When I die and the undertaker cracks me open, I’m pretty sure sand will spill out. I’m a desert girl. My bones are made of cactus and my heart throws tumbleweeds with every beat.
So tooling around the floating villages of Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia was a glimpse into an unfathomable life.
Here the landscape ebbs and flows, dictated by an ever-changing tide.
Not only is this the largest lake in Southeast Asia, it’s also a UNESCO-recognized biosphere.
Small villages are perched on stilts around the lake. There are floating stations for diesel, markets for essential sundries, even places of worship.
All floating, all perpetually drifting.
Twice a year, their entire world shifts as the Tonle Sap changes direction. During the dry season, about November to May, the lake drains into the Mekong River. When the rains flow again, starting in June, Tonle Sap swells up once again.
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