You waa to hol snake?? Here take it take it!

I got into a boat which was disturbingly low in the murky water and went to the floating villages about 20 mins from Siem Reap on the Tonle Sap lake yesterday morning, what a complete eye opener to another way of life! A whole community lives on the Tonle Sap lake, mostly fishermen and crocodile farmers, and then the floating drinks vendors who speed up to your boat and and throw kids on board (while both boats are still moving) to sell cold drinks.

The school

Part of the village from up high

Refreshments

A view from the boat

We stopped at a floating restaurant come crocodile farm, where the crocs are fed until they are the right size and then sold for meat, and the skins sold to make handbags etc. Right next to the croc pit there is a pool of catfish, which are used to feed the crocodiles.

The crocodile farm, we were assured there is no wild crocodiles in the Tonle Sap Lake

The Catfish, who go into a frenzy every time they are fed

Our boat tour guide was just explaining that there are water snakes and pythons in the lake, and then proceeded to pull a python from a nearby basket and drape it around my neck with only a moments notice! Quite a weird feeling, I imagined a snake would feel limp but was actually very tense and bony, and really quite a beautiful animal.

Me with python

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city, refusing tuk tuk rides that I had no need for. After a while I seemed to have picked up the technique for refusing street vendors and tuk tuks, and there are an awful lot of them! You can't walk for more than two metres without someone trying to sell you something. I feel like a Jedi night now, as I simply smile, wave my hand in a downward motion and shake my head. Next time I actually require a tuk tuk or moto, I am going to wave my hand and tel him that republican credits will do fine.
I had a delicious pizza for dinner and then headed to the night markets, there are hundreds of stalls selling all manner of t-shirts, silk table throws, watches, 'real' gems and diamonds and pretty much everything else you could think of. There is lots of nice cheap stuff, but there is only so much room in a travel pack! I also had a fish massage, you sit with your feet in a fish tank and the hundreds of goldfish size fish nibble at your feet and legs, apparently they feed on dead skin and dried sweat! At first its ticklish but soon becomes quite therapeutic. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me, but I will be sure to take one tonight.