Photo of the week: A desperate paddle

This week's photo is a prelude to my next blog post which will cover our four-day adventure in Siem Reap. The photo is of a child whose family lives on the lake Tonle Sap.

There is an entire community that thrives on the ever changing waters of the Tonle Sap - a lake that, at its peak during monsoon season, covers an area of roughly 22 times the size of Singapore.

The people who live on the floating structures are largely stateless Vietnamese. Their homes, community churches, and even gardens and basketball courts are all strapped to platforms made of bamboos that float each day with the passing current. Transportation, needless to say, is by long and narrow row boats or larger makeshift boats powered by what I can only imagine to be lawnmower engines.

As we were perched on top of a "building" that had an observation deck overlooking the entire "town", I noticed this boy trying to make his way to us using his tin basin which he steers skillfully across a 100m distance. He looked to be about 6 years old and very tiny when compared to the structure jutting out on the left - tree trunks used to anchor the surrounding floating buildings.

When he finally reached his destination, he stayed in his basin and began to beg, knowing full well that we (and other tourists) had been watching.

I felt that it was a touching reminder that poverty is a serious problem in Cambodia, and that tourism may just be their only way out.