Floating Lake Life in Cambodia

Lake Tonlé Sap in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997. The lake is situated almost in the geographical centre of Cambodia, is home to around 25% of Cambodia's population and plays an indispensable role in Cambodian life. This human population live in and around the water both in stilted villages on the banks and on floating villages on the lake itself. In addition to this human population the lake is home to more than 200 species of fish and a variety of animal species including exotic birds.

The Tonlé Sap is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap  is fairly small, around 1 metre deep, with an area of 2,700 square km and drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's monsoon rains begin in June, the flow of water reverses and Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake of around 16,000 square km with depths of around 9 metres. 

As the waters of the lake rise, Cambodian communities living in stilted villages such as Kompong Phluk move higher and higher up their uniquely designed homes to stay above the water line, while those living in floating homes, including Chong Kneas and Kompong Luong, simply relocate according to the seasonal ebb and flow.

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. As this cycle is so vital to the livelihoods of many Cambodians, the nation celebrates the reversal of the river with a grand water festival, the Bonn Om Tuk, during which people from all over Cambodia converge in Phnom Penh for exciting boat races!

Free Bird

Outside this Buddhist temple in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia were a large number of cages with birds which puzzled me. Apparently as I later found out people who are devout Buddhists usually free fishes and birds on their birthdays or when they are seriously ill, believing that this meritorious act will prolong their lives. This belief may have originated from a story in the Buddhist scripture.

Sound of The Sea

Sounds of the Sea by HighlanderImages

This is the idyllic setting of Penang Island in Malaysia taken from the 3rd floor of the E&O Hotel, Georgetown one morning as the local fisherman came in to check his lines. I was testing out my Soundman binaural microphones to record the ambient sounds of the sea, the birds (comprising one very vocal large black crow), a gardner sweeping leaves and the sound of the boatman.

Ipoh Song Bird

Keeping caged song birds is a very common hobby in Malaysia and this caged bird was seen hanging in a small back alley of Ipoh. You often see many Chinese men gathering in an area with their favorite birds in cages all hung up high above so they can all admire the birds and listen to their songs. Sometimes the cages can be highly decorative and can be used in their own right as a house decoration.

West Lake Sunset

Now I'm not much of a sunset photographer .... but here's one from the beautiful West lake in Hangzhou, China. I got lucky and also captured the bird in mid-flight with its wings matching the v-shaped hills in the background.