Kompong Phluk

Heading east along the bank of Tonle Sap will take you to Kompong Phluk -- and a world away from the tourist trap of Chong Khneas.

Unlike its well-touristed sister, this is a stilted rather than floating village (you may see some floating rafthouses about the place). It's a very different place between the wet and dry season.

The houses are on six-metre-high stilts, so in the height of the wet the water is close to the top, but in the dry, the village is, well, dry, and so the houses tower six metres above you. During the dry most villagers move out into temporary shacks lakeside as that's where their livelihood is (it also saves them having to climb six metres worth of stairs daily).

Kompong Phluk also has substantial mangrove -- or "flooded" -- forest and a trip through by boat is part of the standard deal.

While Kompong Phluk gets tourists on most days, it sees but a fraction of the trade of Chong Khneas and the extra time and expense spent getting here is well worth it. Kompong Phluk can be reached by boat from Chong Khneas, though you're better off travelling by tuk tuk or moto and then boat (wet season only) via Roulos village. Expect to pay around $40-60 for a trip here out of Siem Reap.