半日水上村（メクレイ）＆トールサップツアー

Another great trip with Bunpheng and his driver, this time to the floating village. Everything was carefully planned by our host to ensure we could fit the trip into our tight schedule, but at no stage did things feel rushed. Bunpheng is an intelligent and charming man, and kept us entertained throughout our trip. We would certainly recommend this as an interesting insight into a unique local lifestyle.

I was the only participant in the trip to Mechrey. My guide was Bunpheng. He could explain very well and I learned a lot about the Tonle Sap system. His English was also really very easy to understand, so communication was problem-free. The boat ride through the "floating village" was impressive. The drive down towards the lake was scenic very nice. Can absolutely recommend this tour, but also my guide!

We were a group of 3 adults + 1 teenage + 3 children. We requested for afternoon tour, and it was nicely arranged with pickup from hotel at 2:00pm. The air-conditioned van was clean and was already stocked with cold bottled water for us. Our tour guide, Mr. Bunpheng Chan, spoke very fluent English. As soon as we got into the van, he started telling us about the background of Cambodia, village we were about to visit, and other interesting true stories. He was very knowledgeable. About half-way to the village, we stopped by a stall to have a look at the fried insects. I tried a cricket, and didn't feel uncomfortable at all. If you're not eating any, it's still fun to watch anyway. We reached the riverside after the 45min car ride. We then got into one of the motorised tourist boat (with roof). Life jackets were available. Then came the fun part. We went along the river, watching how fishermen did their magic, and then the village (floating homes, school, playground, shops). The people there were very friendly. Because our tourist boat was big, we didn't get onboard of the village. Watching and interacting was fun already. The boat ride was about 1 hour long. The fun part of afternoon ride was seeing the kids paddling their way home from school.. some on their own, and some were on "boat school bus". We got back to the riverside, and the tour guide kindly entertained our special request of dropping us off at the city center instead of hotel.

The floating village of Mechrey is a wonderful place to get a sense of a floating village without the tourists and including all the interesting features. The tour was only a half day trip, so we could spend time in the afternoon on other things. Lonn - the perfect guide, a happy and English speaking Cambodian - took us to a local market and insect-tasting as well. When booking, ask for Lonn Thou!