Mobile Housing
Mechrey is one of four villages within traveling distance from Siem Reap on shores of the Tonle Sap , the biggest natural lake in South East Asia. The others are Kampong Phluk, fast becoming popular with its Mangrove Forest, the beautiful and biggest village of Kampong Kleang with it’s abundance of local culture. The fourth is Chog Kneas which has sadly gained a reputation for its tourists scams.
Home from School
The village lies around 15k west as the crow flies from Chong Khneas. To access to the village, head along R6 and take the left turning along a dirt road to Puok. A further 15km takes you to the boat station at the end of a man made canal.
The best time to visit is late afternoon when the children return home from school. This village is beautiful for photography as sunset. With low housing, the evening sun lights up the village and its friendly occupants with vivid popping colours. You can witness floating pig farms, schools, gardens etc. Local traders visit here via boat from around the lake. As with the other villages, there is a tourist restaurant. To get up close, it is possible to get a local villager to row you around on a small boat for a few dollars, just be aware of the stability if carrying an expensive camera.
Being a truly floating, the village can and does move with the water level, following fish stocks. We recommend visiting at high water around November / December, when the village moves inland around a local pagoda. At this time the village is compacted around small inland inlets. During low water the village moves out to bigger waterways. It is still accessible, but not as photogenic.
Mobile shop
The dirt road to Mechrey
As Mechrey is a small village. To make the most of an afternoon, we combine our photography workshops with a trip through the country side to the oldest pagoda in Siemreap, observing daily life of the local monks. The dirt road
to the Mechrey also offers great photographic opportunity, depending on season, with the villagers going about their daily lives. Again this area comes to life late afternoon.
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Find out more about our photography workshops here.
2 comments. Leave new
Mechrey floating village is truly a beautiful place for photography! Thank you Darren to take me there! See you next time!
Cheers Steffan. Always a pleasure sharing this oasis with like minded people. Catch you next time.