The Adventures of Greg, Vivi, Grace & Annika: The Vietnamese Boat People of Cambodia

Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Vietnamese Boat People of Cambodia

Our guide Pahn suggested we visit Tonle Sap, Cambodia's "Great Lake", and we're so glad that we did. Cambodia honors three seasons; Winter, Summer, and Rainy. The Great Lake swells during the rainy monsoon season, and those who live along the lake (generally the Khmer, native Cambodians) and on the lake (generally Vietnamese) adjust my moving their homes in concert with the lake's edge.

We visited these "villages" during the dry season, and as such a road that had been underwater only a week prior was being used to move Khmer homes in toward the receding shore. The Vietnamese have it easier, it seems, as they simply connect their house boats and mozy into deeper water.

This slideshow tells a tale of two peoples that we can only begin to fathom. Slides two through ten show the Khmer people who live on the banks of the river; the remaining slides show the floating village of the Vietnamese...the Khmer and Vietnamese villages are adjoining but have very distinct characteristics.

Boating through the village feels like this.

Watch a house boat family moving to deeper water.

This is the village set at the high water mark of the Great Lake.

Click here for another traveler's description of the area...

Thanks for viewing!

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Grace Quotes

10/9/10 "Daddy, how do you spell "Wackadoodle Wackasmoodle"? "Sure, why?" "That's the name of my new book!"

4/23/10 "First we go to Circle and then second we dance. Then we go to Circle, do our journal, reading, - I'm not including my workbook yet - then we do our workbook, and then we have Snack, then one of my teachers Ms. Abria comes." "What do you do with her?" "Nothing. And then we go to Circle, and then we go outside and play. And then we eat lunch. And then we go inside, sing a song - that's the one we're doing for Mother's Day - so don't tell Mom - oh yeah and then we go outside and play until our parents pick us up. I don't have music today, do I? Oh, Friday, I just have library - because there is a library at my school. "

4/18/10 Demi: "Oh Grace, you look beautifuller than a fairy!"

9/12/09 "Daddy, what is under the road?" "Dirt." "What is under the dirt?" "More dirt" "What is under more dirt?" "Rock." "What is under rock, hot lava?" "Yep!" "Yikes!"

9/12/09 "Daddy, do policemen pull over policemen?" "No." "Then who delivers the mailman's mail?"

9/8/09 Grace's first day of kindergarten was a smashing success..."we didn't have to do ANYTHING HARD!"

8/11 "Mommy, how about you and Daddy eat what you want to eat, and I'll eat a happy meal."

7/25 Olivia: "When Grace is 8 and I can drive we're going to have a cousin and me weekend. We gonna go and do all kinds of girl things together."

6/25/09 - Zach: "Pirates never sleep...they fight all night!"

6/2/09 "Daddy, when Demi and I are grownups, Damon will still be a teenager!"

5/23/09 Tracy, while she's putting Allegra age 2.5, to bed while beach camping: "It's OK Alegra, that's just the sound of motorcycles." Allegra: "They're called Harleys, Mom."

2/15/09 "If I don't cry can I have a Happy Meal?"

2/12/09 "They all know how James Bond likes his drink!"

2/4/09 "Daddy I don't like hawks." "Why, Grace?" "Hawks eat fairies!"

10/6/08 "Daddy can we call Amelia to see if she can play and if she can't play can we call Haley to see if she can play and if she can't play can we call Demi to see if she can play and if she can't play can we play cars?" "Sure." "Yay!"