Kompong Khleang Floating and Stilted Village

This guide to Kompong Khleang, a floating and stilted village outside Siem Reap, explains why its houses stand on wooden posts driven eight to ten meters into lake mud, nearly the height of a three-story building. You'll hear how the Tonle Sap reverses its own current each monsoon, swelling the lake by as much as nine meters and turning dusty ladders into boat moorings. It grew as a fish storage and trading post, quieter and older than villages closer to town.