Floating Village of Chong Khneas at the Tonlé Sap Lake, Siem Reap Province, Kingdom of Cambodia. 2007.

Khmers that are too poor to afford land are forced our to live a life on the lake. Many homes float, though more are simply built on stilts. During the wet season, when the rains are heavy and the Meekong River flows into the Tonlé Sap Lake, many of these stilt homes will not be above the waterline. But even out on the lake, the Khmers are fighting for their rights to have homes – other countries are buying up space on the lake and further exiling the Khmers attempting to eek out an existence.

In the time I spent there, I was both angered by the injustice done the people of Cambodia and rendered speechless by the genuine smiles and laughter of those same people. Small boats passed us which were both home and general store. Young mothers with small children offered us bunches of fresh bananas for sale and offered us live snakes to have our photo taken with.

My book, Life on the Lake , focuses on this village & is available through Blurb books.