Tonle Sap Stilted Villages, Phare Circus and Khmer Food

Understanding ancient Angkor is much easier once you see the body of water that fed the entire Khmer Empire: Tonle Sap Lake, fifteen kilometres south of Siem Reap. Pairing an afternoon boat trip to a stilted lake community with contemporary Cambodian circus arts and a dinner of herb-fragrant Khmer dishes rounds out a trip far beyond sandstone ruins.

Tonle Sap Lake: choosing Kampong Phluk or Mechrey

Tonle Sap is Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve driven by a unique hydrological pulse: every monsoon season (June to October), the swollen Mekong River forces the Tonle Sap River to reverse its flow northward, expanding the lake more than fourfold. Rather than visiting the commercialised tourist docks closest to town at Chong Khneas, head thirty kilometres south-east to Kampong Phluk (or west to eco-tourism boats at Mechrey / Prek Toal):

• Kampong Phluk in the high-water months (August to January): three communities of brightly painted wooden houses perch on eight-to-ten-metre timber stilts; during high water, boats glide level with the upper verandas, and you can transfer into a hand-paddled wooden skiff through the flooded mangrove forest before watching sunset on the open lake.
• Dry-season low water (February to May): the water drops away to reveal the towering forest of stilts overhead, and you can walk down the village street beneath the houses.

Phare, the Cambodian Circus and social-enterprise crafts

Every evening in town, a red big-top tent hosts Phare, the Cambodian Circus. Performers are graduates of Phare Ponleu Selpak, a non-profit arts school founded in Battambang in 1994. Shows use zero animals, combining high-energy acrobatics, aerial silk work, live traditional percussion and modern Khmer storytelling, with ticket proceeds funding free schooling. In the daytime, browse the riverfront Made in Cambodia Market, the silk and stone-carving workshops of Artisans Angkor, or ceramic studios along Wat Bo and Kandal Village.

What to eat in Siem Reap: fish amok, nom banh chok and lok lak

• Fish Amok (Amok Trey): freshwater Tonle Sap fish fillets coated in fragrant yellow kroeung paste (lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime) and coconut cream, steamed to a silky mousse inside a banana-leaf cup.
• Nom Banh Chok (Khmer breakfast noodles): fermented rice vermicelli ladled with green fish-and-lemongrass gravy and piled with raw banana blossom, water lily stems and mint.
• Beef Lok Lak and Kampot Pepper: wok-seared marinated beef cubes served with a dip of lime juice and freshly cracked Kampot black, red or green pepper at kitchens such as Haven, Marum, Cuisine Wat Damnak, Mahob and Pou Kitchen.