Tonle Sap Lake situated South of Siem Reap City is the most important lake in Cambodia 
and performs an integral part within the ecological balance of the country.
In the dry season it’s a shallow lake which drains by means of the Tonle Sap River into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. Nevertheless this modifications in the June – November monsoon season when the excessive water level of the Mekong River causes a reverse movement up the Tonle Sap River into the lake area. The influx increases the dimensions of the lake from its low of 2500 square kilometres to over 10,000 sq. kilometres. This makes the lake the largest freshwater lake within the South East Asia in the course of the wet season.
The flooded mangrove forest plains are residence to over 100 kinds of water birds together with quite a lot of threatened or endangered species. There are over 200 kinds of fish in its waters in addition to crocodiles in maroques otters and turtles.
The lake is populated with floating villages inhabited by each Cambodian and Vietnamese communities. The individual villages are a tremendous sight with their floating homes, markets, faculties and churches. The villagers earn a dwelling from fishing with their enormous fish traps catching sufficient to produce Cambodia with half of its fish consumption.
One among extra prominent floating villages is Chong Khneas. It is 12 kilometres south of Siem Reap and is a departure/arrival level for the Phnom Penh ferry service and in addition Tone Sap lake vacationer trips.
While this floating village is a well known landmark, the tuk tuk driver who introduced the group from Siem Reap claimed that less tourist orientated villages of Kampong Pluk and Kampong Khleang gave more of an perception into lake life. Both these villages are south of Chong Khneas on the jap aspect of the lake. Kampong Khleang is actually the biggest floating neighborhood on Tonle Sap .This Vietnamese settlement also has a thriving pottery industry as there were stacks of clay pots in entrance of many of the houses.
To the west of Chong Khneas on the northern finish of the lake is the Prek Toal Chook Sanctuary. This reserve is and has been called the most important breeding ground in South East Asia for big water birds. Species such as the Black-headed ibis, spot billed Pelican, Grey headed Fish Eagle, Painted Stock and Millet Stork nest within the area. The sanctuary is most popular with hen watchers in the dry season months when flocks of migratory birds go to the area.
Through the dry season the lake water movement reverses with the influx into the Mekong River providing a essential stability to the river south of Tonle Sap. The contemporary water flow into the Mekong Delta of Vietnam offers a buffer to the salt headwaters of the South China Sea getting into the delta’s agricultural lands.