Siem Reap to Battambang Boat Trip and Homestay 2 Days 1 Night

Description

Siem Reap to Battambang Boat Trip and Homestay 2 Days 1 Night is the most beautiful boat trip in Cambodia. The journey paints a very authentic picture of life on and along the lake and river. Experience the charm and easy smiles of the Cambodian people, a beautiful panoramic view of the countryside, especially the local culture, rural way of life in the magic lake, wildlife, the mangrove forest.

Traveling a slower, more traditional mode of transport offers views of floating villages and amazing local landscapes. It is a great way to combine sightseeing, travel, adventure, history, relaxation and a perfect waterway for those who want to maximize the day trip and enjoy a voyeuristic journey along the river.

We provide you with a great boat ride with sunshade roof, life jackets, comfortable seats, wooden dining table, toilet and hammocks. It is a wonderful river trip for a nature-loving family or group looking for adventure and a unique way to experience rural Cambodia. A trip with a traditional wooden boat for 2 days and 1 night in a local home which is a discovery part of Cambodia, a road less traveled, meeting the locals who live in rural villages and discovering their way of life is one most revealing experience.

Day 1: Siem Reap – Koh Chinouk Floating Village Homestay

You will be picked up from your hotel at your desired time (before 13:00) and travel 14 km from Siem Reap to one of the villages on Tonle Sap Lake. The boat departs from Chong Kneas dock, very close to the ancient hilltop temple of Phnom Krom. At the start of the trip, you will pass by the floating village of Chong Kneas where almost 1000 Cambodian and Vietnamese families all live in floating households and most earn their living through the fishing industry. Chong Kneas lives in houseboats that need to be moved with the changing levels. There are things to learn about this incredible natural flood barrier.

We cruise into the open waters of the Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake and after 1h30 of journey we make a stop at the largest floating village of Prek Toal to visit a Water Hyacinth Handicraft where the local resident makes artisanal products made from hyacinth. People collected Water Hyacinth plant (known as the long-life growing plant) free-floating, growing from the surface of the water. Using hyacinth stems that have been carefully dried in the sun, weavers create a variety of products by hand.

We will end the first day after 2 hours and half of travel, where you will spend the night at a homestay in one of the floating villages, Koh Chinouk. A homestay at a floating village is a great way for tourists to get an authentic glimpse of life on Tonle Sap Lake. The guest rooms are equipped with single or double mattress, mosquito net, cotton sheets, blankets, pillows and local style toilets and shower, shared with local family. Stay home with the locals for a real taste of Cambodian village life and try home-cooked meals. You'll feel like part of the family in no time.

Day 2: Koh Chinouk Floating Village Homestay - Battambang

Homestay and breakfast prepared by a host lady and breathing in the fresh air blown across the river is a must experience.

We start our second day after breakfast. The boat ride will take you across the Sangker River, navigating a narrow waterway, we enter the medieval floating villages, where houses stand on stilts up to a few meters above the water, monastery and old wooden pagoda which is over 100 years old, fish farm in bamboo cage, boathouses, fishing boats with many kind of fishing equipment and everything that lives on the water, animals like chicken, duck, dogs and vegetable farms. It offers the wonderful opportunity to observe life on and around the river during the trip. The authentic images of life on the river that you just don't see from traveling by the bus. We have lunch on the boat because the host family has prepared our lunch to take with us since we left the host family.

From time to time the landscape opened up, floating villages appeared out of nowhere, the activities of daily life, fishermen in long narrow boats casting their nets, children playing in the water, waving enthusiastically from their floating cottage home, businesses, schools, hardware stores, churches, government buildings float.

You will arrive at Battambang new boat dock after 5 hours of travel, the views of the small fishing village gave you a sense of Cambodian life by the river. These river homes offered open concept living with the front wall of the house opening directly onto the deck patios. It is hard not to peer into the houses of the villagers and witnessed the recurring cycle of daily life.

We have prepared the Tuk Tuk to pick you up and transfer you to the hotel in Battambang.