Time to visit Yeak Loam Lake (Beung Yeak Loam) in Cambodia

   Yeak Loam lake (Beung Yeak Loam) located maybe 5Km in southeast Banlung city of Ratanakiri province. This wonderful lake has beautiful form because of volcano after the volcanic eruption in 4000 years ago. This lake has 800 m for it depth and show clean water maybe 50 m.

   On the side of Yeak Loam lake has 2 shores that build by woods for tourists seeing the view of the lake more closer and feel more relax. Road around the lake offer good feeling and take slow tour walking. On the west of lake has local handicraft product shops to selling many things like music instruments, baskets, scarfs, bags that made from fabric which weave by hands. Many rare wild boars and birds include eagles tourists can see it around the lake also rare big and strange butterfly with shine wing as the view.

   “Yeak Loam” is in Khmer language depend on history and stories that always told by citizens in that area and old generation people who like telling stories. So now let read about Yeak Loam story with me !

   Once upon a time, has a powerful giant who has a very beautiful daughter that no one can compare with. Her hair and whole body has very sweet smell than perfume so far so that why mr giant give name to her that “Neang sork Kror Ob” mean “sweet smell hair girl”. When she grow up has a boy love her. Their love grow so fast from day to day but they worried about giant know that so both of them decide to run away into the deep forest together. Not so long time, giant known that his only one daughter lose and run away with a boy, he feel so surprise and so worried. At first, he pity his daughter and then he call all of his armies go to find his beloved daughter. Whole empire of giant and forest are find by giant armies but they cannot found anything about her even they enter the thick and deep forest (that thick forest is Yak Lom lake nowadays) they still cannot found her. Giant king suspect that his sweet daughter is in the forest so he told his armies to take a look carefully around forest and take all tree away and dig the ground around that deeply in order to find his daughter. The armies try their best to did it finally they feel so tired and cannot continue so giant told them sadly to stop and go back.

   Because of armies dig the ground and take tree away that why that place become the big lake in Rattakiri province until nowadays and has name “Beung Yeak Loam” mean “Surround Giant Lake”. Beside this story it also has a story that talk about an army who love king daughter and take her away from her boyfriend and the royal palace and then that news came in to king and armies ear so they go find this couple. The sweet couple was hide in a mountain and the armies were surround that mountain so the couple has no way to escape they pray to the angle to make this mountain disappear into the ground. Their wish come true. So the mountain become the big and deep lake like nowadays that named Yeak Loam.

   Other story claim that the word “Yeak= giant” mean the owner or the leader and word “Loam= surround” mean the name of the leader in the story (example: giant or king name). So Cambodian citizens decide to named the lake “Beung Yeak Loam” mean “Surround Giant Lake” until now in order to respect the leader in that generation for getting happiness in the area forever.