After spending the evening in Saigon we flew to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We didn't have any particular plans for the day we arrived, so when our cab driver suggested going out to a floating fishing village on the lake we decided to check it out.
It was a gorgeous day and the weather was perfect for a boat tour. We were far from the only people with the idea to see the village and there were around a hundred large tour boats just waiting for passengers.
The ride out was really nice, but it soon became apparent that there were a lot of boats following the same route. Boat after boat of tourists was passing through what was essentially a street of water with boats turned into houses lining either side and it left me wishing I hadn't gone. The boat ride itself was worthwhile. The scenery along the lake was beautiful. The subject matter of the tour was troubling. In the end it felt a bit/a lot like slum tourism. If I thought the people living there were actually getting the money from the tickets sold to tourists I'd feel differently about it, but as it stands the whole thing left me feeling off.
One thing we encountered time and again around Siem Reap were small children swarming around and wanting to sell you things; or in the case of the girl below, pose for a picture with you and her snake for a dollar. I felt conflicted about this as well. On one hand, the kids are working for their parents because kids can earn a lot more money out of sympathy than can adults. Part of me doesn't want to financially support child labor. On the other hand, it's not like these kids would be in school anyway and I'm sure their families need the money for survival. It's something I've been going back and forth on for a couple weeks now and still haven't come to any sort of conclusion about it.
One thing I will say for the boat ride though, the sunset over the water from the boat was spectacular.
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