The highlight of the day really was visiting a simple, traditional Cambodian house on stilts in Kâmpóng Khleang on the edge of Indo-China's biggest freshwater lake, Tonlé Sap...
The drive from Ruluos to Kâmpóng Khleang was quite scenic...
A traditional Buddhist temple...
I can see quite a few similarities with the Thai Buddhist style of temple architecture...
A community based eco-tourism project supported by the Asian Development Bank - Cambodia is a poor country and it needs the people to be in charge of their own livelihoods for them to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty...
Traditional stilt constructions...
While for us as tourists, life in these parts seems idyllic, it is tough for the locals, afterall it's a matter of perspectives and indeed, there are quite a few privileges that we take for granted...
During the rainy season, the water level in the Tonlé Sap rises to cover the stilts...
We would be spending time with the family that owns this house and would enjoy their hospitality over lunch today...
The floor of the house - they say when the lake floods, the water level could rise as much as 3 metres to come in to the house...
Simple yet comfortable dwelling, with hammocks!
The house number...
Peering out...
We are in Mr Buntha Long's house...
A welcome message...
The dwelling provided us with a respite from the blistering heat outside...
Peering at a map of the regions of Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand...
Family photos and a television - you can imagine the excitement here when everyone congregates to watch their favourite show...
This house belongs to Mt Long, a local school teacher - besides working in a school, he teaches kids of the neighbourhood...
The prayer altar...
A photo of the now deceased patriarch of the family...
And the matriarch grins no end as she prepares our simple meal...
All the Khmer cookware - pots, pans and baskets...
A fat fillet of fish sizzles in the pan...
And the crackling blaze on the hearth gently, slowly but surely cooks our lunch!
Lending a helping hand...
Herbs in the kitchen garden...
Resting after a decently large bowl of Khmer noodles...
Stepping out for a boat ride around the Tonlé Sap...
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