Prek Toal: Storks Galore
Asian Openbill, one of the commonest residents of Prek Toal After Tmatboey , my final stop in Cambodia before returning to the Philippines was the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, part of the vast complex of wetlands on the western side of the Tonle Sap lake. Tonle Sap itself has been a crucial source of water for Cambodia since the advent of agriculture in the country, and as the biggest wetland in Southeast Asia it's also the breeding site for thousands- probably millions- of breeding waterbirds, including endangered species such as Greater Adjutant and Spot-billed Pelican. I had just enough time to spend one morning there before I had to head back to Phnom Penh, and from there back to the Philippines. Nara and Johnny met me at my hotel in Siem Reap at 4:30 in the morning, and from there we headed toward Tonle Sap, all of us a little hungover from the night before. It's necessary to take a boat in order to get to Prek Toal, and it was a long, bumpy ride over bad dirt roads to get