waterways. | Along the way, we pick up an unintended hitchhiker or two |
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| Our first view of the village -- little cherubs waving at us. It occurs to me that these children probably need to learn to swim before they can walk, perpetually suspended precariously above water | Ivies and potted plants front the makeshift stilt houses, as do movie posters and modest ornamentations. On the waterways, bamboo enclosures frequently contain baby crocodiles writhing in the sun |
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| The busy waterways of downtown Kompong Phluk village |
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