Tonle
Sap Lake
The
famous Tonle Sap Lake that connected to the Mekong by a short river also called
Tonle Sap—alternately feeds, and feeds from, the Mekong River. It is a natural
lake with fresh water and more than 200 species of water fishes and birds.
During
raining season from June to October, the lake is fills with water flowing from
the northward-flowing Mekong River, the lake expands surface area to around 12000
square km and water can be 12m deep, and becomes 14 meters deep in some places.
In dry season from November to May, water can be only 250 square km with water depth 1,5m as water flows out from the lake when the Mekong changes course and flows south.
In the Angkor era, Tonle Sap was to the Khmers what the Nile was to the Egyptians: a source of abundance that freed labor to produce grand monuments and create a high level of culture.
In the dry season, the Khmers captured the lake’s retreating waters and used them to irrigate crops, and thus were able to grow two or three crops a year. In the wet season, they used the waterway’s advancing waters to carry quarried stones to build Angkor’s great temples.
Three main floating villages on the lake are Chong Kneas, Kompong Phluk and Kompong Khleang. People who live there can move their houses and they make their living by fishing only
Ants Of Angkor
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