[Floating village] Prek Toal the biggest bird sanctuary in Cambodia
Prek Toal is the biggest bird sanctuary (was only one before) in Cambodia and according to the Ministry of Environment, it is the biggest breeding areas in South East Asia.
To get to Prek Toal bird sanctuary, people have to stop at Prek Toal floating village. It is Ramsar area which located in Battambang province. There are about 2,000 families living here. It has school, shops, temple, floating houses and many others.
How to get there?
From Siem Reap, you can also come to this area through two ways:
- In order to get to Prek Toal village, you have to go to Chong Khneas (another floating village near Phnom Krom), taking a boat for abou 2-3hours but through here you will partly cross the Great Lake/Tonle Sap. If the weather is not good, it is quite scary.
- You can also travel through Mechrey floating village which takes shortcut to get to Prek Toal village. It takes about 40mns - 1hour.
- When arriving the village, go to the office of Ministry of Environment in order to buy ticket and rent a boat to get into the sanctuary.
Ticket/price:
- Non-Cambodians pay 5$/ticket to enter the sanctuary. It needs a professional bird guide to go along with you. Boatmen do not speak English.
- Cambodians do not pay for the entrance ticket.
- Boat has to be changed here, 40$/boat (5-6 people)
What you can see?
- At the sanctuary, it has many kinds of birds, counted to over a thousand of birds of hundred species.. such as pelicans, greater adjutant or lesser adjutant, painted stork, darters, cormorants, and many other species. You can see them by telescope or binoculars. Good time to visit is between Nov - May
- At the village, you learn about life of local people here.
Related articles previously about floating villages
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