Adventures in Cambodia: Tonle Sap Floating Village and Angkor Balloon

Our last day in Cambodia was probably my least favorite day . . . Still really cool and we saw some amazing things, but I wouldn't have been heartbroken had we not done these two things.  

First up, we went out to Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating fishing village.  The reviews for going to see Tonle Sap Lake were pretty mixed, with a lot of negative reviews, and overall I think I'd probably agree with them.  Going out on the boat felt very touristy, and the people running the operation were the only rude people that we'd come across the entire time we'd been in Cambodia.  Then, out on the lake, there wasn't much to see, and the locals didn't seem to love the intrusion of the tourists, which is understandable.  We were taken to a large floating dock that had some alligators in a cage in the water (they called it an alligator farm), some fish, and a large boa that Peter held for a few pictures (and a few dollars).  And . . . that was pretty much it!  We enjoyed the boat ride, but it was not an activity that I'd recommend friends to do when visiting Cambodia.

After the lake and eating lunch, we went to go up for a ride in the Angkor Balloon.  The Angkor Balloon is like hot air balloon, but it is tethered to the ground, so you just go straight up and then back down.  We'd driven by the property a several times throughout our trip, and since we had time our last day, we decided to give it a go.  We knew that it would be short (and quite expensive), but we wanted to see the amazing views of Angkor Wat.  It was indeed beautiful, but again, I wouldn't have been too upset had we skipped the balloon ride . . . That being said, I think Peter really enjoyed it--or at least being able to get some great photos of Angkor Wat and the Cambodian countryside, and our kids loved it as well.