The remark ready Tonle Sap is a river that becomes a freshwater lake within the centre of Cambodia, the largest in Southeast Asia, after which flows down to affix the Mekong River just past Phnom Penh. Through the dry season, the river feeds the lake and continues to circulate downriver.  

When the monsoon breaks in June, the circulate reverses because the Mekong floods and forces monumental quantities of water uphill into the lake, swelling it to five times its dimension and thus acting as a gigantic natural reservoir.  

This distinctive natural phenomenon reduces the drive of the torrent speeding in direction of the sea, and is a major issue within the steady expansion of the Mekong Delta. 

Fish spawn within the newly flushed lake, covering a seventh of the country at its peak. As the waters recede, the lake teems with fish, some of which have advanced to flop throughout land to observe the disappearing water.  

The highly fertile mud left behind is great for rice. A novel strain of rice has been developed to suit the conditions - it grows in the rising water reaching a stem length of a number of metres. 

The lake, now a National Park, is a key element in Cambodia's economy. Approximately two-thirds of the protein consumed in Cambodia comes from fish from Tonle Sap. 

Some of the endangered species on the planet is the Mekong's big catfish. It’s the world's largest freshwater fish - a mature catfish reaches three metres in size and averages 300kgs in weight. Final year, a fisherman caught a large weighing nearly 650 pounds - the largest freshwater fish ever recorded. 

It appears to migrate out of the Tonle Sap Lake and into the mainstream Mekong River at the end of the wet season.  

The enormous catfish are considered sacred by the Thai individuals, and special ceremonies are carried out to hunt permission from the Water Spirits and different increased beings to capture these sacred ‘Pla Buek’ giants. 

The species is now below grave threat. Though over fishing is a problem, the main danger is the construction of dams and, particularly, the Pak Mun dam's impression on the catfish population within the Mekong river basin. 

A large crocodile farming industry thrives on and around Tonle Sap. The main species is the Siamese crocodile, critically endangered within the wild. The lake also provides a habitat for 13 different species of turtle. 

From a tourism point of view, the lake gives another, more leisurely, route from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and vice-versa - the ‘express’ boat takes around five hours.  

That is a choice for critical travelers: the boats are sometimes overcrowded and uncomfortable but the views compensate.  

In 1997, the whole Lake was designated as a protected area beneath UNESCO's ‘Man and Biosphere’ programme. There are three ‘core zones’, but probably the most fascinating is the Prek Toal Fowl Sanctuary, not removed from Battambang.  

The best time to visit is the dry season, when the water stage falls and the birds are concentrated in a comparatively small area. Other than large numbers of

Storks, pelicans and ibis, there are many rare species, such as the Painted Stork, the Darter and the Masked Fin foot. 

Should you travel with Gia Linh Travel, we are able to arrange a chartered boat trip for you to go to each the bird sanctuary and the floating villages on the lake.