19/09/2024
Phnom Penh to Siem Reap along the Tonle Sap river by boat
Tara River Boats and Eco Tours
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we explore and discover all the floating villages and flooded forests in and around Cambodia.
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Tonle Sap Lake
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The grand old Tara Riverboat
It all started in 2004,about 15 years ago now, i visited Cambodia for the first time to primarily see the awesome Temples of Angkor Wat,they are amazing and i learnt that the huge limestone blocks that make up the temples where cut out of the sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen and floated down from the mountain on huge rafts,so i visited the Tonle Sap lake and was blown away by how the local villages have adapted to the constant changing of the great lakes water levels,with floating villages and home on stilts some 10 mtrs high,the fishing villages are something i had never seen before,the locals where smiling and the children happy. As we approached the entry to the Tonle Sap Lake from the river about 300 mtrs away i spied a very old abandoned and half sank riverboat, my memories of when i was growing up come flooding back to me, i was born and raised near a huge swamp/lake on the central coast of Australia,and as a young boy i spent most weekends and after school hours building rafts and small boats,this was truly a place time had forgotten. on my return to the riverbank i got chatting to a small group of men and they where complaining of the lack of jobs available in Siem Reap and especially the floating villages,i than decided to try and re-float the old riverboat and restore her (tara boat) i also found out she was built in 1927 making her (77 years old). Primarily i wanted to restore her and create a floating training workshop,to teach the younger men and ladies about boat building,Carpentry,Metal working,welding, fibre glassing,ferro-cementing, engine rebuilds ect, But first we had to re-float her, this was not going to be an easy task, she is 120ft long and 24 ft wide,4 stories high and weights in at over 350 tonnes,and she was stuck in the mud on a 45 deg tilt. The older local villages just used to smile at me and shake there heads(thinking i was crazy) but some 15 local guys and girls( from the floating villages) where employed to re-float and restore her,and 16 weeks later the Tara riverboat was completely restored, i was also impressed by the younger peoples willingness to work hard and learn new skills,so much so, i than decided to create tours of all the floating villages using the Tara riverboat for a place to enjoy the meals and drinks, we than built a training floating workshop.My aim was to employ as many of the locals in the floating villages as possible and develop there skills whilst enjoying a safe and fun place to work in a sustainable environment.That was our beginning, some 15 years ago, today we employ 36 staff and have either restored or built 8 boats( all of them in service), we also have built all our fixtures and most fittings are hand crafted using in the most part recycled materials,we now have boats in all of the floating villages and also Phnom Penh and most of our staff have been with me for many many years, some from the very beginning, we are truly a great believer in multi-skilling and education of our staff and we provide training in new skills on an ongoing basis, All of our staff are able to do many tasks,from there normal day jobs as Captains or cooking staff or guides we have trained our staff to also weld,fibre glassing,painting,carpentry, metal working ect ect. Not only does this provide a well trained work force, but also a happy and well in demand work force.we are also constantly looking for more boats to restore thus creating more jobs and training.
Most of our staff come from the floating villages,they are a fine bunch of girls and guys, keen to learn new skills, over the years its been a real pleasure in working with them,we are a very close team,with safety our number one priority.
Recently we have converted all our boats to Solar power,replacing Generators, we are also able to start an organic Vegetable garden on our Queen Tara, our aim to be able to supply fresh Vegetables,home grown and chemical free for our buffets.
