Fishing on the Tonle Sap

Half Day

The water of the Tonle Sap River varies in flow and direction depending on the season. In September / October the Mekong, saturated by monsoon rains, is growing to the point where its delta can no longer hold the huge volume of water. The water is pushed north to the Tonle Sap, increasing the size of the lake from 2,590 to 24,605 ​​km2 at the height of the floods. Its average depth, which is only 1.5 m in normal time, then reaches 10 or 15 m. When the Mekong Delta can contain the water again in early November, the water returns to its normal direction and out of the overflowing lake. It leaves a new layer of sediment and transforms the edge of the lake into a vast swamp.