Floating Village

I have never seen anything like this in my life. It's a village, a whole village with a school, police station and restaurants, built on (in!) the river.

The ride to the village was great as well.
We have so much missed seeing green grass and blue sky with no skyscrapers/tankers to block out any of the view.
We started off from the hotel and through the city.

But soon the city ended and the countryside was all we saw far and wide and we couldn't be happier.

There are two floating villages relatively near by.
One literally floats and the homes move up and down on the river based on the rain that month.
The other is build on stilts just a little bit higher than the river is known to reach (however there's a few of the first kind here too).
Reading reviews we found that the first one tends to be a bit of a tourist trap and the boat guys may pressure you to buy rice/milk/give money to the village.
We decided on the second one.

We stopped at a restaurant on the water for a quick drink/meal.
Coconut was on the menu, and coconut is always a great choice.
A few moments later man pulled up on a boat and dropped a whole bushel of coconuts off for the restaurant.

Along the way we passed a boat that had broken down.
Our two drivers stopped to help them out.
The engines were turned off and the two boats "tied" together by a rope so they wouldn't float too far away from each other.
The boats were allowed to float where ever the current took them.
We bumped into a home once.
Nobody even blinked an eye.
And then a few kids jumped over onto our boat and pretend to drive it.
A few other children had a life vest they were playing with.
At one point a women selling lunch and drinks from her boat pulled up and one of the drivers bought 3 cigarettes off of her.
Not 3 packs, just 3 cigarettes.

On the way back to the hotel we ran into a herd of water buffalo.
I don't think I've even seen any, at least not so close I was able to pet them as we went by.
Some kids were riding them, others walking alongside the herd.
Everyone we saw smiled and waved at us.

It was a fantastic day on the river. Most people that go during the rainy season don't get to see the activity of the villages because people tend to stay in during storms.
We had a perfect sunny day and for a few hours got to be part of village life.

Do any of you think you can live in a house on the river?