Geography & Culture - The Definitive Guide to Moving to Southeast Asia: Cambodia - page 4

measures 2,500 sq km in the dry season and swells to 12,000 sq. km in the rainy season,
making it one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. The lake drains into the Tonle Sap
River which meanders southeast, eventually merging with the Mekong at Phnom Penh.
Oneofthefascinationsaboutthisriveristhatduringthewetseason,auniquephenomenon
occurs causing the river to reverse direction, filling the lake instead of draining it. This
happens when the Mekong becomes bloated with snow melt from China and Tibet as well
as runoff from the monsoon rains during the wet season, and backs up into the Tonle Sap
RiveratthepointwheretheriversmeetinPhnomPenh.ThisforcesthewatersoftheTonle
Sap back upriver into the lake. If you're in Phnom Penh at this time (sometime in Novem-
ber), you'll actually observe a difference between one day and the next when the river has
changed direction.
Wherever you travel throughout Cambodia, you'll always see one thing: rice fields. Ap-
proximately 80 percent of the country's population lives in rural areas, and 71 percent de-
pend primarily on agriculture (largely rice) for their livelihood.