Kampong Phluk

Kampong Phluk is a cluster of three villages of stilled houses built within the floodplain of the Tonle Sap about 25km southeast of Siem Reap. It is a floating village on the Tonle Sap lake. The name means “harbor of the tusks”.

Flooded mangrove forest surrounds the area and is home to a variety of wildlife including crab-eating macaques. During the dry season when the lake is low, the buildings in the villages seem to soar atop their 6-meter stilts exposed by the lake of water. At this time of year many of the villagers move out onto the lake and build temporary stilted houses. In the wet season when water level rises again, the villagers move back to their permanent houses on the floodplain, the stilts now hidden under the water. Kampong Phluk`s economy is as one might expect, based in fishing, primary in shrimp harvesting. Tourists also can take a canoe through flooded forest.