Tonle Sap

If there was only one thing you could learn about in Cambodia to educate yourself as much as possible, the Tonle Sap would probably be that one thing. It's not really a river or a lake, it's kind of both, and is unique in that its water direction flow changes twice each year and that its flood plain is so enormous relative to its dry season size.

Rather than write it all again myself, I'll quote from Wikipedia:

"For most of the year the lake is fairly small, around one meter deep and with an area of 2,700 square km. During the monsoon season, however, the Tonlé Sap river, which connects the lake with the Mekong river, reverses its flow. Water is pushed up from the Mekong into the lake, increasing its area to 16,000 square km and its depth to up to nine meters, flooding nearby fields and forests. The floodplain provides a great breeding ground for fish.

"The pulsing system with its large floodplain, rich biodiversity, and high annual sediment and nutrient fluxes from Mekong makes the Tonlé Sap one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world, supporting over three million people and providing over 75% of Cambodia's annual inland fish catch and 60% of Cambodians' protein intake. At the end of the rainy season, the flow reverses and the fish are carried downriver."

[Click to see full image]

Of course the dark blue is what it looks like in dry season, and light blue is what it looks like at the peak of wet season. It's August now so it's filling up at the moment, and will be at its largest size sometime in October. You can see Phnom Penh down in the south escaping the floodplain, which is because of the city's elevation. "Phnom" actually means "hill" and "Penh" means something like "satisfied/pleased," so Phnom Penh translates to something like "Pleasant Hill."

Anyway, the Tonle Sap is basically the keystone of Khmer culture and society. If it weren't for the Tonle Sap, this whole place would be basically lifeless and barren since there wouldn't be enough water, resources, or nutrition of any type to support any sizeable population. I mean, people could live here for sure, but it'd look a lot more like Western China, for example. The biggest holiday on the calendar, Water Festival, is a week-long celebration of the river's changing water direction, ensuring a healthy amount of fish and rice for the whole country. It used to be much more extravagant, but still (for example) traditional rowing teams from every province come to have a race in the river with crazily decorated boats. Angkor Wat, the famous temple complex, was built just north of Siem Reap, which is conveniently situated just on the border of the Tonle Sap's floodplain.

Another thing that you can learn from it is how things go wrong. In particular, oil exploration is now starting, and if things don't go splendidly, the entire country could be totally screwed. I mean, imagine a totally impoverished country that has always survived (nutritionally) because of the bounty of the Tonle Sap, which provides most of their rice and 60% of their meat, and then imagine a Deepwater Horizon oil spill right in the middle of that. Nowhere to grow food, and no money to buy it, and it'd be decades or centuries before it was usable again.

Another threat, which is totally out of Cambodia's control, is whether or not Laos will decide to put something like 10-15 dams on the Mekong River, which could affect water, nutrient, and animal flow in almost completely unpredictable ways - except for that it would be negative. In either case, as you can see, the history, culture, and viability of Cambodia is completely entwined with the Tonle Sap, and it has to be protected for the country to survive.

Peace out.