More memorable than
Chong Kneas, but harder to reach, is the village of Kompong Pluk, an
other-worldly place built on soaring stilts. Nearby is a flooded forest,
inundated every year when the lake rises to take the Mekong’s overflow. As the
lake drops, the petrified trees are revealed. Exploring this area by wooden
dugout in the wet season is very atmospheric. The village itself is a friendly
place, where most of the houses are built on stilts of about six metres high,
almost bamboo skyscrapers. It looks like it’s straight out of a film set.
Rather like Chong Kneas, prices have been fixed at US$20 per person for a boat,
plus there is a US$1 entry fee, but again it may be possible to negotiate this
as a per boat cost split between a group.
There are two ways to
get to Kompong Pluk. One is to come via the floating village of Chong Kneas,
where a boat (1¼ hours) can be arranged from US$55 return, and the other is to
come via the small town of Roluos by a combination of road (about US$7 by moto
or US$20 by taxi) and boat (US$8). All said, the road-and-boat route will take
up to two hours, but it depends on the season – sometimes it’s more by road,
sometimes more by boat. The new road brings the dry season access time to less
than one hour. Tara Boat also offers day trips here for US$60 per person.