Clay Pot Port on the Tonle Sap River about 2 hours from Phnom Penh.
We have come here with Sameth, our favourite Cambodian driver. Sameth and our family go back a few years when we hired him for a four day jaunt to Kraite and Kampong Cham and we use him every trip now. He is an amazing and careful driver and take's such good care of his guests.
Lots of traffic getting out of Phnom Penh but once out the road is good and not much traffic. No flooding either although we can see where water has been across the road.
Arrive in Kampong Chhnang and book into the Souvann Phum Hotel, a rather swish looking place for this town. $15 a night with Aircon and a really clean and smart looking room. Sameth books into the Mittapheap. After a rest and lunch and Pita Bread and l have a walk about town, we take off in the car for the pottery village – Ondong Rossey – not as big as I had thought really just a few house’s with pottery wheels in them and one place that buys the majority of the pots and sells them on , “the pottery development centre”. Also some bigger places that make cooking pots, we stop off at a few and walk through. Never fails to amaze me that you can pull up at someones house get out and wander about and have a look at the working, maybe give them $1 and continue on to the next place. They are always so friendly and happy to have you have a look about. Such gorgeous people.
Back to town and we head to the port for a look. $15 to hire a boat and we are the only people in it (with Sameth, who paid the lcoal police man some money to look after his car!) and have about an hour or so out on the Lake looking at the Floating Village’s. There are two villages and the house’s are actually floating on bamboo poles, the homes look strong and stable and just like a house you would see on the land. There are shops and garages, petrol stops and mechanics, fish farms etc.. and plenty of happy waving people, in fact almost everyone that we see waves and says “Hello”.
This is exactly what we wanted to see and a great start to us circling the Tonle Sap River.
