Kampong Phluk is a community of three villages on the southeastern shore of Tonlé Sap, about 16 kilometres south of Siem Reap. Unlike most "floating villages" shown to tourists, Kampong Phluk is a stilt village: its houses sit on columns six to ten metres high, so that even in the dry season, when the lake recedes and the wooden boats are beached in mud, the community remains elevated above the floodplain. In the wet season (roughly June to November) the lake rises to meet the stilts and the surrounding forest floods to a depth of several metres, turning the landscape into a mangrove swamp you can navigate by boat.
The half-day trip from Siem Reap typically includes a boat ride through the flooded forest to the village, then time to walk the narrow board walkways between houses, visit the school and the small floating temple, and watch the daily routines of fishing families. Kampong Phluk is less commercialised than Chong Kneas (the closest floating village to Siem Reap, which has become heavily tourist-oriented), and the flooded-forest section — dark water, drowned trees, and the sound of egrets — is genuinely beautiful. Go with a reputable operator from Siem Reap; the road to the boat launch can be rough.