Goboogo

Today we met up with the no eaters club and hit the lake. It is ironic that I live on a lake I have never visited, but have come across the world, excited to see the Tonle Sap lake of Cambodia. To be honest, it is no Lake Lewisville. The lake people here are a slightly different breed, and are probably more likely to starve to death than accidentally mow over a water-skier while drunk on red bull and vodka. My analogy may be a tad macabre and definitely unnecessary, but the lake area is a very poor region. It is where those that cannot afford to live on land must live, barely eking out survival on the bounty of the lake. Schooling is an afterthought as most kids drape themselves in snakes or manage other creative ways to coax tourists into parting with cash. As serious earners, this time spent helps support their family at the opportunity cost of school. Our guide told us that we should not give them money, because doing so enables this to continue. It is a tough situation. Families need to earn money, but the only way to buck the trend is through education. Education is the key to developing countries.

We decided to spend our money on pencils and books for a floating school. The scene in the school was insane. Kids everywhere, yelling, writing, high fiving, and ro-sham-bo-ing. It was great to see some form of education floating in such an unlikely place. I really like today's pictures and hope that you do as well.

Zissou the pup and mom

Lemongrass Chicken

BBQ beef, tasted a bit funky

Kristin getting a massage in our bed

Siem Reap students

On the way to the lake we passed interesting homes

This is a full truck

Some sort of local political HQ

A house on stilts

We were blessed with a nice day. It did not rain once.

A kid gazing out at the fields

I love observing village life

We saw these scarecrows everywhere

The kids over here mainly use adult bikes, so it is common to see them struggling a bit due to size

The further you get out of Siem Reap, the more ramshackle things get and you remember that this country is quite poor

Our boat driver, Captain Ahab

Everything on the lake is built to rise and fall with the lake levels. In the wet season the lake gets very deep, and the currents are quite dangerous for lake dwellers. Many people drown.

A machine shop

love these shutters

Fishers

The waters are still fairly low, so this is definitely subsistence fishing

We passed man y commuters, and a kid on our boat was dropped off at a floating school

Hey bud

After a trip down the river, the lake opened up suddenly. It is huge. The largest lake in southeast asia.

So here is the drill, kids are ridiculously cute here. They come alongside your boat with snakes or whatever, and once you take a picture, they board your boat and demand a dollar.

The Neighborhood

Here a kid swims

Shouldn't you loons be in school

It feels quasi apocalyptic to visit an entire city on the water

It is the beginning of the wet season so the water level is still low

There are alot of these floating gardens

Fishing

A colorful home

They even watch the World Cup out here

This was one of the nicer homes that we saw

It rains so hard here that you can only see a few meters

Out on the lake

Fish farm

This was the strangest proportioned dog that I have ever seen in my life

The Mens restroom, very liberating. Something tells me the pee just ends up in the lake anyways, so it is a civilized touch.

At the lake convenience store

The only flag to feature a building - Cambodia

This kid is clutching a pack of smokes

seems dangerous

Cute kid

We bought some books for the kids to write in

The school

Packed with kids

They all wanted to high five or play rock, paper, scissors

Pretty crowded

Ryan playing games

These kids were pretty fun

Their teacher

The ubiquitous peace sign

Our boat

Howdy pardner

The whole crew

This was really funny. When we got off the boat, they tried to sell us these plates that had pictures of us on them. The best part about these pictures is they were completely candid and were all really bad. Ryan looked like a bad guy in Top Gun, and I am clearly frowning. Hilarious.